Toyota Finds Success Via HANG Virtual Activations around Sports Events

HANG virtual activations, which enable fans across the country and around the world to watch televised games alongside current players, all-time greats, and celebrities, mingling on camera, via text or on livestreams across YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch, has given Toyota some great engagement in recent weeks.

Toyota Partners With Hang Media

“The entire media industry is desperate to engage audiences directly, and HANG has been ahead of the pack in understanding the power of eliminating the middleman,” says Jon Klein, HANG’s co-founder and CEO and the former president of CNN. “As humans, we all yearn to connect face to face. So we’ve been delighted to partner with Toyota to help spread the love.”

To introduce its first-ever Grand Highlander SUV to targeted Black and Indian expat consumers, Toyota and its agencies, Burrell and InterTrend, have leveraged HANG’s unique second-screen experiences to power deep engagement across more than one million views during the Toyota HBCU NY Classic football game in September, and October’s India-Pakistan Cricket World Cup match. They will be teaming up again for the Cricket World Cup Finals on November 19. Fans stay on platform an astounding average of one hour and twenty minutes, asking questions, hearing inside stories, and getting pro tips.

For the HBCU NY Classic, Howard University graduate and Emmy nominee Anthony Anderson joined the watch party with Morehouse alums Isaac Keys, the actor and former NFL star, and Edwin Moses, the renowned track and field champion, from a Toyota suite at the game, while HBCU legends including NFL Hall of Famer Aeneas Williams beamed in from their homes. The India-Pakistan match featured Indian cricketer Unmukt Chand, who stars in a new Grand Highlander television spot aimed at the Asian-Indian consumer, along with fellow cricketers and Indian entertainers.

“Toyota and HANG are a natural fit,” says William Moore, VP/Media Director with Burrell Communications Group. “HANG watch parties create a comfortable space for the whole family to enjoy an amazing experience – just like the first-ever Grand Highlander does. We’re thrilled to have hosted an HBCU ‘family reunion’ for committed alums and students across the country, and to be making millions of Indian expats feel right at home during the Cricket World Cup.”