It’s amazing how much money is spent launching new products these days.  One auto manufacturer recently spent over $85 million on a new launch.  Even in a fully integrated marketing campaign, you know broadcast still got the bulk of that budget.  But it seems to me that they could have given away several cars a day for a year and really generated some viral buzz! Yet along the marketing continuum, hands on experience with brands is of increasing value these days – especially in large ticket categories.   

Toyota recently broke the ‘never done that before’ rule many times when they launched the highly anticipated new Tundra.  They showed the Tundra at places like Home Depot parking lots and construction sites while offering free breakfast for those that took a closer look. They built new displays for state fairs and Bass Pro Shops to highlight the size of key features such as brake rotors and body welds. 

In doing all of this, Toyota had a successful launch and generated terrific buzz but was stuck with an often ignored dilemma -  What happens to those people who see and like the truck, but aren’t ready to buy?  Management certainly wants to see the marketing data and ROI as with every other spend.  So how do you track the guy who ate your breakfast at Home Depot? We’ll explore those options next time!