Scion Speak: Create Your Own Crest Campaign

Scion Speak Trailer

Lynnley Browning of the NY Times looks at the Scion Speak campaign that allows Scion fans to create their own crest or coat of arms:

"In making their personalized crests, Scion owners can choose from among hundreds of symbols, all designed by a professional graffiti artist [Tristan Eaton]. The symbols range from an eagle, a jester, a king’s crown and a worker’s fist to Japanese anime-style flowers, a three-person family and a yin-yang circle. Customers can download their designs and have them made into window decals or take them to an auto airbrushing shop to have them professionally painted onto their cars."

Scion Speak - Enthusiast Workshop

The campaign was created by StrawberryFrog:

"an advertising and marketing agency based in New York and Amsterdam that is known for its quirkiness and for representing new or hipster brands. The agency spent six months last year escorting a graffiti artist, Tristan Eaton [of Thunderdog Studios], around New York, Los Angeles and other cities to talk to Scion owners about their lifestyles. Based on those conversations, Mr. Eaton designed the symbols."

Though Scion Speak isn't really a "hip hop" campaign it is part of the larger terrain opened up, in part, by hip hop marketing.

Scion does a lot of interesting stuff on an ongoing basis and they're worth taking a close look at if you're interested in reaching and becoming a part of multiple networks of tastemakers.

For example:
Scion Presents the Fourth Installment of its National Art Tour - INSTALLATION 4: It's A Beautiful World
Biz Markie Tours Stomping Grounds in a Scion
SCION DEBUTS CD SAMPLER v. 14 MIXED BY DJ MONK ONE IN COLLABORATION WITH WAX POETICS
Graf Artists Paint Little Scion Model Cars
Jeri Yoshizu on Scion's Hip Hop Marketing
Toyota's Scion and Alt/Indie/Underground Hip Hop

Official Sites:
Scion
Scion Speak
StrawberryFrog
Thunderdog Studios