A scene from the Lexus “Sled Dogs” commercial for “December To Remember.”
Lexus has at least figuratively owned the Christmastime automotive market in the United States since the Toyota-owned luxury brand came up with its “December To Remember” promotion as a seasonal experiment in 1999.
And nearly a quarter-century later, Lexus keeps leveraging its holiday-marketing sub-brand effectively to gain a leg up on rivals with new versions of the promotion every year. Not only did Lexus create an iconic marketing platform with December To Remember, it forced luxury-category rivals to mimic the idea and also saw nearly every other auto brand in the U.S. market follow suit with their own seasonally themed promotions.
To boot, Lexus’s campaign kicked off a reconsideration of the winter holidays as an important season in the annual market, a change that the entire industry has embraced over the last several years.
Lexus has just come out with two new TV advertisements, has recycled a successful spot from last year, and has introduced an innovative digital activation in the latest iteration of December To Remember. In the process, Lexus has continued the evolution of its campaign — from several years of repeating the shock-and-awe depiction of consumers waking up to find a sparkling Lexus with a red bow on top in their driveway on Christmas morning, to a more nuanced effort to use the campaign to dimensionalize and extend the brand in ways that have become important to Lexus, including
“The focus of this year’s ‘December To Remember’ campaign is to intentionally celebrate the moments that can’t be wrapped – from thoughtful surprises to making memories with loved ones,” said Vinay Shahani, vice president of Lexus marketing, said in a press release. “We’re amplifying the spirit of the season year-round through curated marketing efforts and purposeful partnerships.”
One spot, “Sled Dogs,” introduces the all-new 2024 Lexus GX as it effortlessly travels down the road on snow-covered terrain. A woman sits confidently behind the wheel, while a Siberian husky secured in the second row stares ahead, seemingly barking orders. With the help of the dog, the driver navigates the GX to a secluded off-road area to find the dog’s owner and other sled dogs working on their broken sled. Grateful to be reunited, they drive off in the GX.
The other new commercial, “Overnight Lexus,” opens in a boy’s bedroom as his father sits bedside, reading him a family tale about magic beans that grow overnight. Upon seeing his son is asleep, Dad turns off the light and exits the room. As the door closes, the boy sneaks out to the family’s front yard to pack a toy Lexus under the snow in hopes the story is true. The next morning, the boy wakes excited to find a brand-new, full-size 2024 Lexus TX wrapped in a giant red bow, calling for his parents in wonderment at the surprise.
In addition to the two new spots, Lexus brought back its popular 2022 December To Rembmer commercial, “Time Machine.” And in late November, the brand debuted a 90-second digital installation across the 580,000-square-foot LED exterior of the Sphere in Las Vegas. The “snow-covered” exterior of the Sphere cracked open to reveal a 2024 Lexus GX — adorned with a red bow.
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