Though sales for the brand have tarnished recently, Scion is treating its limited edition xB like gold—literally.

The Toyota unit this week is dispatching three-member street teams in 10 cities to promote the xB RS 5.0, which comes only in a hue called Gold Rush Mica.

The teams, via MassiveMedia, New York, will be composed of two “muscle men” and a driver. They’ll hit hipster neighborhoods in Los Angeles, Miami and Austin, Texas, among other cities, in campaign-branded armored vehicles and hand out Scion-branded skullcaps wrapped inside packages that appear to be gold bars. Also tucked in the package is a card that provides a URL for a new microsite for the limited edition xB and a pass code.

The site holds a screensaver, instant messaging icons and a desktop background. Banner ads feature two round steel covers that part to reveal the xB.

“The idea is to show this model as a valuable, rare commodity that is kept in a vault,” said Simon Needham, creative director at Attik, San Francisco, which handled the creative.

The campaign, a two-week online and guerrilla blitz, comes as sales for the unit fell to 130,181 last year, down 24.8%, per Autodata, Woodcliff Lake, N.J. That came after years of upswings. Toyota introduced the brand in 2003 and sales leapt 43% between 2004 and 2006, from 99,259 to 173,034.

Some attribute the decline to more competition for Scion’s core Gen Y drivers. Others point to the fact that Toyota itself has a strong small car that also tilts youthful and somewhat eccentric, the Yaris.
“Scion has gone after, and done well with, the least loyal market someone can go after,” said Jeremy Anwyl, CEO at Edmunds.com, a third-party car shopping site. “But Scion has also seen some cannibalization from the Yaris and others have come in, too, with cars that compete, like Honda’s Fit, even the Mini. This might be a time that Scion would start to level out in terms of volume, at about 100,000.”

Doug Aiken, head of Mr. Youth, New York, a marketing consultancy specializing in marketing to Gen Y, said rivals have co-opted Scion’s ideas. “Others are using a lot of the same marketing approaches, and it’s working.”

Scion had thrived by relying heavily on Web-based platforms, edgy art and underground events that cater to trendsetters. But now, even the Toyota Matrix and the Corolla are launching campaigns targeting youthful drivers. The new campaign for the Matrix has no traditional TV ads, and the Corolla campaign that broke earlier this month targets an age demo of 18-34 via Web-based games, ads framed by humor and borderline surreal art on a dedicated microsite.

Last year through November, Toyota spent $28 million on ads for the Yaris and the same amount for Scion, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus. It also spent $41.4 million on the Corolla.

Bill Burris, Toyota’s advertising manager, said other Toyota brands aren’t necessarily stealing Scion’s customers. “It’s a danger here but we have a handshake agreement not to fish in each other’s pond,” said Burris. “I have joke I like, and it’s the difference between a Corolla buyer and a Scion buyer is that the Corolla buyer has a better FICO [credit rating] score.”

Jack Hollis, Scion’s vp, noted that Toyota and Lexus have learned from Scion’s efforts, but there’s very little crossover between the Matrix, Corolla or Scion. Said Hollis: “Toyota is focused on the mainstream youth, while Scion is aimed at the risk-taker.”

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