In 2020, the Irish car market faced unprecedented disruption. Diesel remained dominant (43.2%), while electric vehicles were rapidly gaining public attention. Consumers were presented with more choice but also growing uncertainty around cost, infrastructure, and reliability. Toyota ranked #2 in Ireland behind Volkswagen, with Hybrid technology in third place (11.8%) behind diesel and petrol. Having exited diesel in 2018, Toyota was effectively excluded from nearly half of the market. Toyota’s long-term ambition was clear: achieve #1 brand status and sustain leadership through brand strength rather than short-term incentives. Success required helping Irish drivers transition to electrified mobility with confidence, without expecting a leap of faith.
TV was identified as the primary medium to deliver national scale, emotional reassurance, and trust-building during this technological shift.
This campaign was shortlisted in the Best Ongoing Use of TV at the 2026 TAMI Awards
Toyota’s strategic ambition was clear: use TV as the national storytelling engine to position the brand as the most trusted guide through Ireland’s transition to electrified mobility. In a highly complex and evolving automotive market, leadership could not be achieved through product claims alone. Success required long-term credibility, emotional resonance, and repeated exposure across all potential car buyers. TV uniquely delivered the scale, storytelling depth, and cultural authority required to build that trust consistently and at pace.
This strategy was expressed through the long-term brand platform, Built for a Better World. Crucially, the platform was not designed as a single campaign, but as a continuous, evolving communication system, led by TV. The medium established the core narrative, emotional tone, and cultural resonance, while other AV channels including BVOD, digital video, and social reinforced and extended the story.
TV enabled Toyota to maintain consistent national presence, which was critical in a high-consideration category with a long purchase cycle. Linear TV delivered repeated exposure across the full car-buying audience, creating memory structures that reinforced trust over time. BVOD ensured frequency among lighter TV viewers and enabled more precise audience delivery, while social platforms amplified cultural moments, extending the reach and impact of TV-led storytelling. In this way, TV acted as the anchor medium, providing the emotional and narrative backbone for the broader communication strategy.
Each phase of Toyota’s TV communications addressed a specific category challenge and built upon the previous phase, compounding impact over time:
- Reassurance during uncertainty (2021–2022): Following Covid disruption and growing interest in electrification, drivers were cautious about change. TV creative emphasised reliability, leadership, and reassurance, featuring familiar figures to instil confidence. Nationally scaled linear placements ensured every potential buyer was reached repeatedly, while emotional storytelling allowed the brand to connect personally with consumers navigating new technology.
- Cultural relevance with younger buyers (2023–2024): Research indicated Toyota was perceived as reliable but less innovative among younger audiences. TV creative shifted tone, incorporating Irish music, humour, and culturally fluent storytelling to modernise the brand’s image. By launching on TV first, the work achieved broad-scale visibility and established cultural credibility, before being adapted for social and digital video channels to reinforce messaging in younger audiences’ media habits.
- Proof of leadership amid EV disruption (2025): With new EV entrants increasing competition, Toyota used TV to demonstrate technological credibility. Storytelling highlighted innovation, Kaizen philosophy, and tangible product proof points, such as the 1,000,000km battery guarantee. TV’s scale and authority allowed these messages to resonate widely, reinforcing Toyota’s position as a credible, trusted leader in electrification.
Through this always-on, long-term TV presence, Toyota compounded brand trust and Hybrid leadership. Every campaign phase strengthened the memory structures established by previous TV activity, ensuring each message reinforced the last. TV was not merely a channel for short-term spikes, but a strategic, long-term growth engine, enabling Toyota to guide the market through disruption while sustaining category leadership, modernising its image, and establishing enduring trust in Hybrid technology.
The Strategy
TV sat at the centre of Toyota’s AV ecosystem, acting as the primary driver of reach, emotional storytelling and brand trust. In a high-consideration category like automotive, where purchase cycles are long and decisions carry significant financial commitment, building familiarity and reassurance over time was critical.
Linear TV delivered consistent national reach across the full car-buying audience, ensuring Toyota’s message was seen repeatedly by both active and future buyers. Broad-reach programming across premium national environments ensured the brand remained culturally visible and credible, with TV being used as the primary engine of reach, trust and cultural impact.
Always-On with Strategic Bursts
Recognising the long and irregular car purchase cycle, Toyota adopted an always-on TV presence.
This approach ensured Toyota remained mentally available to consumers throughout the entire decision-making journey, which can often span many months or even years. Consistent TV presence allowed the brand to build cumulative memory structures, reinforcing trust and familiarity with every exposure.
This baseline activity was supported by heavier TV bursts during key category moments such as:
- New model launches
- Peak registration periods in the Irish car market
- Moments of category disruption, such as increased EV competition or policy changes
This balance of sustained presence and strategic bursts ensured Toyota was both continuously visible and strategically impactful, maximising the long-term effectiveness of TV investment.
Phase 1: Reassurance during uncertainty (2021–2022)
“You’ll Never Take a Wrong Turn with Toyota”
Following the disruption of Covid and growing public conversation around electrification, many drivers felt uncertain about the future of mobility. TV played a critical role in restoring reassurance at a national level. High-reaching TV placements ensured the message was delivered across the full car-buying audience, positioning Toyota as a stable and trusted guide through this period of change. The creative featured Irish actor Liam Cunningham, whose familiar and authoritative presence reinforced Toyota’s credibility and reliability.
The campaign prioritised premium national TV environments to maximise reach and cultural visibility. By maintaining consistent exposure over an extended period, Toyota was able to build reassurance gradually rather than relying on short bursts of persuasion. This sustained TV presence helped rebuild trust in the brand while introducing Hybrid technology as a practical and reliable step towards electrified mobility.
Outcome: Toyota became Ireland’s number one car brand in 2021.
Phase 2: Cultural relevance with younger buyers (2023–2024)
While Toyota had established strong trust credentials, research revealed a perception challenge among younger buyers. The brand was respected but not always perceived as modern or innovative.
TV was again used as the lead medium to reset this perception at scale. New creative executions embraced a more culturally fluent tone, incorporating Irish music, humour and contemporary storytelling. TV created the initial impact and cultural conversation, after which the creative was adapted into shorter video formats for social and digital platforms. This allowed the TV narrative to extend further into younger audiences’ media habits while maintaining a consistent message. The result was a modernised brand image that resonated with younger drivers without compromising the trust and reliability Toyota had already built.
Outcome: Creative effectiveness measured +48% above Irish norms, while Hybrid consideration increased by 23%.
Phase 3: Proof of leadership amid EV disruption (2025)
By 2025, the competitive landscape had shifted again, with a wave of new EV entrants entering the market and increasing noise around electric technology. Toyota needed to reinforce its technological credibility while maintaining the trust it had built over previous years. TV was used to deliver this message at scale, shifting the storytelling from reassurance toward demonstrable proof of leadership.
Outcome: Toyota became Ireland’s number one car brand for the 5th consecutive year
The Results
Toyota’s long-term TV-led strategy delivered sustained commercial growth, brand leadership, and category influence during a period of unprecedented disruption. By using TV as the consistent engine of the Built for a Better World platform, Toyota built trust at scale, guided consumers through the transition to electrified mobility, and compounded brand impact over multiple years.
Business Impact
Between 2020 and 2025, Toyota’s annual sales saw a 68.7% increase during major market disruption. This growth was achieved without relying on short-term incentives, demonstrating the power of long-term brand investment led by TV. Consistent national reach ensured Toyota remained visible and trusted across the full car-buying audience, sustaining relevance across multiple purchase cycles. As a result, Toyota has held the #1 car brand position in Ireland for five consecutive years (2021–2026) — an exceptional achievement in one of the country’s most competitive advertising categories.
Market Leadership
TV’s role as the lead medium converted trust into clear market dominance. Toyota now holds 14.48% market share in 2026 YTD, leading Hyundai by 2.9 points and Volkswagen by 5.4 points. The brand also boasts Ireland’s #1 best-selling car model, the Yaris Cross, demonstrating how sustained TV presence drove both brand and product success. By reaching both active and future buyers consistently, TV ensured Toyota remained mentally available whenever consumers entered the market.
Brand Trust
Long-term national TV storytelling established Toyota as Ireland’s most trusted car brand. By delivering reassurance and credibility at scale, TV shaped brand perceptions over multiple years:
#1 Most Trusted Car Brand (25%)
#1 Company Reputation (22%)
Favourite brand among new prospects (24.8%)
In a high-consideration category with long ownership cycles, trust became the key driver of growth. TV enabled Toyota to build emotional resonance and familiarity simultaneously, which directly supported sustained market leadership.
Electrification Leadership
Toyota’s Hybrid strategy moved from minority preference to market leadership, with TV serving as the vehicle for education, reassurance, and normalisation of electrified mobility.
#1 for Hybrid leadership (38.9%)
73% of consumers agree Toyota leads Hybrid technology
Hybrid petrol is now Ireland’s highest-selling powertrain
Through repeated national storytelling, TV built confidence in Hybrid technology at scale, shaping both consideration and adoption across the mass market.
Compounding Impact
Unlike short-term campaign spikes, Toyota’s TV strategy delivered cumulative impact across multiple buying cycles. Each phase reinforced the last: reassurance during uncertainty, modernisation for younger audiences, and proof of leadership amid EV disruption.
By maintaining a consistent presence over time, TV created compounding brand trust, sustained cultural relevance, and protected leadership through Covid disruption, perception challenges among younger drivers, and rising EV competition.
In doing so, Toyota transformed TV from a campaign channel into the long-term growth engine of the brand, driving both enduring trust and sustained commercial success, a clear demonstration of TV’s unrivalled effectiveness in a highly competitive category.
“The Irish motor market is one of the most competitive categories in advertising, so sustaining leadership requires consistent brand investment and long-term thinking. TV has played a central role in Toyota’s Built for a Better World platform, giving us the national scale and emotional storytelling needed to build trust in Hybrid technology and guide consumers through the transition. By maintaining an always-on TV presence over several years, we’ve been able to compound brand trust, strengthen cultural relevance, and remain front of mind. The result has been sustained market leadership, with Toyota holding the number one position in Ireland for five consecutive years. It’s a powerful demonstration of how long-term, strategically executed TV can deliver enduring brand and business impact in a highly competitive category.”
Credits
Brand:
Toyota
Media Agency:
Javelin
Award:
TAMI Awards Shortlist for Best Ongoing Use of TV at the 2026 TAMI Awards