The Campaign

The all-new Lexus RC F, a 5.0L V8 performance coupe, is the purest embodiment of the F philosophy, so we set about developing a way to show the world exactly how thrilling it is to drive. We combined the $150,000 car, an experimental electroluminescent paint, custom shields, wireless heart monitors and biometrics to display the driver’s heart rate on the outside of the car in real time. Then raced it, at night. It was irrefutable, a physical response of pure enjoyment that was on display to the world as opposed to a set of questionable performance figures or obscure telemetry. Our media schedule allowed us to extend the experience across desktop and mobile, with a batch of innovative display placements that were carefully selected for their functionality and targeting ability. By leveraging these breakthrough technologies, we had created the world’s first car with a heartbeat.

Creative Execution

The launch was also an opportunity to continue making in-roads with critically important ‘step-up’ luxury buyers. Our aim was to broaden our audience from car enthusiasts to young, sophisticated, style-conscious Australians looking to make their first luxury car purchase. A suite of native advertising and quality display formats balanced credibility with fast impact across high-end digital titles including GQ, Vogue, The Australian and The Wall Street Journal, and, aided by News Corp reader data, innovative pre-roll formats were targeted to readers likely to be considering a luxury performance vehicle purchase. As the project built momentum, views and shares of a high-octane case study film of the car being tested on a secret Sydney track, continue to grow. Lexus then accelerated its reach to potential buyers through a targeted creative partnership with News Corp. This approach allowed Lexus to increase its reach, whilst still being targeted amongst influential audiences.

The Lexus RC launched strongly, with just under 100 vehicles sold nationally in its first two months in market. And sales did not tail off, the Heartbeat Car project helped lift market share of the RC by 23.5%. And this is not a blip, shifting average market share from 7.7% - 9 months before the campaign – to 9.5% - 9 months after the campaign. It has also undoubtedly contributed to broader Lexus sales, with the brand breaking sales records throughout 2015 and into the first quarter of 2016. The campaign generated over 110 million media impressions, and encouragingly for the brand many appeared in influential publications such as Wired, Mashable, Verge and PSFK. Over a four-day period the campaign was supported by 9.6 million paid media impressions to ensure it reached our critical audience of Australian high-end luxury buyers, while also covering a wider audience through auto, tech, style and news

The launch of the Heartbeat Car is a great example of how a modest media budget can be dramatically extended with the combination of creative technology, astute channel planning, strategic media partnerships and an authentic brand story. The story of the Heartbeat Car was distributed to a targeted audience, whilst still maintaining reach. Through a series of tech and lifestyle publishers, paid media – online and offline, PR and social – the campaign achieved over 110m earned media impressions.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

The launch was also an opportunity to continue making in-roads with critically important ‘step-up’ luxury buyers. Our aim was to broaden our audience from car enthusiasts to young, sophisticated, style-conscious Australians looking to make their first luxury car purchase. A suite of native advertising and quality display formats balanced credibility with fast impact across high-end digital titles including GQ, Vogue, The Australian and The Wall Street Journal, and, aided by News Corp reader data, innovative pre-roll formats were targeted to readers likely to be considering a luxury performance vehicle purchase. As the project built momentum, views and shares of a high-octane case study film of the car being tested on a secret Sydney track, continue to grow. Lexus then accelerated its reach to potential buyers through a targeted creative partnership with News Corp. This approach allowed Lexus to increase its reach, whilst still being targeted amongst influential audiences.