Lexus wanted to launch the all-new NX Luxury Crossover in Australia.

The problem was drivers of European luxury cars are nearly impossible difficult to target . Particularly for Lexus Australia. They all feel they have made the best choice with Mercedes, BMW, Audi or Range Rover and in this market, Lexus is still thought of as a little behind the times.

Traditional Direct Marketing wasn’t working.

So to attract these drivers and a new-to-brand audience, we created a new technology.

There’s no better way to talk directly to a luxury car audience than when they’re actually driving. So we decided to fish where the fish were.

We chose locations in 5 major cities across Australia to maximize exposure over a 2 week period. To pinpoint our audience further we targeted commuter routes most travelled by competitor vehicles.

Bespoke vehicle recognition software was developed to be used with cameras mounted on the billboards.

On approach, the cameras identified the make, model and vehicle colour. This data was cross-referenced with other variables captured by sensors on the billboard - weather, time and traffic conditions.

We then directly target messages to individual drivers of competitor luxury vehicles in real time.

Step-by-step, this is how it worked: 1. Billboards appear on major motorways where we knew luxury drivers would be, 2. Driver approaches billboard, e.g. in a Range Rover Evoque, 3. Billboard shows personalised message, e.g. ‘Hey white Evoque’.

This targeted, dynamic billboards worked. By speaking one-to-one to drivers of luxury vehicles, the objective of 00% new-to-brand sales was beaten by 00% to a final figure of 70%. (Normally a launch campaign gets a results of 00% new-to-brand.) Sales targets were also exceeded by 140%.

Being a new technology in the market the media amplification of the campaign was extraordinary. Added results were its positive results for the Lexus brand. It generated $11million in combined PR/circulation, and $417,681 in earned PR/advertising. Plus, within 24 hours National TV News channels had aired the story and it was featured in over 160 publications worldwide.