Lexus: INSPIRING AN INDUSTRY

Credits & Description:

Category: Best Use of Newspapers

Advertiser: LEXUS USA

Product/Service: 2010 LEXUS LS LINE

Agency: TEAM ONE

Date of First Appearance: Oct 26 2009 12:00AM

Entrant Company: TEAM ONE, El Segundo, USA

Executive Media Director: Paul Silverman (Team One)

Group Media Director: Jason Harrington (Team One)

Associate Media Director: Rebecca Foster (Team One)

Associate Media Director: Kirsten Atkinson (Team One)

Media Supervisor: Elaine Evangelista (Team One)

Assistant Media Planner: Marina Tignor (Team One)

Chief Creative Officer: Chris Graves (Team One)

Creative Director: Craig Crawford (Team One)

Creative Director: James Hendry (Team One)

Copywriter: Molly Grubbs (Team One)

Art Director: Ryan Fluet (Team One)

Senior Strategic Planner: Elaine Grullon (Team One)

Senior Print Production Manager: Mary Miyoshi (Team One)

Account Supervisor: Amy Oars (Team One)

Assistant Account Executive: Patrick Field (Team One)

Vice President Marketing: David Nordstrom (Lexus)

Corporate Manager Advertising, Brand & Product Strategy: Deborah Senior (Lexus)

National Manager Marketing Communications: Steve Jett (Lexus)

Media Manager: Teri Hill (Lexus)

Advertising Manager: Mariko Kusumoto (Lexus)

Media placement: Newspaper - The Wall Street Journal-US - 26 October 2009

Media placement: Newspaper - The Wall Street Journal-US - 2 November 2009

Media placement: Newspaper - The Wall Street Journal-US - 2 November 2009

Media placement: Newspaper - The Wall Street Journal-US - 5 November 2009

Media placement: Newspaper - The Wall Street Journal-US - 5 November 2009

Media placement: Newspaper - The Wall Street Journal-US - 6 November 2009

Media placement: Newspaper - The Wall Street Journal-US - 20 November 2009



Results and Effectiveness

The newspaper ads successfully generated significant lift in consideration and impressions of Lexus, by appealing to the Wall Street Journal reader in a unique way:

-Some individual executions generated recall as high as 93%

-79% of respondents credited the Lexus LS as the leader among vehicles in its class

-65% of respondents agreed that they would "Consider purchasing a Lexus LS"

-In three months, Lexus' share of sales in this segment increased from 21.7% to 39.4%, taking Lexus from #3 position in the segment to #1 position, ahead of both Mercedes and BMW.



Creative Execution

To promote this innovative vehicle in a traditional medium like the Wall Street Journal, we used the space in an innovative way with multiple high-impact creative units each touting one of the world's firsts in the LS.

For example, a car "parks" in between columns of editorial to tout the self-park system.

The four-zone climate control was promoted by using four corners of a spread (an innovative way to get the impact of a spread for the price of a page). Many of these breakthrough media buys had never been negotiated before.

Over the course of the 4-week newspaper schedule, the reader was exposed to 19 newspaper insertions that worked together to deliver the message of cumulative innovations. While each unit delivered a singular message, collectively, they made a much larger statement about how the LS inspires an industry.



Insights, Strategy & the Idea

Objective: To drive Lexus LS awareness and consideration among a broader range of prestige buyers in the shrinking Luxury Prestige segment. To become more relevant to these buyers, Lexus needed to use its flagship vehicle to provide leadership in innovation.

Target: Affluent Men 45+, accomplished professionals who place advanced technology among their top reasons for considering the LS and its competitors. They are heavy newspaper readers and consume news and business editorial on a daily basis.

Strategic Insight: The LS has the kind of benchmark technology that not only leads an industry, but inspires one. To hit home this notion of industry-inspiring innovation, the campaign needed not only to claim Lexus as an innovative company, but prove that Lexus is innovative in the way the message itself is delivered.