With the launch of the Crown Signia SUV, joining the existing Crown sedan, Toyota set out to highlight the bold design and refined utility of the Toyota Crown Family — not just through traditional specs and features, but by telling a deeper story of innovation, purpose, and connection. The brand aimed to position these vehicles as go-to choices for bold, ambitious leaders who fiercely pursue their passions.
Business Insider’s first-party data revealed that readers within the Toyota Crown Family’s target audience are three times more likely to read philanthropy and charity content. Inspired by the expanded Toyota Crown Family, Toyota aimed to align the brand with stories of innovators teaming up to make a positive impact on society. Business Insider’s branded content studio partnered with Toyota to create “Better Together: An Ocean of Possibilities,” a multimedia campaign that showcases the Crown sedan and Crown Signia SUV in action alongside pioneering marine conservationists using AI to track and protect whales.
The goal was twofold: elevate brand affinity among trend-savvy automotive audiences while demonstrating Toyota’s commitment to forward-thinking design and social responsibility. Through long-form video and a custom feature article, the campaign sought to drive awareness, spark curiosity, and create a halo effect around the Toyota Crown Family brand.
Inspired by the bold design and complementary strengths of the Toyota Crown Family — including the Crown sedan and Crown Signia SUV — Business Insider’s branded content studio crafted a story-driven campaign that focuses on the power of partnership between marine conservationists and artificial intelligence.
Our series spotlighted how AI is transforming whale conservation. Whale tails are crucial for research, each marked by scars and pigmentation that tell a unique story. Traditionally, identifying them could take weeks. Now, AI can do it in seconds.
To showcase this technology, Business Insider’s branded content studio identified and united the leaders of two mission-aligned organizations: the founder of Happywhale, a platform for whale photo identification, and the cofounders of Oceans Initiative, a Seattle-based nonprofit dedicated to marine biodiversity. In the series, they embarked on a whale-watching expedition.
The Crown Signia SUV served as more than physical transportation to the pier; it also served as a mobile command center along the California coast to support whale identification. The spacious cargo area and available Wi-Fi Connect allowed the conservationists to upload and review photos in real-time, maximizing their valuable time together in the field.
Just as the two conservation organizations brought distinct strengths to their shared mission of whale conservation, the Crown sedan and Crown Signia SUV each contributed versatility and performance to the journey. The purposeful design of both vehicles added a rich layer to the narrative, showcasing how the Toyota Crown Family is more than just transportation — it’s a catalyst for helping people find their purpose, get in the zone, and make an impact.
Two long-form videos (each over five minutes) served as the campaign’s centerpiece. Shot on location in Monterey Bay, these cinematic films delivered key messaging around the innovation behind the Toyota Crown Family. The hero videos were supported by a companion on-site feature article with stunning custom photography and vertical video cutdowns across Meta, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts.
Bringing this series to life required our team to solve for several complex production challenges. While BI has done automotive productions in the past, this was the first time we were tasked with filming two vehicles at once. To ensure success, we partnered with a specialist to safely transport both vehicles from Los Angeles, CA, to Santa Cruz, CA. The specialist helped stage our vehicles, making sure they looked great on camera and arrived at our various filming locations in a timely, secure manner. To capture dynamic car-to-car footage, we had to work closely with local Highway Patrol to secure permits and rolling daytime closures of California’s iconic, high-traffic Highway 1. Dynamic on-the-road footage elevated our premium storytelling — showcasing the sleek design and performance of the Toyota Crown Family in motion.
Throughout the creative process, the storytelling was grounded in editorial authenticity and driven by Toyota’s brand values. The partnership between Business Insider and Toyota was a collaboration rooted in shared vision: showcasing vehicles that live up to a lifestyle of purpose, possibility, and progress.
Our videos captivated viewers across every platform, with the long-form videos and vertical cutdowns collectively surpassing 7.3 million views. Audiences stayed with the content well beyond industry averages, with average watch times clocking in at over three minutes per long-form video — demonstrating a deep, sustained interest in both the environmental narrative and the vehicles at their core.
The feature article added another layer of engagement, drawing more than 52,000 page views and achieving a scroll depth of nearly 18%, outperforming Business Insider’s benchmark and proving that readers weren’t just landing on the page, they were immersing themselves in the story.
Results from our forced exposure among in-market adults 18+ paint a clear picture of success: 94% of those exposed to the campaign reported liking the content, 90% expressed wanting to learn more about the Toyota Crown Family, and 82% said they would be more likely to consider the brand for a future purchase. The campaign also achieved an impressive 33.5-point lift in unaided awareness — proof that our program didn’t just move audiences in the moment, it also stuck with them well after they engaged.
In total, the campaign delivered more than 10.3 million impressions — almost a million more than projected — driving awareness for the Toyota Crown Family while also giving a massive platform to the important work of Happywhale and Oceans Initiative.
