Lexus has lead U.S. luxury sales for ten straight years. Can it repeat in the face of recalls?
Lexus says that it now has more than 190,000 hybrids on the road, and they have traveled more than an estimated 5.5 billion miles – if you use 10,000 miles annually and global sales numbers.
In it’s latest attempt to overcome the negative publicity surrounding Toyota and Lexus recalls, Lexus has launched for the first-time a marketing campaign that showcases all four of its hybrid vehicles currently on sale in the U.S. – the RX 400h, GS 450h, LS 600h and HS 250h. (The recently announced Lexus CT 200h will be the fifth Lexus hybrid when it appears.)
“We are very proud of our leadership in luxury hybrids and have created a campaign that lets consumers know that at Lexus, hybrids aren’t just a concept for a future car, but vehicles that have been on the road for five years,” states Dave Nordstrom, vice president of marketing for Lexus. “We will continue to explore groundbreaking technologies that will allow us to expand our hybrid offerings and remain at the forefront of alternative-fuel vehicle development.”
The new “multiplatform” campaign, promoting – critics might say bombastically hyping products from the Number One selling luxury brand in the U.S. for ten years running – debuted this past weekend.
“Milestones,” the new TV spot, highlights changes that the world has seen since the first Lexus Hybrid appeared five years ago. The spot shows thousands of Lexus Hybrid vehicles forming the shape of a computer cursor, a gas nozzle, a landline and, finally, the letter “h,” illustrating how much the world has evolved during those five years. It is the story of the Lexus Hybrids as told by the vehicles themselves.
The commercial runs during primetime, on network television and cable, during NCAA basketball and Major League Baseball programming.
In addition to television, Lexus will run a national print campaign, online banners and out-of-home advertising in 12 markets.
Two print ads titled, “Close Your Eyes” and “Roads” will appear in consumer print publications such as Men’s Health, Women’s Health, People, Sports Illustrated, Vogue and USA Today.