So last night The 4th Quarter had a chance to attend function thrown by the good people over at Scion.  Scion should be recognized for always being in touch with the younger generation, more specifically the Hip Hop community.  It’s not uncommon to see the Scion brand attached to an event that features some of your favorite hip hop acts on the bill.  Recently thanks to my new friend, Angela, we got a chance to ask a few questions to Jeri Yoshizu, the Scion Manager of Sales Promotion. 

What made Scion decide to use the hip hop and it’s culture as a direction to go in marketing the company’s brand?
When Scion launched, we were marketing to the underground hip-hop crowd.  It was not mainstream and it was within our budget.

How does the young demographic, specifically the hip hop audience, shape the way Scion does business?
Five years has passed since Scion’s launch and our original 18-24 target has aged with hip-hop.  We’re looking to shift our marketing efforts back to the new group of 18-24 year olds.  Scion needs to look at what’s cool to this new group of youth trendsetters.

Why does Scion feel that it’s important to stay in touch with the young demographic?
Part of Scion’s mission is to bring young and new consumers who have never experienced Toyota into Scion.  If we’re not bringing in young consumers, we’re not accomplishing our goals.

Is Scion satisfied with the reception that it receives from the younger crowd that it markets to? Does this relationship affect Scion’s bottom line?
The young consumers who engage with our brand understand us. They appreciate our non-traditional marketing efforts and our free events with talented artists.  When it’s time for them to buy a car or their friends to buy a car, we hope Scion is top of mind.

Where do you see the company 5 years from now? Do you see the company having a similar approach to marketing in the future?
Scion will always push the creative envelope when it comes to marketing.  Scion needs to find new and different ways to engage youth to stand out from the rest of the marketing clutter. 

Has the current economic crisis affected the company enough to prevent Scion from reaching out to it’s audience as much as it would like to? Has it caused the company to take a different approach?
Scion has always had a smaller budget compared to the Toyota and Lexus brands.  We’re still using our creativity and trying new things to engage trendsetting youth and get the most bang for our buck.   

How did the relationship with Scion and the Rogue Status Clothing line come about? What can we expect to see from that collaboration in the future?
Rogue Status are avid drifting fans and are a sponsor for the RS*R Scion tC drift car. They created a few special items for us.  We don’t have any other collaborations to announce at this time.  
 
Can we expect to continue to see Scion participation in more racing competitions in the future?
As you know, Scion has been involved in sport compact drag racing over the last few years.  This year we were able to participate in additional forms of motorsports such as drift, road and time attack.  We have received extremely positive responses from our drivers and fans and will continue to support the racing efforts that we have entered into.
 
What can we expect to see from Scion in the future?
Metal, electro, and new hip-hop.