- Lexus debuted a holiday marketing effort that was crafted with generative artificial intelligence, in accordance with a press release.
- The luxury automaker’s “Built for Every Kind of Wonder” video shows surreal seasonal imagery, including a ski trail lifting up into the sky like an ocean wave, before revealing these fantasies stem from the mind of a child gazing into a snow globe and imagining the worlds held inside.
- Developed with AKQA, the brand film will appear on Lexus’ owned digital and social channels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. More marketers are testing the bounds of generative AI in video content, at the same time as consumer sentiment toward the technology stays a mixed bag.
Lexus and AKQA are leaning into generative AI for an effects-heavy piece of holiday storytelling. “Built for Every Kind of Wonder” was developed throughout the WPP-owned shop’s Virtual Studio, which is billed as a “next-generation content engine” that blends cinematic craft with leading-edge technology.
The video has an abstract feel to it, depicting scenes that share a seasonal, snowy theme but don’t gel into a conventional narrative. Interspersed between shots like a fish swimming under a frozen lake and a surreal swirling ski slope is footage of a Lexus vehicle because it sets off magical sparks and lifts skyward in a manner akin to Santa’s sleigh. The story closes on the reveal that each one of those fantastical images are envisioned by a child staring into a slow globe while on a automobile ride.
Lexus challenged AKQA to see where AI could fit into the automaker’s winter promotions, per press materials, and was impressed by the outcomes. Generative AI is positioned as helping brands to appreciate what might be complex, expensive shoots in a more efficient manner, though outputs still often have to be refined with a human touch.
“The film does a incredible job of playing to the strengths of AI to create a magical world that aligns perfectly with our ‘built for every type of wonder’ positioning,” said Rudy Boeman, Lexus EMEA brand and communications manager, in a statement. “We’re already looking forward to our next project together.”
In the U.S., Lexus is again running its longstanding “December to Remember” campaign with emotionally charged ads that show different generations of a family united by the brand around the vacations. The spots are set to the Fleetwood Mac classic “Landslide.”
Other marketers are working generative AI into their holiday marketing, to mixed results. Coca-Cola for the past two years has run spots for the end-of-year period that recreate classic commercials with an AI touch. Critics view the execution as lacking the same old warmth of the soft drink brand’s marketing. Coke has defended the work, claiming the campaign performs well in testing. McDonald’s earlier this month pulled an ad in the Netherlands that used generative AI to depict how hectic and stressful the vacations might be, underpinning how intense AI backlash can turn into and the brand risk related to the space.
Lexus’ agency partner AKQA has experienced a variety of high-profile executive departures following the resignation of founder and CEO Ajaz Ahmed in October of last yr. The firm recently restructured around three key markets, the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific, and unveiled a revamped global leadership team. Parent company WPP has been struggling to return to growth following a string of punishing client losses, and has put AI innovation on the forefront of its turnaround strategy.
Read the complete article here
