Summary

We were tasked by Lexus to launch their new hybrid car Lexus CT200h in the US, with focus on a young digitally savvy audience. To build awareness and hype before the launch, we created two parallell marketing campaigns.

First, we created a never-done-before virtual test drive so that consumers could experience the car months before it was available at dealerships. In the interactive action movie Darkride, the consumer got to insert themselves into the film as the protagonist riding shotgun and guiding the driver (played by actor Norman Reedus) through a series of adventures in the Nevada desert and Los Angeles. Consumers could use an array of interactive features, allowing them to insert their own likeness (via Webcam or profile pic), record their own dialogue lines, control the camera movement in a 260-degree POV, and make decisions that alter the path of the movie so new situations arise each time.

In a second step, we released the in-car talk show Darkcasting hosted by famous comedian Whitney Cummings, combining content marketing, influencer marketing and local market activation as a way to recruit more fans and help turn the car into the best selling hybrid in America.