Daily Slideshow: How Lexus Intends to Diversify Its Customer Base
Lexus is working hard to shed their image as a one-dimensional car company. And so far, it's paying off.
Attracting Youth
Essentially since its inception, Lexus has been viewed as a car for middle-aged or older folks who value luxury just as much as reliability. The youth market has largely escaped the automaker, despite its best efforts at producing cars geared more toward them. But the future of Lexus depends on the brand's ability to sell cars to a new kind of customer, especially as baby boomers are getting older. And at least one of their more recent moves to appeal to this younger audience has been a resounding success.
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Striking Marketing Gold
Of course, we're referring to Lexus' decision to become a major player in the insanely successful movie, The Black Panther. The smashing box office success of this recent Marvel flick has placed Lexus, which plays a prominent role throughout the movie and in its advertising, front and center with a young and influential customer. Lexus sees this market as its key to once again becoming the top luxury brand in the U.S. But it's only just the beginning.
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Expanding Horizons
Attracting younger buyers is an important piece of that puzzle, of course. Which is why Lexus' focus lately revolves around building sporty, performance-oriented luxury vehicles that are both exciting and innovative. But the demographics in the U.S. are changing as well, as spending by non-whites has increased substantially in recent years. Hence the importance of making an impression on a more diverse customer.
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Reaching a New Market
Cooper Ericksen, Lexus head of marketing, summed up this strategy in a recent interview with Bloomberg. "We are going after a younger customer, and just from a demographic standpoint, the younger you go, the more culturally diverse the population gets. The task to hit our sales plan really comes from bringing a lot of new customers into the brand.”
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Moving Forward
There's just one problem with this strategy, of course - Lexus risks alienating their loyal customers with bold, edgy styling. “The folks that look at [our styling] as somewhat polarizing would be, for the most part, the folks that have been with us since the beginning,” Jeff Bracken, group vice president and general manager of Lexus, told Car Buzz. “In fact, I’ll take phone calls from some of these owners and [they] will literally spend 45 minutes to an hour on the phone with me just expressing how disappointed they are.”
Despite this, Lexus isn't budging on their current strategy. “It’s a very purposeful and strategic move on our part," Bracken explained. "If we lose some of our tradition owners, it’s unsettling for us but won’t preclude us from moving down this path. We hope to gain more [customers] than we lose.”
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