I was watching the US Open this pasted weekend and noticed that Lexus was running a lot of commercials for the LFA. I was thinking why didn't they run commercials for the ISF since a larger percentage of people would be able to afford it. I know its there new "Super Car" and all but I think ISF sales would increase if more people knew about the car.

 

i don't think there should be LFA commercials, i've can't remember seeing any supercar commercials to be honest. closest was that R8 commercial with ironman2 and with the other audi cars making fun of the rx, and 3 series, and italian cars - but i've seen audi commercials targeting other companies for whatever reason also.

 

Are they the commercials seen on this page: http://www.lexus.com/quality/ ?

 

The LFA is Lexus's Halo car - they want to show the world that they're serious about performance yet are still a premier luxury brand. That's the whole purpose of the LFA - it's certainly not about making a profit!

I think I saw the commercial 4 times during the US Open. Golfers are probably a good chunk of the Lexus demographic.

 

Well if they are serious about performance then they need to take that technology and build a super sports car for the masses. Makes no sense to spend millions on a commercial for a car that only a handful in American are going to get.

 

This is exactly my point as well

 

Lexus is NOT trying to market the LFA, they're just showing the world what they're capable of.

 

Notably, they've also spent exponentially more millions of dollars researching, developing, testing, and producing a car that only a handful in America are going to get.

 

Why spent money on advertising when all LFA's are already spoken for?

 

This is obviously not an ad for the LFA, it is an ad with an LFA. This Ad sell the "classic" Lexus value proposition "The Pursuit of Perfection"
The LFA is just this: a halo vehicle for the Lexus Brand, and as such, it make perfect sense for it to be featured in a TV Ad, actually they better get their R&D money back by making sure that all potential customers know about the LFA and how it relates to the Lexus Brand.

 

^ i agree! with the commercial, it only emphasizes what Lexus has already created for itself in terms of a reputation. classy, elegance, but now you can include sport and speed. the LFA is the halo vehicle, as timeToy stated, and with the exposure it can surely lead to more intrigue and curiosity with the Lexus models being introduces- most recently the IS F.

the R&D is quite grand for the LFA, but it is necessary to perfect the technology behind a manufacturer's most coveted vehicle. it will only bolster other concepts for Lexus, and eventually lead to sales and customer retention, in my opinion. it takes money to make money, and it costs even more money to bring in new customers by swaying them away from a competitor and keep the ones it already has.

 

Why don't they let us unlock the IS-F's ECU, so we can make if faster than the LFA?

 

Glad to see that there are a few that understand the marketing objective of the ad campaign. It's definitely not about selling the LFA.

 

I thought the commercial was dumb, using the amplified exhaust sound of the fastest car going an acutal zero to break a goblet. When Ella Fitzgerald did the same thing to sell Memorex tapes, at least there was a point to it.

It also makes me now think Car and Driver was right when they opined that a stagnant Lexus is trying too hard to redefine itself. Really, they always have been ever since they departed their focus from basic quality to impress with meaningless technological gimmicks like cars that parallel park themselves, or executive reclining vibrating seats.

The basic problem was that ever since the then astounding 1990 LS400, there has only been one inevitable direction for them to go, down. If the LFA is anything other than a resounding triumph, it does more harm than good to the image, probably why they can keep close tabs on the 300 or so they build the first year.

I like cars like the LFA, I like my IS-F as well. But ads like this don't affect my potential brand loyalty one way of the other, and I doubt the LFA is going to do much for bringing in new Lexus customers from outside the circle, other than to remain a mostly unknown curiosity.

 

I was at the US Open. I didn't see a LFA on display but I did see Sergio Garcia driving off in a white F430 Scuderia, and Phil Mickelson driving an Aston Martin. And there was a two-tone pearl white (with sky blue roof) Ferrari 599 GTB in the parking lot.