Scion Planning Biggest Ad Campaign Since Brand’s Launch for iA, iM

SANTA MONICA, CA – Scion will stage its largest advertising campaign since its national debut in 2004 for the new iA and iM small cars.

“It will be the most money we’ve put in the market since the launch of the brand,” Scion Vice President Doug Murtha tells media at the preview for the ’16 iA and iM, both going on sale Sept. 1 in the U.S.

The subcompact iA sedan and compact 5-door iM are the first new products for Scion since the debut three years ago of the FR-S sports car.

As such, the brand wants to make a big splash and has opted to combine the marketing for both models into one campaign.

Murtha says this scheme has many pluses, although he acknowledges a few minuses.

“On the opportunities side, we’re able to take launch money for separate products, pool those together and put them behind a single launch,” he says.

A challenge will be communicating the distinct personalities of two vehicles in one piece of advertising.

Premium content and great value will be two of the talking points. Scion has priced the iA at $15,700 to start and the iM at $18,460 and promises both will undercut most competitors, or at least have more content for a similar price.

iA competitors include the Chevrolet Sonic, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Accent and Nissan Versa sedans, while the iM’s key competition is seen as the hatchback versions of the Ford Focus, Accent and Mazda3.

Some competition may come from the Volkswagen Golf, although Murtha says VW transaction prices tend to be higher than those of Scion and traditionally there hasn’t been much cross-shop between the two brands.

The forthcoming ad campaign is in the early stages of development, but Murtha promises it will have a “tone true to Scion, will be light, offbeat and maybe even a little weird.”

The finished ads will appear across digital, social and television platforms.

Murtha says by next year the iA and iM should account for 50%-60% of Scion’s annual sales.

The brand foresees 12-month volume for the iA in the mid-20,000-unit range and for the iM between 30,000-40,000.

The iA’s goal would make it one of the lower-volume B-cars in the U.S. In WardsAuto’s Lower Small group in 2014, the Kia Soul was the No.1-seller with 145,316 units delivered, while the Mazda2 was at the opposite end of the spectrum with 13,615 sales.

The iA is a derivative of the new Mazda2. Mazda is building both cars at its new Salamanca, Mexico, plant.

The iM’s target also puts it on the lower end of the American C-car category. Toyota’s own Corolla was the top-seller in 2014 in WardsAuto’s Upper Small group, with 339,498 deliveries, while Nissan sold just 3,785 units of its discontinued Cube last year.

The iM is derived from Toyota’s European Auris compact car, which is slightly smaller than the U.S. Corolla. The iM will be built at Toyota’s Tsutsumi, Japan, plant.

Murtha expects Scion’s 2015 sales volume to be on par with 2014, when the brand sold 58,009 units in the U.S.

Scion sales through May were 18.9% below the same period year-ago, with 21,093 units sold. While Scion can blame some of the drop on the discontinued iQ and xD small cars, it also is seeing degradation in FR-S sales, with deliveries through May off 27.4% from like-2014.

The xB and tC coupe were up 5.4% and 1.1%, respectively, in the first five months of 2015.

The xB is being discontinued at the end of this year.

A third new Scion is expected by 2017. Murtha won’t confirm speculation it is a subcompact CUV.

Toyota and Ford are the only major automakers yet to reveal their plans for the fast-growing segment in the U.S., which includes the Buick Encore, Chevy Trax, Honda HR-V, Jeep Renegade, Subaru XV Crosstrek and forthcoming Mazda CX-3.

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