Lexus offers spin on hustle culture with digital-heavy campaign

Dive Brief:

• Lexus is promoting its NX line of crossover vehicles with a campaign that riffs on tropes related to hustle culture and targets a diverse audience of drivers, according to an announcement.
• Called “Hustle for What Matters,” the effort features a reupped partnership with Twitch, a Google Cloud-supported augmented reality (AR) experience on YouTube and Lexus.com and an ad push on Roku’s OneView platform. Lexus is also working with esports brand 100 Thieves on a custom car wrap for the NX that celebrates the group’s recent League of Legends Championship win.
• Seven new broadcast spots will air during primetime events like the Winter Olympics, March Madness tournament and NBA games. Additional elements include social videos and out-of-home media spanning airports, rideshare vehicles, ski resorts and billboards as Lexus puts offerings like the new plug-in electric NX 450h+ in the spotlight for 2022.

Dive Insight:

Lexus is pulling out several stops to tout its NX line of crossover vehicles in the new year. The “Hustle for What Matters” creative shows the automaker continuing to forge ahead on nascent fronts for its marketing, such as esports and streaming, as it chases a busy and more diverse group of consumers. Conceptually, the campaign plays on hustle culture, embodied by people who are constantly chasing their goals.

Hustle culture is traditionally associated with side gigs and money-making schemes — the emphasis is often on doing as much work, as efficiently as possible — but Lexus is trying to broaden the idea. One spot, “Hustle,” depicts a businessman intensely listing off the tenets needed for success to what appears to be a job interview candidate. The ad later reveals that the young woman he’s speaking to is actually the interviewer, and she closes the video by stating, “Hustle, sure, but for what matters.” Other commercials include an “Elevate” spot focused on a pair of Black filmmakers and one titled “Shine” that is centered on LGBTQ talent.

While “Hustle for What Matters” has traditional media support, Lexus is ramping up its bets in streaming and digital, which it views as more aligned with the fast-paced mindset of its target buyers. The Roku tie-up leverages first-party data and is the largest awareness campaign run through the OneView platform to date, according to the press release. The automaker is also enacting its second collaboration with Twitch that asks aspiring content creators to pitch unique ideas for a stream, with fans deciding on the most innovative takes. Last year, the brand worked with the Amazon-owned platform to crowdsource a customized version of its 2021 IS sedan themed around gaming.

On a related note, Lexus is this year tying up with 100 Thieves to develop a graphic that applies gameplay data from the organization’s League of Legends championship win. The graphic will be converted into the custom wrap for the NX. Additionally, an AR activation surfacing on YouTube and Lexus.com lets users place a virtual version of the car in their driveways.

Other automakers across a range of price points are deploying digital experiments to drum up hype for product launches and educate consumers about sustainable options like electric vehicles (EVs). Hyundai last year established an interactive virtual space on the gaming platform Roblox to promote its mobility and EV bets, including the Ioniq 5 all-electric SUV.