I8ABMR

Just read this and thought it was interesting:
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/06/17/a...-future-proof/




Company: Toyota Motor Sales

Brand: Lexus

Medium: TV

Ad Agency: Team One

Product: Lexus Brand

Campaign: "Engineering Amazing."

What We Like: There is a swagger in the ads, and a tone and creative quality that hearkens back to when Lexus was launching as a new luxury brand in 1989 and 90. Call us car geeks, but we like the stories of how Lexus had to invent new processes, like a 3D loom to weave carbon fiber that is strong enough for its intended purpose. Innovating plastic that can be recycled infinitely sounds pretty cool, too, though we would discourage the company from using the stuff over and over again in its interiors, some of which lately seem to look like they were designed at the Igloo Cooler company. The close of one ad just released, titled "A New Era of Lexus Innovation," finishes on the track, and gives the brand a youthful energy – not unimportant since the vast majority of Lexus buyers lately also reap AARP discounts. In "Wall," a Lexus LS crashes a wall of beakers and vials each holding a different "alternative" fuel, such as bio-diesel, algae, liquid hydrogen, and so on. Lexus makes the point that its Hybrid Drive technology will optimize any fuel system on the planet, and that its technology is "future-proof." That's swagger.

What We Don't Like: Lexus has a way of making its ads sound like the brand is the last word in innovation. We guess that's what they were shooting for. It is, after all, advertising. But it's hard not to react with a bit of a jaundiced eye when we stop to consider just how pointless the hybrid system actually is in big cars like the Lexus LS. The fuel economy gain is negligible, and at a lot of extra cost. Seriously, $112,250 for the LS600h, about $45K more than an LS460? Want to impress us? Start mating your bigger vehicles to a diesel engine, which would be far more appropriate to the vehicles than hybrids. Also, you could work on the plastics aesthetics on the lower-priced Lexus models.

Strategy: Lexus has a well-known age problem. The age of its buyers has crept consistently over 60, and it muffed its cycle plans by having too many new core models come out at the same time. Some of the vehicles are long in the tooth. This campaign is filled with tech, messages about sustainability, race-track footage. We aren't saying Toyota is trying to out the brand on roller skates, but it is clearly using story-telling techniques to give fresh life to its innovations. That's a good idea, and they should keep at it.

"This isn't just a campaign, it's a statement that, for Lexus, the best is yet to come," says Dave Nordstrom, vice president of marketing for Lexus. "It's not about simply making incremental strides and improvements, but about taking giant leaps in innovation." These ads and this approach is slated to run through January, so it is a major push to super-charge the way customers think of Lexus.

Grade: B+

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

That's an interesting article.

It's funny that they mention the age of Lexus owners. My step-dad just bought a new Lexus and he's over 60. The previous owner of my SC300 bought it when she in her late 50's. It seems like old people like Lexus.

mmarshall

Admittedly, I don't have the cold hard numbers with me for all the nationwide (and worldwide) Lexus sales, but, from what I have seen, and especially in this money-rich D.C. area and its enormous new-car market, the Geezer-image of Lexus seems to be more of an automotive stereotype than fact.

The RX, for instance, especially the RX350, is enormously popular in this area with younger and middle-age females, Soccer-Moms, and some males as well. The HS and CT models I've seen so far seem to be mostly young and middle-aged buyers, too. The IS buyers, of course, especially the convertibles and IS-F models, are almost all younger people (though I owned a bright-yellow one, myself at a not-so-young age). The one Lexus model that does seem to appeal mainly to older folks, either because of its high price or cushy driving-characteristics (perhaps both), is the LS460. Yet, even then, a number of LS owners (such as rominl and Gogirra99, right here on this forum) are certainly not geezers, either. The ES model, to a lesser extent, also appeals to some older folks (two retired friends of mine just bought ES350's), but, even then, also has its share of younger drivers.

SLegacy99

I can believe that the age of Lexus owners is increasing. What do they offer that is sporty, but affordable for a young person? The IS is okay, but you can only get the 6MT with the RWD and for awhile you couldn't AWD with the 350. Vehicles like the A4 and 3 series draw these age group.

seanlee

it would be quite interesting to list average buyer's age for BMW 3 series
mind to take a guess?

if you guess is around 51, then congratulations.


there is a A LOT of misconception of average age related to a certain brand. it is almost shocking.

LexBob2

When Lexus launched the current gen ES350 one of their stated goals was to lower the average age of ES buyers (same thing for the current gen Avalon whenit came out). For whatever reasons it hasn't worked. The average age of ES350 new car buyers is right around 60, second only to LS new car buyers. I think the second owners of each of these models are probably a younger demographic.

TRDFantasy

Exactly. The media continues to beat the same drum with the constant Toyota bashing, criticism, and stories based on little more than unsubstantiated rumors and internet hearsay.

Things is though, the facts don't lie. Those of us who know the facts can only laugh at articles like this.

For example, the average buyer's age for the Lexus IS is lower than the BMW 3 Series. This is a fact, yet you'll almost never see this mentioned in a news story.

jwong77

I don't understand why having a higher average age buyer for a luxury brand is so shocking at all. It makes sense that people with more disposable income can afford to buy a more expensive car. Who cares anyways?

84Cressida

Buick still stands as the geezer mobile in my area, and they're not even a luxury brand, no matter what GM or their fanboys think....

TRDFantasy

I agree, I mean who cares if the average buyer age of the Lexus ES is so high? The ES covers a market segment quite different than the 3 Series, IS, A4, etc.

Only the media and internet haters seem to care about average buyer age so much.

Nobody in the media even dares to mention that in many of the world's top auto markets a large percentage of the population is getting older. Yes while it's important to attract younger buyers, ignoring the growing number of older buyers is suicide for a major luxury brand IMHO.

Also as mentioned, it's mostly older buyers that actually have the income to afford a luxury vehicle.

ST430

I bought my 01' LS430 brand new at age of 26....

GS69

Lexus Marketing Boss Nordstrum to Run Toyota Social Media Post

Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. has placed its Lexus marketing chief in charge of the automaker's overall social media strategy in a sign of the growing importance of untraditional marketing.

Dave Nordstrom, who has been Lexus vice president of marketing since 2007, was appointed to the newly created position effective today. He will be succeeded by Tim Morrison, previously corporate manager of marketing communications for Toyota Division.

In an interview last year, Nordstrom noted with chagrin that Lexus had just created a Twitter account. In embracing social media since then, he has changed how Lexus communicates with its customers by becoming more interactive in launch details, customer surveys and lifestyle events.

Morrison takes over a brand that has been battered by recession and a recall crisis in recent years. Lexus has said it will yield its 11-year title as best-selling luxury brand in the United States in 2011 as it battles inventory shortages stemming from the March earthquake in Japan.

Among Morrison's projects was the 2011 model year Highlander ad campaign that positioned the vehicle as the car for cool parents, narrated by a know-it-all kid. He also led a 2009 branding campaign that focused on Toyota quality, durability, reliability, efficiency, safety and innovation.

Nordstrom began his career with Toyota in 1990 and has rotated through several departments, including business processes and technology, marketing, remarketing and Toyota Financial Services. While at the finance unit, Nordstrom helped develop ways for young 1st-time buyers to get financing for a new Scion.

He took the Lexus post after Deborah Wahl-Meyer departed for Chrysler four years ago.

You can reach Mark Rechtin at mrechtin@crain.com.