Toshiba "Set You Free" Campaign Covers The Bases

July 7, 2009: Toshiba Digital Products has unveiled a "Set You Free" campaign that seeks to tap into potential laptop consumers psyche via sports and entertainment-lifestyle venues. The brand effort, via YR Brands, Irvine, Calif., is anchored by 30- and 60-second versions of "Breakthrough," which will air now through September on CBS, NBC, ABC, ESPN (including SportsCenter), ESPN 2, Fox News, FoxSports West, MTV, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel and others. Digital creative includes placement on such sites as MTV Digital Media, MySpace, Comedy Central, Pandora, Laptop, PC Magazine, PC World, CNET, and Hulu. Print placement will target men’s and women’s lifestyle publications. Toshiba will also run a 30-second spot in more than 3,000 movie theaters.

As part of the media plan, Toshiba will sponsor the 2009 MTV VMA Awards on Sept. 13. On Comedy Central’s Jokes.com, Toshiba will have a custom Toshiba page with video, in addition to an episode sponsorship of The Daily Show, Colbert Report and South Park.

The main spot shows a group of people running down city streets holding laptops. However, one by one they get blown back as if running into a wall or a gust of wind. When a group is unable to get through an invisible wall, one guy succeeds because he has a Toshiba. "Technology can hold you back," explains a voiceover. "Or set you free. Toshiba - the laptop expert. Toshiba designs laptops to work the way you do."

“Toshiba is evolving its brand identity to reach a new generation of consumers and showcasing the brand with our loyal customer base. We set out to create a distinct marketing campaign that held true to Toshiba’s lineage of laptop innovation,” Ron Smith, vp-marketing, Digital Products Division, Toshiba America Information Systems, said in a statement. “These digital and traditional media partnerships reach audiences with relevant and entertaining information while defining the product experience.” Back to Home Page