Lexus is using social media to link the new “Unleash the LFA” campaign – promoting a high-end model through a Facebook contest – with the brand’s end-of-summer sale event. Lexus hopes that the contest will drive attention not only to the LFA model, but also to the brand’s Golden Opportunity Sales Event in August, where customers can find more “obtainable” luxury vehicles.
The social campaign gives customers “the opportunity to experience a different part of Lexus’ lineup” according to Allison Takahashi, public relations specialist at Lexus in Torrance, CA (Luxury Daily). The brand began pushing the LFA model (starting at $375,000) on social media back in July, hinting at a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” that would happen in August. The teasers included a short video, social media posts and a hashtag campaign, #UnleashTheLFA.
The contest – which opened August 1 and ends August 21 – is hosted on a Facebook application. The Facebook app lets users share the contest on their personal Facebook pages, watch the video, find a dealer to shop the Golden Opportunity Sales Event and download images of the LFA model. Lexus says the app will also offer exclusive content after the contest ends.
The contest winner will drive a Lexus LFA at the Laguna Seca Raceway and get “exclusive one-on-one” driving instruction from racecar driver Scott Pruett and Skip Barber Racing School.
“The Unleash the LFA campaign provides an exclusive opportunity for the social media community that will generate added utility to the notion of the ‘golden opportunity’ by making the unattainable, attainable,” Takahashi told Luxury Daily. Lexus has a broad base on Facebook, with over 1.4 million fans, and the contest is also accessible without logging in to Facebook.
The contest entry form gathers names and email addresses, which Lexus will use to invite consumers to visit a showroom or the brand’s website. However, Luxury Daily notes that the sweepstakes form doesn’t ask for a zip code – which would help drive leads to local dealers – and that the sale event could have been marketed more “blatantly” on the Facebook page and contest entry form.
Local dealers are embracing the contest and getting the word out via Twitter.
[tweet https://twitter.com/Lexusofpeoria/status/233232754760884224]
Does pushing the brand’s highest-priced model during a sales event deliver a “confusing brand message” to consumers, or just drum up social buzz about the contest, luring consumers in who may stay for the sale of more attainable models?
