Toyota Keeps On Digging Football As It Extends Partnership With NFL

Despite warnings about its death rattles due to causes ranging from concussion violence to off-field misbehaviors, professional football keeps dragging everyone else down the field as the most reliable branding vehicle in America. Its fan base has grown to 218 million people, or almost 72 percent of the U.S. population.

And more important for big-time advertisers, there is no more potent combination of programming that demands real-time attention by TV viewers and a rich social-media environment that can enhance and contextualize everything a brand throws up on the big screen.

That’s why Toyota has gone deep again this year in its dealings with pro foot ball, serving once again as “the official automotive partner of the NFL,” including a new advertising campaign featuring league icons, game-day giveaways, a Hispanic focus and sponsorship of the booming sport of non-contact flag football for kids.

“It’s one of those properties where you don’t think it can grow or be any more popular and each year it continues to do so,” Dedra DiLilli, Toyota’s vice president of marketing communications, told me. “It’s a property that continues to grow exponentially, and for a brand like Toyota it’s something we’re ecstatic to be a part of.

“We’ve had a presence in the NFL with our NBC Sunday Night Football sponsorship, halftime integrations, and regional deals in place,” DiLilli said. “Football is an effective place for a brand to play and that helps us really entertain the idea of bringing this partnership to a more significant level.”

MORE FROM FORBES ADVISOR

The new level includes a season-long schedule of content across linear broadcast, digital, paid social and in-game formats. The content features a debut spot, “We Roll Deep Anthem,” which “highlights the unifying moments that energize football fans across the country,” as Toyota’s press release put it. The commercial features NFL stars old (Eli Manning) and new, Puka Nacua of the Los Angeles Rams and Michael Pittman Jr. of the Indianapolis Colts, as well as a mid-career star in the San Francisco 49ers’ Brock Purdy.

Toyota nods to “the game’s deep Latino heritage” with a social-media campaign featuring Christian Gonzalez in a series of videos discussing culture, family and football history with old-time quarterback Jim Plunkett and Diana Flores, captain and quarterback of the Mexican women’s National Flag Football team. They’re driving a 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser.

“We need to connect authentically with fans of the NFL in ways that stay true to our brand ethos,” DiLilli said. “That’s how this concept was born, that Toyota already is deeply embedded in the sport of football through fans and communities.”

Leveraging the players’ own social-media presence has become more important for Toyota to make the most of its ever-evolving relationship with the NFL. “The fact that lives sports are so alive and well is essential for us to continue to communicate our message through linear broadcast,” she said. “But partnering with six NFL players and their social-media footprints, and the ability for us to leverage their communications, is a critical part of our campaign.”