Mad Science

While Mad Men may have made early 1960s fashion in vogue again, it also highlights the massive changes in the advertising industry. Back then, traditional advertising agencies dominated the landscape. But long gone are the days when an ad exec could charm a potential client with smooth talk, a martini, and a Cuban cigar. In today’s world, where everything can be measured and quantified, agencies–particularly multicultural agencies–fight to remain relevant and help clients sell products.

The industry is much more cluttered with public relations firms, consumer promotion agencies, and media-buying companies, as well as sports and entertainment marketing firms, and digital and social media agencies. Boutique firms must confront all those entities and contend with ever-increasing competitive pressure from larger general market agencies as they continue to grab for market share overlooked during more prosperous times.

Walton Isaacson (No. 8 on the BE Advertising Agencies list with $12 million in revenues) is one of those boutique agencies. The Los Angeles-based company, which also has offices in Chicago, New York City, and Tokyo, was founded by Aaron Walton and Cory Isaacson, and is now in its sixth year, boasting a client list that includes Jim Beam Brands Co., Tequila Avión, Philips, Lexus, and Unilever. The firm uses a holistic approach that marries research and target marketing with the creative means that influence consumer behavior.

So when the firm was tapped to develop a strategy for Lexus’ hybrid CT 200h, a vehicle the automaker wanted to target toward younger consumers, the agency combined art with science. By applying market data from the automaker, and conducting focus groups and brand analysis, the team was able to craft a multiplatform campaign that included innovative television spots, live events, a strong digital component, and music downloads on iTunes. As a result, the CT 200h exceeded Lexus’ sales targets by 109%.

Digging through the data
It all begins with a big idea: how to create an emotional connection with the consumer. To do that the key word is research. “We found that thirty-somethings want what they want. We know that Gen X and Y believe in independence, they are free-spirited. Also, they’re used to the information age, and everything is catered and customized for them,” says Ed Han, Walton Isaacson’s executive creative director, general market. “So we wanted to suggest that the brand did not do things the way that conventional car companies might, and suggest that the CT was born out of this idea of independence and free thinking and doing things your own way.”

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Developing that message sometimes involves trial and error, which is where focus groups come in. “In addition to gaining a deeper understanding of how consumers feel about a particular model or advertising platform that we have developed, focus groups also provide us with a platform to explore similar relationships consumers may have with our competitors,” says Walton. “One of the things we try to understand is how consumers feel about the brand and how they are interacting with all forms of media. We like qualitative data because it can unveil a rich picture that often quantitative  data cannot. It helps us gain a better insight into their lifestyle dynamics.”

The research goes deeper. The team looks at specific sales by region and by product model to understand consumer purchasing patterns, and determine what is attracting consumers to certain models. If it applies, the team analyzes recall, as well as the use of creative to push a given model, and whether it’s moving the brand in the right direction. In the case of the CT 200h, Walton Isaacson wanted to bring younger consumers into the franchise. They evaluated the prior work of the brand to help develop creative that would appeal to this younger consumer segment. “Are people watching the commercials and remembering what brand is in the commercial? Are they being moved by the work? We look at a lot of different measures to see how we’re doing, and how we’ve done versus other spots that we’ve done in the past,” says Walton.

Then digital strategists, social media moderators, copywriters, account reps, and creative directors work with the client to develop a message that targets the particular consumer, and create a plan to deliver that message across various platforms. “There’s a whole mix because consumers don’t live in a channel. They live out in the real world, they’re walking to the bank, they’re watching TV, and they’re online,” explains Isaacson. “You want to make sure you’re putting out the right and most effective mix for your budget and for your audience.”

Moving the needle
The team developed four targeted television spots for the Lexus campaign, created events where consumers could experience the vehicle firsthand, and produced a digital campaign. One 30-second television spot shows the hybrid driving through a computer-generated three-dimensional landscape. The driver, a young man, guides the vehicle through constantly changing urban terrain to the beat of electro-pop music.

A similar Spanish-language spot was developed that shows the car driving through the streets of a city that looks much like Miami, past restaurants and nightclubs with young people taking notice. Print was well represented, as was radio. There were also events such as the Lexus CT Challenge, featuring actor Hill Harper, where attendees could drive the car through an obstacle course.

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Then they got creative and took a look at the nonconventional ways they could tap into Gen X and Gen Y consumers. The CT Remix program combined the music of the CT campaign with ringtones and music downloads from notable DJs and producers.  “We released the music on iTunes, and a portion of the proceeds went to people that were impacted by the tsunami [in Japan],” says Walton. “We were promoting it in clubs so people heard the music in the club, they heard it at conferences; we really were trying to envelop them in a way that they understood what the brand message was all about.”
The strategy hit the mark, according to Lexus. “The messaging really

focused on the fact that not only is this a car that gets 42 miles per gallon, but it’s also a car that you can have fun with,” says Brian Bolain, national manager of Lexus marketing communications. “If you look at the public perception of hybrids, oftentimes consumers believe–whether it’s right or wrong–that there’s some sacrifice that goes along with owning a hybrid. I think the work that Walton Isaacson created communicated that there’s no sacrifice involved with this car.”

At the end of the day, it’s about selling product. That’s the benchmark. Lexus had precise goals set for the CT 200h. The automaker wanted 30,000 hand-raisers–people expressing interest in the vehicle–identified by the time the car was available for purchase, particularly younger buyers. Once the vehicle hit the market, the sales target was 1,000 units per month. “We were at nearly 35,000 [hand-raisers] when we launched.” If you look at the average since we launched, we’ve been higher than 1,000 [units sold],” says Bolain. He adds that the CT 200h is on track to sell more units than planned for 2011. “We’re really happy with the sales results and we’re also happy to see that the median age of [consumers purchasing] that vehicle is dropping each month.”

Despite the economic climate, Walton Isaacson is forecasting a 40% increase to its top line, and the firm looks to continue to set itself apart from its competitors by effectively marrying creative talents with the science of the sell.