Lexus CT 200h baby direct mail case study

Lexus is the luxury division of Japanese car maker Toyota. In March 2011 it will launch the world’s first full hybrid luxury compact car, the CT 200h - a far cry from its large executive vehicles. The new car will be aimed at a new audience of couples without kids or pre-families who'd normally buy a VW Gold or Audi A3.

Kitcatt Nohr had to persuade this audience to consider the Lexus as an alternative, but in a post credit-crunch car market, a lavish pre-launch campaign was out. Instead it decided to focus on a tough target of 10,000 prospects from which to generate leads and pre-launch orders.

People often choose cars for emotional reasons, supported by rational information. Kitcatt Nohr decided to make these couples and young families ‘fall in love’ with the ‘new baby Lexus’ and created a multi-tiered direct and digital campaign comprising email, press inserts, direct mail and a microsite.

The first communication, the direct mail shot, contained a ‘scan’ of the baby Lexus on a ‘birth announcement’ card, giving details of the new model, accompanied by a response card and a personalised letter, along with an invitation to visit the microsite.

Despite a tight budget, and a limited prospect pool, the campaign is more than 65% ahead of target already. In addition, close on 100 prospects have ordered a new baby CT 200h without ever having seen one in the flesh.

Ian Davidson, managing director, Fly Research comments: 'The scan image is a visual that’s hard to ignore.  As a recent father I remember looking at scans and definitely associate them with strong emotions.'

He adds, 'There might be a missed opportunity with the targeting – how about sending these out to existing empty nester customers, too?'