Bowater Toyota are all about the lean
Bowater Toyota CEO Tony Bowater signs the Emirates Team New Zealand dagger board as it tours the country.
The Amercia's Cup is quite a big deal here in New Zealand. It has been a quintessential sporting event for decades and has seen the Kiwi Spirit swell with pride with wins, and collectively sigh when it all turns to custard out on the merciless seas.
Toyota has been a big part of this journey, and through the years has been a consistent sponsor of the NZ Challenge.
This year, in the waters of San Francisco Emirates Team New Zealand will be doing it all over again, and Toyota, as ever are right there too, both on the water with the boat, and also here at home with an engaging new campaign to get our small nation excited about this new challenge.
'Lean with us' is a fun way to show your support for Emirates Team New Zealand as they battle it out to win the America's Cup. It is all about getting your lean on. Toyota want you to take a funny or innovative 'leaning' photo and upload it to their website < www.leanwithus.co.nz > and show the team you're 100% behind them. Plus you could win some excellent prizes.
The more Kiwis that 'Lean with us' the more motivated they'll be to win!
The team at Bowater Toyota are very excited about the America's Cup. Every challenge has been something special, and something special has been done to celebrate.
This year Toyota have taken the Lean With Us roadshow around the country, stopping in at the delearships to get the replica dagger board signed, which will then be shipped over to Emirates Team New Zealand over in San Fran, hopefully inspiring them just a little more.
The stop over in Nelson gave the Toyota team the chance to enjoy some fabulous Nelson sunshine, and get their Hilux professionally groomed thanks to Tom! The staff got in on the action and wrote some great messages to our America's Cup heros.
Once the Toyota Lean With Us roadshow crew arrived it was game on, and the chance to pull off a massive group lean was an opportunity too good to pass up, although it didn't go quite to plan!
Scroll through the photos in the gallery to see the fun, and a couple of creative photos.
- Juan from Toyota rolls into town and right into prime position at Bowater Toyota
- Bowater Toyota CEO Tony Bowater adds his message of support
- Tony Bowater and the Emirates Team NZ dagger board
- Nettie from accounts adds her message of support
- The Toyota promo crew documenting the visit
- Tom the showroom groomer decided to take the Lean With Us Hilux
- Tom about to take the Lean With Us Hilux for a quick clean
- So the original plan was a circular lean like a flower opening.....
- .. but that didn't end so well .....
- so we went for a more conventional "lineup lean" technique
- but with a twist of course
- The twist being that Tony had a staring role
- Finance Manager Al Mapperly writing his message
- Al's message
- Sales Cadet Toby wrote a note to the team as well
- Groomer Michael got his lean on
- Showrooom groomer Tom writing his message
- The promo team from Toyota with Tony Bowater
- Tom leaning against the shining, clean Hilux
The final result was an inspired effort, and quite a lovely group shot of some of the team at Bowater Toyota. One for the staff room wall!
If you want to see this in a larger format, right click on it and select "View image" (firefox), or select "open image in a new tab (google chrome). Internet Explorer users will just have to put up with the image in a small scale!
We have got quite a lot planned with the Lean With Us campaign, so keep checking back in this section for more. Right now we have a classroom full of kids from the Rutherford Street Kindergarten making us some America's Cup yachts!