Turning stars on to hybrid cars

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

Meet the woman largely responsible for turning Hollywood's wealthy elite away from gas-guzzlers like the off-road Hummer and on to frugal petrol-electric models like the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic.

Colette Brooks is the owner and chief executive officer of Californa public relations company Big Imagination Group (BIG).

Brooks, a longtime car buff with a taste for offbeat design classics, bought a (NZ$43,000) Prius in 2002.

But she didn't expect it to change her life and business.

"When I got to know Prius, I quickly grasped its significance," she said.

"For a long time, I have held values that we call LOHAS, meaning 'Lifestyles Of Health And Sustainability.'

"I knew I was using too much gas driving my Volkswagen camper to the office every day, so getting a Prius was a natural move for me.

"I got a bigger picture along with it. I felt that Prius' inner workings had a lot in common with what had been in the works at BIG.

"It came to me that a hybrid approach, a new way for different elements to come together, was what we were trying to do in business.

"It was the start of what we came to call 'Hybrid Thinking' - big ideas that alter perception and behavior to help progressive companies transform their businesses into sustainable brands."

To get the word out, Colette bought two more Prius sedans for her employees and wrapped them in bold graphics with phrases such as "The power of imagination,", "Hybrid thinking," and "So what drives you?"

She also put BIG's web address on the cars. Just as she had planned, they attracted all sorts of attention.

The Los Angles Times ran a story on BIG's budding hybrid fleet, which caught the eye of Toyota.

The Japanese giant hired Brookes and BIG to promote the hybrid by bringing Prius to California's glamour event, the Oscars.

Celebrities agreed to appear with the car to lend their support to the issues of global warming and energy conservation.

Last year, Brookes had stars like Cameron Diaz, Tom Hanks, Harrison Ford, and Calista Flockhart driven to the awards in the 1.5-litre, four-cylinder Prius, instead of the traditional gas-guzzling, V8-powered stretch limousines.

She set up a repeat performance for this year's Oscars, chauffeuring Oscar winners Tim Robbins and Charlize Theron in Prius, along with presenters Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Robin Williams and others.

The extensive press and television coverage of the Oscars over the past two years has helped propel awareness of hybrid cars in the United States.

Brookes has traded in her original Prius for a 2004 model and plans to bring two more to the company fleet.

"We want to keep using Prius to reinforce our company culture and attract likeminded businesses that want to grow by using imagination and earthfriendly practices," she said.

Meantime, global sales of the Prius' main rival, Honda's 1.3-litre hybrid Civic - on sale here for $33,000 - have passed 50,000 in five years.

In the US, the Civic accounted for almost half of all hybrid sales in 2003. In Britain, it was even more dominant, taking 80 per cent of the hybrid market.

Sales of Honda hybrids began in 1999, with the pioneering Insight recording just 252 sales, mostly in Japan.

Like Toyota, Honda is committed to making hybrid cars for the mainstream market and will later this year introduce into America a V6 hybrid version of its Accord.

The Prius and Civic use different engine-generator-battery set-ups but both achieve the same ends: less exhaust emissions and more economy.