As consumer demographics have shifted over the past decade and millennials have begun to enter the luxury goods market, Lexus recognized a need to target this growing customer base. We brought together four artists, each with their own passions and inspirations, to prove to our next generation of buyers that Innovation means nothing, unless it sparks something. The result is “Emotional Sparks” – a collaboration between Grammy award winning producers Nova Wav, rising hip-hop stars Audrey Nuna and ECKO, and Dancer/Choreographer Zak Ryan Schlegel.

A collaboration in its truest sense, Audrey, ECKO and NOVA WAV had full reign to create a song sparked by the unique experience of driving a Lexus. The result was the single “No Ceiling” created exclusively for this campaign. Our role was to illustrate and celebrate this process of creation, moving with our artists from the first moments of inspiration, through recording and its streaming debut.

To demonstrate our core belief that “Innovation means nothing, unless it sparks something” we let our Lexus vehicles spark something in four outstanding artists who, inspired by the cars and each other, created one unique track. Lexus is not just about engineering, but the experiences this engineering creates – the thrill of dynamic handling, the freedom of automated driving, and the inspiring roar of a V8 engine. It’s exactly this quality that we strove to convey, in a way that was powerfully authentic and truly inspiring.

Artist collaborations in Advertising are as plentiful as the day is long. So to stand out we stepped back, giving our talent full creative control over their track. The real challenge of capturing the authentic spark of creativity lay in choosing the right artists to lend us their inspiration. We began with our producers Nova Wav; the Grammy award winning duo behind some of Beyonce’s biggest track, and the sonic architects of our project. We worked closely with them to create a song that truly captured the experience of a Lexus vehicle and to find the perfect artists to accompany it. Bay Area star Audrey Nuna performed the song’s unforgettable chorus, while Argentinian rapper ECKO delivered his signature flow on the verse. And by the end of the recording sessions, we didn’t just have a great ad on our hands, we had a hit.

Debuting during the first Sunday Night Football game of the 2021 NFL Season–each of the four :30s TV spots featured the artists behind the wheel of Lexus’ most innovative models. The all new NX 450h+ Plug-in Hybrid (a brand first) the powerful IS 500, and the flagship LS 500 with hands free driving provided the spark of inspiration for our creators and viewers; as we invited the latter to explore the full project at Lexus.com/sparks. There visitors can view the full length “No Ceiling” film, directed by frequent Lexus collaborator Sebastian Strasser and stream the full single. The campaign also extends to social media. Lexus partnered with Zak Ryan Schlegel and influencers across TikTok to launch the #LexusSparks dance trend, part of a larger push by Lexus Marketing VP Vinay Shahani to embrace the platform.

“No Ceiling is a miracle...music video, dance, movements, gestures...artists converge on this magical exercise of meaning making for the brand.”

These are the words not of AdAge or another trade vertical (although this project was covered there too) but of Grant McCracken: anthropologist, author and director of the Institute for Contemporary Culture at the Royal Ontario Museum. And while we could point towards our hundreds of thousands of views and Lexus’ segment topping sales figures, responses like this are for us the true markers of success. Because it means that we as an Agency have managed to create not just a commercial, but a true cultural object that transcends the field of Advertising.