LexusMan77

The funny thing is that BMW has started to jump on the whole copy-original theme. I heard on the radio today a BMW commercial about how a lot of car makers have copied the X5 and it ended by saying "Why have a copy when you can have the original." I was thinking "this is the same thing as the RX tv commercial."

RX469

iTrader: (1)

These are nice commercials.

RXSF

yeah i have seen a few bmw adds about "copying" but I havent been able to find a replica on youtube.

LexFather

Yeah I've noticed the new C-class ad powering through the desert like the IS ad is doing.

What was really lame is the Honda Accord ad trying to do the same thing but its FWD and they are trying to drift it like the C/IS and it looks like crap. Lame.

LexusMan77

Are you referring to this C class commercial? Its old but MB has been reusing it since 2008.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eOLq07VwSE

GS69

With Brands Revived and New Products In Tow, Toyota, Lexus Push Niche Marketing

As Toyota and Lexus have regained footing in the US market and restocked their product portfolios, the brands' marketing has taken on new confidence as well. And like the rest of the auto industry, Toyota and Lexus are pursuing niches of American consumers with more verve than ever as they seek to squeeze every last sale out of a vibrant US car market.

1 thing Toyota is doing now, for example, is experimenting with a partnership with DirecTV to 0 in on would-be customers for the all-electric version of its RAV4 SUV. Even though Toyota essentially has given up on EVs as a high-volume proposition—in favor of flogging the Prius hybrid brand—the company is attempting to target tech-savvy early adopters in major California cities using DirecTV subscriber data to reach narrow slices of consumers.

"A national campaign doesn't make sense," Dionne Colvin, Toyota's national media marketing manager, told Automotive News. "But we do want to get the message out."

Meanwhile, Toyota is also taking a more concentrated tack toward pickup truck buyers as it seeks to get a share of the booming segment for its Tundra nameplate. Overall, the brand doesn't invest nearly as much in pickup sales as the Detroit 3 do; Tundra hasn't been redesigned since 2007, and doesn't offer all the optional configurations that GM, Ford and Chrysler do for their trucks.

But Toyota does believe Tundra has a shot at some of the so-called "lifestyle" buyers who are coming back into the pickup market after being chased away by the Great Recession and its aftermath. These are people who don't need pickups for construction work, farming or other professional applications—individuals that Toyota has taken to calling "The Evolved Trucker" in a new campaign.

2014 Toyota Tundra: Tree House - YouTube

And while some truck executives believed such buyers were basically extinct, Toyota's new TV-ad camapign that began this week focuses on Tundra as a family vehicle for DIY home projects, for instance.

Lexus is doing its share of edgy marketing as well. There are the planned openings of the brand's new Intersect lounges in select major cities around the world, for 1 thing. But in the US, Lexus also is experimenting with all kinds of unusual events, sponsorships, grass roots movements, social media, performances "and a mashup of the above," as MarketingDaily put it.

For example, Lexus has a 2-year-old Culinary Masters team that works with the brand on multiple initiatives including customer-appreciation programs and charitable outreaches. Earlier this month, more than 100 diners gathered at Animal restaurant in Torrance, Calif., for a Lexus Culinary Masters program featuring a menu crafted by renowned chef Michelle Bernstein.

Another of those innovative efforts is a four-week program called "It's Your Move After Dark," a partnership with NBCUniversal that comprises a series of TV spots for the new Lexus IS sedan that are being created on the spot by improv actors and comedians based on suggestions from viewers and online denizens. It is happening in ad pods on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

"People are so busy and doing so many things that a great ad isn't enough to get people's attention," Brian Smith, CMO of Lexus in the US, said at a recent marketing seminar, according to the publication. "We have to do it in a different way. Our approach is simple: creating great content and delivering it appropriately, and driving 360 experience."