Case Study for Agency
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CASE STUDY 1:

Situation: There is perhaps no greater brand-building story than Lexus.
Launching a new luxury car seemed impossible in 1987, with luxury-car
sales declining, downward pressure on sticker prices, an increasing
number of luxury-car players and advertising clutter at nearly 5
billion. To add to the daunting task, "Japanese luxury" was a complete
oxymoron to the American mind-set. European heritage and craftsmanship
were the gold standard.

Challenge: To launch a new luxury vehicle while facing seemingly
insurmountable obstacles.

Objective: Lexus had to attack conventional wisdom. Most luxury-car
consumers "suffered the badge" - high prices, constant problems and
arrogant service were the cost of belonging to the exclusive clubs of
Mercedes and BMW.

Strategy: Lexus promised a "Relentless Pursuit of Perfection" and to
"treat customers like guests in our own home." Not thinking purely as
engineers, together we recognized the hospitality aspect of buying and
owning a luxury car. Thinking more like a concierge, less like a
mechanic. The "Pursuit of Perfection" focused not just on telling, but
on demonstrating the unheard-of lengths Lexus would go to live up to
their ideology. (Think of the tower of champagne glasses that
demonstrated a remarkably quiet engine.) But this was by no means just
a TV message. The Lexus brand permeated every touch point - TV, print,
and outdoor advertising, web site, microsites, events, brochures,
direct mail, interactive DVDs, etc.

Results: In only three years, Lexus was outselling BMW and Mercedes.
Today, Lexus is the number-one-selling luxury make, and has been for
four years running. Lexus has gone from question mark to benchmark,
garnering the highest loyalty rates in its category. The success of the
Lexus launch has even been documented in a Harvard Business School case
study.

CASE STUDY 2

Situation: Possibly the most daunting, yet thrilling, challenge in
advertising is the opportunity to launch a new brand in the
marketplace. Boost Mobile, Nextel Communications' youth brand, gave us
the opportunity to launch their then unknown name in September, 2002.

Challenge: At the time of Boost Mobile's launch, the cell-phone
category was less than thriving. The big players (Verizon, At&T and
Cingular) had been reduced to stealing share from one another with
pricing promotions and new product offerings that were quickly
duplicated by the entire industry. Seeking a fresh opportunity,
cell-phone companies turned to two underserved, yet historically
troublesome markets: prepaid and youth. The youth market was the
fastest-growing and most lucrative, yet its inherently fickle attitude
and short attention span for traditional marketers made this
opportunity less than certain.

Strategy: The big brands had the budgets and the inclination to sell
the prepaid category, so Boost Mobile would instead focus on creating a
unique connection with youth. Using the insight that one of the most
defining characteristics of young people is in the way they communicate
with their friends, we used "old people" as visual stand-ins, talking
the talk of a variety of youth subcultures. Because much like music and
fashion, the language young people use truly defines them. Using
different language cues allowed each execution to make a unique
connection with you and avoid the cliched portrayals of young people in
advertising.

Results: The campaign exceeded expectations on all key business
measures, set a new standard in the industry and permeated youth
culture. Young consumers immediately embraced the brand, leading one
another to the Boost Mobile Web site to buy a phone, asking to see more
commercial and telling anyone who would listen that Boost Mobile was
the phone to get. Ultimately, Boost Mobile was recognized as one of the
most effective campaigns of the year, winning a Gold Effie award, and
AME International award, and the David Ogilvy Research award.