And even more on the Toyota Venza girl!

July 26, 2011 by Jacqui Barrineau 9 Comments

ED’S NOTE: The commentary here reflects my interest in advertising as a marketing student. The opinions expressed here are mine and in no way reflect the opinions of my employers.

Our heroine from the Toyota Venza commercial has been recently spotted on the Yahoo! portal in an interactive ad that encourages viewers to “learn stuff.” An ad is just an ad, some might argue, but this interactive ad is engaging the viewer with its appealing character (“Click on something.”) and unassuming links: “See the commercial on YouTube” and “Learn more at Toyota.com.”

So what’s the big deal? At the time of this writing, this YouTube video (posted July 6) had 55,198 views, 300 likes and 23 dislikes. On the official Toyota channel, with lovely Venza display ad (natch!), the video had 8,129 views, including 55 likes and five dislikes.

Although the official Toyota channel’s numbers aren’t that impressive, collectively the video posts have sparked quite a bit of consumer engagement – which is what a marketer wants when investing in Internet advertising. And although the viewing audience was introduced to the Venza girl (played by Allyn Rachel) through old-fashioned television advertising, we’re getting to know her better here on the innerwebs thanks to YouTube, Twitter, this blog and other Web 2.0 outlets.

EARLIER: Toyota Venza: ‘That’s not a real puppy’

RELATED: More on the girl in Toyota Venza commercial

Author: Jacqui Barrineau

Jacqui Barrineau is a writer and editor who lives in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., with husband Trey, a Shetland Sheepdog, and two unhelpful-but-funny cats. Her work has appeared in "So to Speak" and "Calliope," and she's a regular contributor to the flash-fiction sites Paragraph Planet and Doorknobs & Bodypaint. Once upon a time, she was the audience engagement editor at USA Today. Now she does other fun things that involve advertising, marketing and social media. The views expressed here and in other outlets are hers, not her employers'. Outside of work, she's proud to serve on the Northern Virginia Community College Marketing Advisory Committee. As a committee member, she joins industry leaders in lending their knowledge and expertise to ensure the college's Marketing curriculum is relevant and responsive to the needs of the students and the surrounding business communities.