A Hip Replacement for Toyota Camry

Hondas can be hot, but coveting a Camry isn’t cool if you are younger than 50. That hasn’t hurt sales of the country’s No. 1-selling mid-size sedan, but the typical buyer is a 51-year-old woman.

Toyota Motor Corp., the Camry’s maker, wants to knock 10 years off the average and pull in more male buyers. On Monday, its U.S. subsidiary launched a $160-million music-oriented marketing campaign--its largest ever here--in hopes of doing just that for the redesigned and re-engineered 2002 model.

The 12-month brand and image campaign by Saatchi & Saatchi, Toyota’s longtime ad agency in the U.S., includes national and local television, radio and print advertising, bolstered by a pair of far-reaching Internet deals with AOL Time Warner Inc. and Microsoft Corp. The theme, “Get the Feeling,” plays off the brand’s 1980s campaign “Oh, What a Feeling.”

The new campaign is aimed at underscoring “the dramatic changes to our best-selling car,” said Steve Sturm, vice president for marketing for Toyota Motor Sales USA in Torrance. “It is a large investment to bring Camry and Toyota to the forefront” of car shoppers’ attention.

Auto industry sources say Toyota’s spending represents a hefty amount for such a well-known vehicle and shows how determined the company is to increase its visibility and appeal in younger demographic groups.

The Camry’s position as a top seller isn’t thought to be in danger, but the model is getting renewed competition this year from Nissan Motor Co.’s revised Maxima and all-new Altima and will face more pressure when Honda Motor Co. introduces a revamped Accord late next year.

The campaign includes distribution of 2 million enhanced music CDs that feature younger-trending R&B; singer Kina as well as acts perhaps more attuned to the Camry’s current boomer demographic: Lyle Lovett, the Go-Go’s and Earth, Wind & Fire. The CDs also carry promotional material on the Camry.

Camry and Toyota banners will appear on the America Online home page through November, and Toyota will sponsor the Internet service provider’s “Back Stage Pass” music site. Camry buyers through November will receive a free six-month AOL subscription.

Starting in October, Toyota ads also will appear on the Microsoft Carpoint site and on the MSN.com home page.

Toyota will advertise heavily in magazines from Time Warner and Conde Nast Publications Inc., with Camry as sole automotive sponsor of special sections or special issues devoted to music.

Separately, Toyota is preparing to hire an African American-owned ad agency and is expected to look to it for a strong Camry campaign aimed at black communities.