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Let's go places'. Since 2013*, that has been Toyota's slogan (*In 2020 Toyota interrupted the campaign because of Corona). Whereby the explicit challenge is to go places, rather than to arrive somewhere. Now you can think what you want about Toyota, but the fact is that this successful Japanese car giant understands 'what storytelling is all about' with the elaboration of 'Let's go places'.
Ask anyone about their associations with Toyota and the answer will probably be something along the lines of reliable cars or smart production methods. Indeed, Toyota models have been known for years as impossible to break. Not even by the original illustrious trio of Top Gear, led by one Jeremy Clarkson. If this doesn't ring a bell, just google it. And it is true, Toyota is also the founder of the Kaizen method, the continuous improvement of business processes. But Toyota has more than just reliability and efficiency ambitions. With the new slogan 'Let's go places' Toyota invites customers, employees and suppliers to play a more emphatic role in the future of the brand. That future has to be sexier, but more importantly, it has to be about sharing and using the know-how and experience gained by Toyota. To build a better future for people, the community and our planet. That is indeed something else than building in sjoemel-software.
When we, as storytellers, look at Toyota's approach - which they themselves refer to as 'The Toyota Effect' - we cannot but admire it. To begin with, 'Let's go places' is of course a fantastic core concept. And a value such as wanting to care for the earth and its inhabitants is always good in a corporate story. But what really makes the difference for Toyota is the elaboration and implementation of that core concept. For example, Toyota helped the inhabitants of Houston after Hurricane Harvey raged over the city last August. And Toyota advised an eye clinic to treat twice as many patients in the same time. Toyota even applied its Kaizen principles to a food bank in New York back in 2013, so that it could provide more people with food parcels better and faster after superstorm Sandy. For more examples of 'The Toyota Effect', see ‘The Toyota Effect’
Toyota is a true master of storytelling. This is also shown by the fact that all stories meet three important conditions, which form the pillars for storytelling à la Toyota.
Stories connect people. Individual interests then become common interests. And differences in background, culture and beliefs disappear like snow in the sun. Toyota uses its knowledge and know-how to help the less fortunate and victims of natural disasters. In a way, moreover, that is authentic and sympathetic. And with the invitation 'Let's go places', Toyota successfully appeals to customers, employees and suppliers to actively contribute. Talking about connecting...
It is stories that give meaning to missions and visions. Because stories go beyond profit maximisation or shareholder value. Stories are about dreams, wishes and desires. They are about deeper values such as wanting to be helpful, wanting to share with others, wanting to discover together. A slogan like 'Let's go places' contains all these elements. It stands for: let's go on a journey together, we'll see what we find. And the impact of shared experiences on the road in Houston or New York, no advertising campaign can beat that.
Nobody gets a warm and comfortable feeling when reading a business paragraph about social involvement or sustainability on a website. No matter how high the formulated ambitions reach. It is much more important to evoke real emotion and experience among consumers, employees, suppliers and stakeholders. After all, isn't that the ultimate communication objective? Toyota shows that they are masters of this art. In fact, 'Let's go places' is all about experience.
Do you want to start storytelling right now? You can start by taking a look at our websites storytellingpeople.nl, storytellingpeople.com or corporatehistory.com.
Want to know everything about storytelling? Download the Storytelling People App via the App Store or Google Play Store.
For more than 30 years Storytelling People has been recording corporate stories and bringing them to life with storytelling and community building.
Storytelling makes the abstract corporate story accessible in stories by and for people.
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