2017 Gold Automotive

DigitasLBi

Client: Lexus UK

Prime Your Senses

Campaign overview

Lexus had just undergone a huge brand shift and were now launching their new LC model.

The brief was to excite prospects about a car that was 14 months from being ready to test drive.

Strategy

The new Lexus brand positioning was that of a modern luxury lifestyle brand, appealing to a discerning audience who crave experiences more than ownership alone.

DigitasLBi knew that to really excite their audience in a category crowded with beautifully shot commercials and high spec feature lists, they had to give them a taste of what owning one would actually feel like.

Typically, the most visceral connection with a car is made during a test drive. But the LC was 14 months from being ready to drive, which is a long time in the purchase journey of a car.

The strategy was simple; to create a stronger emotional connection with the LC by giving prospective owners an experience of the car that would excite their senses, in the same way a test drive does.

Creativity

The idea was to focus attention on the details of the car, by removing any visual distractions. Instead creating an experience purely through sound.

By delivering the LC Sound Tour through a mobile site, DigitasLBi further enhanced the experience. Personalised URL's allowed them to tailor the script to each recipient, and high fidelity head phones sent out in a beautiful mail pack created a more intimate experience for the hottest prospects.

The script primed the listeners' senses with a series of low frequency sounds; bird calls and outdoor ambience, to ensure they primed listeners' ears to pick up the subtlety of hearing the LC's more refined interior features. This gave the last and most exciting sound - the 10-speed V8 engine - even more impact.

The experience closed with a brief glimpse of the LC at full throttle, to leave them wanting more and a relevant CTA.

Results

The campaign helped generate sales revenue of over £1.4m from those who received the comms.

Creating a simple experience based on sound rather than visuals meant a low production budget generating an ROI of 750%.

Email communications out-performed targets by a significant margin too with open rates of 50.5%, 67% above target and click through of 36.2%, 73% above target.

Team

Mark Benton (CRM Manager) Lexus UK - Jake Richards (Business Director) DigitasLbi - Jason Fletcher (Executive Creative Director) Publicis London - Tim Clegg (Executive Creative Director) DigitasLbi - Mark Teece (Copywriter) DigitasLbi - David Finch (Art Director) DigitasLbi - Craig Hawkes Project (Director) DigitasLbi - Chris Petts (Project Manager) DigitasLbi - Alexandra King (Account Director) DigitasLbi - Tom Jeffery (Senior Digital Designer) DigitasLbi - Darren Wood (Creative Director) DigitasLbi - Mark Chivers (Junior Designer) DigitasLbi

Contributors

August Media (Technology partner)