GS Series ‘Hideaways’ DM

Background

The GS Series of models was launched over the last two years, and now attention has turned to generating test drives for all GS models from the prospect database built through the launch activity. Direct mail was used as a medium in which the car could be presented in an emotional context, whilst allowing for the provision of detailed information and a response coupon for further brochure requests and test drives.

Idea

The premium car market is very competitive so it is vital for a small brand like Lexus to differentiate themselves from the standard performance and technology positioning of the competition. Partners Andrews Aldridge therefore created a mail pack which worked on an entirely different emotional level based on the GS positioning - ‘the antidote to the modern chaotic world’ - which stems from its high levels of refinement and the smoothness of the driving experience. The audience profile for the E segment is over 90% male. From the common-sense starting point that all men were boys once, Partners Andrews Aldridge created a pastiche of a boy’s adventure book from the 1950s - A Compendium Of Dens, Hideaways And Other Thinking Spaces - with careful attention to detail in terms of the embossing of the front cover and spine, the stock of the cover and internal pages, and even the end-papers which feature a pattern of the GS name.

The contents take the reader on a nostalgic trip through the private thinking spaces of their youth, from the Living-Room Den, to the Treehouse, to the Teenager’s Bedroom - ending up with the GS Series, ‘the thinking man’s car’. Special illustrations were commissioned to capture and convey the nostalgia of the hideaways, and to create a distinctly different look and feel compared to the high gloss photography of competitor communications. The final detail is the Lexus bookmark which acts as the response coupon for requesting a brochure or test drive.

Results

The pack has had a 5.45% response rate, with a 40% conversion from response to test drive and a total of 217 test drives.

Target Audience

GS Series prospects from the Lexus database, only male contacts. User chooser business men. Senior management or partners of their own business. 40 to 50s.

Size

9,978 mailings

Our Thoughts

Okay, maybe not an earth-shatteringly new idea based on a gob-smacking insight – but put together by a writer and an art director who love what they do. And I love what they do too.