The sport sedan had become watered down over the years. Designed to be everything to everyone. Instead of the pure thrill it was originally intended to be. Not to mention SUV sales were outpacing sedan sales, and trending to continue that way. So Lexus needed to show that the new IS was a pure sport sedan. They needed to announce their true commitment to the sport sedan. And differentiate themselves from competitors, in an authentic way.

Lexus was committed to creating something thrilling with the Lexus IS relaunch. It was their obsession. They were “All In” on the sport sedan. As it turns out, we identified this was a behavior Lexus shared with their audience. People who went all in on their passion in life. Total enthusiasts. Sometimes known as micro influencers on Social. So we partnered with a diverse group of real-life enthusiasts to go all in together and make something worth sharing. As a result of these relationships and collaborations, we cocreated content that reached targeted groups in places they deeply engaged with.

The audience for this vehicle was younger than the typical Lexus driver. And they’re passionate about their favorite interests in life. It’s not just a casual interest. They’re enthusiasts. We had to show that we understood this level of passion, and had applied it to the creation of the Lexus IS. This meant that traditional advertising featuring actors wasn’t going to cut it. We needed to work with actual enthusiasts in this campaign. People who were respected inside their social communities. We needed to prove that the richest experiences come to those who go all in.

For two months, we released content across key subcultures. All created with the help of influencers who were part of those subcultures. We worked with two iconic DJs to make a first-of-its-kind record player in the IS, partnering with Pitchfork.com. We worked with a Twitch influencer and her followers to turn an IS into the ultimate mobile gaming space, cocreating while livestreaming on Twitch. We worked with a shoe-designing duo to make a sneaker inspired by the IS silhouette, in partnership with Complex.com. And we worked with a pro driver and skateboarder to host a downhill race, featured at MotorTrend.com. Then when it came to TV, Print and Social, instead of actors and models, we found real enthusiasts. Across two National TV spots, a series of Print spreads, Digital, Paid Social and Organic Social, all the work featured micro influencers—that they then shared in their channels.

- During the campaign we saw the most ever monthly Lexus.com visits in company history.

- Video content through our partnership activations and ads led to 100 million video views.

- Through Paid Social and Organic Social efforts, we saw 440 million Social Impressions.

- As a whole, the campaign garnered 1 billion total impressions.

- In an article by Road & Track, they pointed out that Lexus was singlehandedly reviving the sales of sedans. With the Lexus IS being the #1 fastest selling sedan in the US. And the #2 fastest-selling car overall.

- Twitch CEO Emmett Shear had this to say about our efforts with Gamers: “It’s a great example of how a brand can participate—and do it at scale—on Twitch.”