Selling luxury cars is a delicate business in a climate of environmental consciousness. High-end customers want more powerful, comfortable and reliable vehicles with all the latest bells and whistles, and they don’t want to feel guilty about it. But what if you could give them all of that and make them feel warm and fuzzy to boot?
That is the genius of the marketing behind Lexus, which has captured the heart of the luxury auto market by appealing to consumers’ desire for speed, comfort, good looks and safety – and, with its hybrid line, cleaner, greener living as well – in a campaign that stresses living life to the fullest.
‘Consumers were telling us that the new luxury was time,’ explains Warren Orton, marketing director for Toyota Canada, Lexus’ parent company. ‘They didn’t have enough time, and it became the highest priority in terms of luxury. So we developed a campaign about all these little perfect moments in people’s lives that they felt were luxurious. And we then portrayed Lexus as being able to deliver those moments consistently, whenever they drove the car.’
While the ‘Moments’ campaign, created by Toronto-based Dentsu Canada in 2005 and still going strong, fits with the brand’s worldwide ‘pursuit of perfection’ theme, it also marks a significant new direction for Lexus Canada in appealing to less tangible desires than aerodynamics and engine power and torque.
‘Consumers were looking for a new definition of luxury,’ says Glen Hunt, creative catalyst at Dentsu Canada. ‘It used to be about conspicuous consumption, being master of the universe. But the new luxury is all about experiences, so the idea of these moments, these little pearls of time, was perfectly timed.’
The theme was illustrated by a series of print ads tailored for specific publications – or even individual readers. Subscribers to Maclean’s, Canadian Business and Toronto Life saw their names incorporated into the ad copy to demonstrate Lexus’ personal touch, while an ad in Investor’s Digest included a wetnap for removing ink stains to remind readers that Lexus can anticipate all their needs.
‘Moments’ has been a huge success, winning awards (most recently from the Cassies) and helping Lexus increase its share of the Canadian luxury auto market – from 10.6% in 2006 to 11.4% as of September 2007 – and establish its own distinct personality.
‘When you’re talking about a car as expensive as a Lexus, all the competing cars are good, so there has to be something that distinguishes them,’ explains Ken Wong, associate professor at Queen’s School of Business. ‘And that’s where the brilliance of making a memory, a ‘moment,’ comes in.’
Toyota introduced Lexus to the Canadian market in 1990. In 2005, the brand established separate design, engineering and training divisions, although there is a marketing overlap, with Orton leading a team of six, three dedicated to Lexus alone. The idea of distinct brand identities extends to the different models in the Lexus line, which includes the IS, ES, GS and LS series of sedans, the SC convertible coupe and the RX, GX and LX SUV series.
‘One thing Lexus has done that others haven’t is recognize that different kinds of drivers want a different kind of driving memory,’ says Wong. ‘So the 250 is sporty, designed for someone in their 30s, and when you step up to the 450, you’re talking about someone in their 50s or 60s. And the advertising, the styling and so on are all consistent
with the market they’re looking at. So Lexus is practising a subtle segmentation within the brand, and to me that’s the real magic.’
Earlier this year Lexus launched the world’s first V8-powered full hybrid, the LS 600h L, and Dentsu’s campaign for the ultra-luxury vehicle seamlessly integrates environmental friendliness into the ‘Moments’ theme. It includes sober, if luscious, print ads touting the car’s high performance and low emissions, and a TV spot that goes after the heart with its ‘H is for home, harmony, hope…hybrid’ voiceover and images of trees, windmills and smiling babies.
But it wasn’t just campaigns that helped Lexus Canada set its 27th consecutive monthly sales record in October, or see its year-to-date Canadian sales rise 14% compared to the same period last year. Since its Canadian launch in 1990, Lexus has earned accolades for customer satisfaction, performance and reliability from Consumer Reports, Wheels, Car and Driver and others, and the LS model has stayed at the top of J.D. Power’s Vehicle Dependability Study for 13 years.
The brand also has a rock-solid reputation for customer care. Through the Club Lexus program, owners (or ‘guests’) can schedule service appointments online and see their service history as well as participate in forums, get tickets for film and music events and take a VIP tour of the Cambridge plant. Meanwhile, the brand’s CSR involvements include the Children’s Wish Foundation and the Canadian Junior Golf Association.
‘It’s a very good brand, and not just because of what they’ve done marketing-wise,’ says Wong. ‘They’re clearly backing up the promises the marketing makes with a solid product and service.’
