Media > Use of Media
CHANGE THE WAY PEOPLE SHOP
TEAM ONE ADVERTISING, El Segundo / LEXUS / 2004
Awards:
Overview
Credits
OVERVIEW
Audience
While Lexus is in top position in Luxury New Vehicle sales, competitors outsell them in Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles. Since CPO sales boost the future resale value for New vehicles, it was imperative for Lexus to increase their CPO sales. To achieve this, advertising had to drive highly qualified leads to Lexus Dealers.
Effectiveness
Driving highly qualified shoppers into dealerships paid off. In the first two months of the 'Third Category' launch, Lexus increased CPO sales 30% over the prior year. Further, Lexus had the highest market share gain in the category (+14.5%) – comparatively; category leader BMW lost share (-6%). (Source: Autodata, Feb. 2004)
Execution
This idea is much bigger than a media execution or an ad. We seamlessly integrated and developed with automotive websites credible consumer content and marketing messages: permanent homepage placement, CPO Resource center and all manufacturer CPO vehicle search tools exclusively and politely branded by Lexus. Traditional banners only played a supporting role. We feel this approach represents a step forward in how advertisers and media planners will reach their consumers in the future.
MediaEffort
On Auto Sites, we tailored our ad messages and strategically placed them to either educate or incite action (depending on the content being consumed). First, we created consumer interest by calling CPO to their attention (Homepage), then we educated them (CPO Resource Center), and finally, we drove them to search for CPO vehicles (CPO Search). As an extension, newspaper, radio and in-dealership training resources were used to support the Third Category executions.
MediaStrategy
Shattering conventional wisdom, research revealed that television, automotives traditional core medium, was dreadfully ineffective for CPO. Consumers saw 'TV ads' as 'Brand ads' and missed CPO messaging altogether. CPO messages were only truly relevant closer to the purchase decision. Interestingly, the Internet, where shoppers research and make decisions, was woefully lacking in information on CPO. Spotting an opportunity, we convinced Auto Sites to update their business models by creating a new media vehicle – The CPO 'Third Category.' By permanently placing CPO alongside New and Used on auto site homepages we now had a highly engaged audience with whom to communicate.
SpecialCredits
Meija Jacobs, Vicki Wagner, Gabrielle Mayeure
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