early 50 years ago, Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. helped pioneer the off-road movement with a tough truck called the FJ40 Land Cruiser. The SUV ancestor inspired its share of thrill rides during the 1960s and ’70s, and thousands of enthusiasts formed scores of car clubs to celebrate the FJs. In its 24 years on the market, more than 1 million FJ40s were sold.

But by the 1980s, the world wanted station wagons. No one imagined highways and byways dominated by today’s ubiquitous SUVs, and Toyota stopped making the FJ Land Cruisers.

In 2003, Toyota decided to resurrect the FJ as a concept car at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The glammed-up FJ Cruiser concept was a modern-day tribute to its burly predecessor, and it prompted a vocal contingent of FJ fans — and auto media — to send Toyota a powerful message: We’re buying. Within two years, the new FJs were hitting the streets.

Bringing the FJ back to life promised Toyota several benefits, from reconnecting with folks who had long loved FJs to building a relationship with a new, highly desired demographic — primarily male and about five years younger than Toyota’s typical customer.

According to Jen Savary, senior planner of engagement marketing at Toyota, that desirable younger demographic is ideally targeted by “halo vehicles,” which are specialty vehicles that shed a positive light on the entire line. Although halo vehicles are usually sports cars, market research showed Toyota that the FJ Cruisers were indeed hitting the halo-vehicle sweet spot, as well as attracting the FJ fans of old.

But Toyota faced the following challenges in marketing the new vehicle:

1. Convince would-be owners that the new Cruiser wasn’t too pretty to get dirty. As About.com auto writer Jason Fogelson put it: “The FJ Cruiser is going to get called ‘cute’ — it’s just so retro that it can’t help it. It’s like an eager puppy heading out into the field, all youth and exuberance, nipping at the heels of the big dogs.”

2. Prove that this new vehicle had the hardy innards and the trail smarts of the legendary FJs. Early research by Savary hinted at trouble: Younger potential buyers who were initially attracted to the FJ’s good looks worried about the model’s trail cred and didn’t necessarily believe there was brawn enough to back up the vehicle’s façade.

3. Appeal to a new generation of buyer, who are younger — and more cynical. The target FJ buyer is about five years younger than the current SUV demographic, which is no easy mark. “With that younger demographic, those are the people you can’t market directly to,” Savary explains. “Their generation is cynical. They say, ‘Prove it to me.’” The only source they trust, she says, is their own experience. They need to have the reassurance of having touched the truck, felt the truck — or to have direct access to a believable source who can say “I touched it, I felt it.”

4. Avoid becoming a one-season wonder. When a halo vehicle hits the market, everyone wants one right now, Savary says, but the interest wears off pretty quickly. That pattern is well-documented among halo — or image — vehicles. And Toyota wasn’t certain that the novelty of an SUV as an image car would be enough to overcome the initial gotta-have-it frenzy.

To overcome these marketing challenges, Toyota reached out to a select group who knew the terrain best: off-road enthusiasts, the folks who love taking their tough trucks four-wheeling through mud, sand, rocks, and anything else that dares to get in the way. Toyota recognized these off-roaders as key influencers for a larger audience of urbanites contemplating their next SUV buy.

While the off-roaders would make fine customers, more important was the credibility these enthusiasts would bring to the FJ Cruiser. After all, if your friendly neighborhood off-roader conquered California’s famed Rubicon Trail in an FJ, then surely this good-looking, mid-sized SUV would suit your aspirations just fine — whether heading off on a lesser-rated trail or just angling for a less mundane morning commute through city traffic.

“When an influencer decides they’re interested in something, you reach more than a single customer. You reach the many other people who look to them for advice and recommendations,” explains Ed Keller, president of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, CEO of the Keller Fay Group, and co-author of “The Influentials: One American in Ten Tells the other Nine How to Vote, Where to Eat, and What to Buy” (Free Press, 2003).

In fact, Keller’s research shows that 55 percent of people rate word-of-mouth recommendations based on personal experience a nine or 10 on a 0-to-10 scale. Fifty percent also say they are very likely to make a purchase because of a word-of-mouth recommendation. “You just don’t find those numbers when you expose people to traditional print advertising,” Keller says. He estimates that the word-of-mouth message is five- to 10-times stronger than the influence of a print advertisement.

Toyota set in motion a sophisticated word-of-mouth program to promote the FJ to off-road enthusiasts on their own turf, at events hosted by Toyota Land Cruiser Association (TLCA) chapters and the Toyota Territory Off-Roaders Association, an independent owners group. At these events, Toyota wooed tried-and-true off-roaders into becoming brand ambassadors for the new FJ.

Toyota created four Trail Teams, each consisting of five off-road enthusiasts — two drivers, a manager, and two assistants. During the Cruiser’s first year, the teams attended 90 off-road events nationwide, where they let enthusiasts experience the Cruiser for themselves on rugged terrain. These ride-and-drive events took place in national parks, on highly-rated trails, at off-road competitions, and at regional fairs throughout the country.

Clearly, the typical Joe in the corporate marketing department wasn’t the guy you’d want riding shotgun on a tough-rated trail. Toyota knew it needed expertise behind the wheel, which is why it recruited the accomplished off-roaders for its Trail Team members. “They speak the off-road language,” explains Kevin Holt, who manages the FJ Trail Teams event for George P. Johnson, an experience-marketing agency based in Auburn Hills, MI, with offices in North Easton, MA. “You can’t teach the lifestyle. You have to live it.” The company then taught its off-road experts how to engage the consumer and explain the product.

When the Trail Teams arrived at an event, they didn’t roll up in brand-emblazoned marketing mobiles after a good night’s sleep at the Holiday Inn. Instead, they camped on the trailhead along with the diehards. Noisy signage and cheap giveaways were nowhere to be found. “We wanted to integrate with the off-road community,” Holt explains. “When the team arrives, they pull up in FJs with small trailers, with very mild use of logos and branding. Our entire setup looks like a campsite, with a huge, green Army tent. We didn’t want to stand out.”

That’s not to say that the Trail Teams didn’t make their presence known. In fact, as off-roaders and event organizers got to know the folks from Toyota at these events, the Trail Teams were seen as an asset. “We took a deep look to find a strategy for getting inside these groups,” Holt says. “We talked to the organizers to find out how to make their events better without hijacking them. And now we’re hearing from clubs that their events are better when we’re there. When we walk away, Toyota’s participation has added value.”

That added value came from the Trail Teams’ commitment to authenticity. First, there were trail-worthy premiums: a map case, a high-quality backpack, and a Leatherman multi tool.

Second, Toyota came with good company: guitar-maker Gibson USA provided the team with special-edition FJ guitars for a round-the-campfire feel, and Sony Corp. hooked it up with a couple of PlayStation 2 units at the campsite. With toys like that, the Trail Team crews made friends easily.

Most remarkable, of course, were the thrilling ride-and-drive experiences that put drivers behind the wheel of the FJ. Experienced four-wheelers and newbies alike benefited from the extensive off-road background of the Trail Team drivers, who were able to teach people about off-roading at the events they attended. Taking that kind of lead position effectively gave event organizers an extra set of hands — and that earned Toyota a lot of goodwill.

“We’re not just talking about a couple of minutes with the consumer here,” Holt emphasizes. “We’re spending the entire weekend with them, in their own sandbox. We’re not just trying to come in and dine and dash. We’re becoming part of the community.”

Turning authentic off-roaders into evangelists for the FJ required more time than a single trail ride allowed. So Toyota wrapped participants in an extended experience that lasted far beyond the weekend event.

The ride-and-drive events made for natural photo opportunities, and Toyota capitalized on the chance to drive traffic to the FJ Cruiser Bulletin Web site (www.toyota.com/fjcruiser). Participants retrieved shots of themselves behind the wheel by entering a pass code which made for an easy way to share the story of their FJ experience with friends and family. To date, participants have swapped more than 4,000 photos, and the site has garnered more than a million hits.

When off-roaders go to the site to download their ride-and-drive photo, Toyota makes it easy to get sucked in. Trail Team crew members keep an online journal about their experiences at the dozens of off-road events they attend, and each team’s schedule is posted so that FJ owners and would-be owners can track the teams on the off-road circuit. Visitors can also analyze the Cruiser’s innards and soak up its heritage, right down to the authentic back-in-the-day FJ40 commercials.

As the Trail Teams campaign unfolded, Toyota and the off-road community got reacquainted in short order. Today’s generation of four-wheel enthusiasts tapped into the storied past of the FJ Cruiser and its trailblazing ancestor, the FJ40. Meanwhile, Toyota revived a legend and connected with a new bunch of consumers who know the difference between trail-worthy SUVs and mere accessory autos.

A couple of things tipped off Toyota to the fact that it had hit pay dirt with the word-of-mouth approach: Clubs began inviting the Trail Teams to their events, and FJ fans were spending their personal time and dollars to support online community groups and make the FJ story their own.

Enthusiast communities took root online, with owners creating and uploading videos and pictures. Other off-roaders boasted their Cruiser cred in fan forums like those at FJCruiser.com. Bloggers signed off on online posts with a proud litany of FJ modifications, current and future, from roof racks for snowboards and kayaks to special off-roading wheels.

A quick search for “FJ Cruiser” on YouTube returns more than 550 videos posted in the past year, with the most popular viewed more than 55,000 times. Savary reports several thousand blogs covering the FJ. And in the first half of the year, there were five owner events. “These are FJ owners who just get together, and say, ‘Let’s have an event!’ It’s FJ-specific, and they do all the work. They send us pictures, and we’re all very excited about it,” Savary says.

This level of consumer engagement makes Savary practically giddy with appreciation. “These metrics — blogs authored, videos created, clubs created, online forums that people are paying their own money to host — these are my success measures for a program of this level,” she says.

Toyota’s hands-on approach has also kicked up interest for the sport, with off-road rookies buying FJs so they can enter the world of four-wheeling. “That was unforeseen,” Savary says, “and now there are people out there in their FJs, not really sure what they’re doing. We’re responding by directing them to sources of off-road etiquette and driving schools.”

Of course, it’s nice to measure success in dollars, too. According to a 2005 report from WardsAuto.com, Toyota expected to sell about 46,000 FJ Cruisers in 2006 and 60,000 this year, the first full sales year for the mid-sized SUV. Savary would say only that the FJ has “exceeded sales projections by a lot,” and an April 2007 press release fleshes out that claim: March 2007 saw sales of 6,057 FJs — tracking more than 1,000 cars-per-month ahead of the 60,000-unit annual goal.

Fanfare aside, Toyota achieves multiple strategic objectives with the Trail Teams program. The company reconnects with the deeply respected heritage of the original FJs, Savary says, and reasserts its presence in the SUV market. The Trail Teams also tap into a younger demographic and establish Cruiser credibility in ways that standard radio, print, and television campaigns never could.

“If you are changing people’s perspectives, if you are opening their eyes to something they don’t already know, you can’t do that in a 30-second spot or a print media campaign,” Savary points out. “They need to see it to believe it.”

Another path to the off-roader’s heart is through his or her mailbox and the various niche four-wheeling magazines that arrive in it each month. Toyota placed some print advertisements in those endemic publications, and put some public relations effort into reaching influential magazine editors and bloggers in the off-road community. But novel news travels fast, and the FJ Cruiser also won coverage in the likes of Newsweek, Popular Mechanics, Esquire, Muscle & Fitness, USA Today, and a host of major-market newspapers. In total, the events were covered in more than 20 press outlets, which resulted in more than 3.6 million media impressions.

“As much as we appreciated the coverage we got in larger magazines, the Trail Team events were designed to speak to our core audience, to the influencers,” Savary says. “This program wasn’t created to get journalists there. We’re not trying to create media experiences. We’re trying to create real experiences.” e