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The Lexus and the Money Tree
In 42 B.C. or thereabouts, Publius Syrus wrote that "Money alone sets all the world in motion." Well, at Miami's new Carnival Center for the Arts, this is especially true - if you're a Lexus Driver.
According to Miami Today, under a sponsorship agreement with the Lexus South Florida Dealers Association, Lexus drivers will get free valet parking at Miami's new Carnival Center for the Arts. Just tool up to the Lexus Valet Station, hand over your keys, and free valet parking is yours. Don't come in your Rolls, your Mercedes, or your Cadillac or you'll have to pay.
"We've signed a four-year agreement recognizing Lexus as the official vehicle of the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts," she said, adding that all Lexus owners will receive free valet services at the entrances of both buildings. In addition, Lexus will have the naming rights for the valet stations, so they will all be called "Lexus Valet." That is, when a valet provider is chosen - center officials are reviewing requests for qualifications from companies to provide valet services and should select one within a few days, Ms. Espinosa said.
In addition, there will be a link to the Lexus dealers on the center's Web site, Lexus will be recognized as an official sponsor of 10 performances and it will be one of the official grand-opening sponsors.
Lexus dealers are also getting perks: each dealership will become a Corporate Silver member, which, said Ms. Espinosa, "gives them the opportunity to have access to amenities such as special reservations at dining facilities, admission to our patrons' salon, advance notice of special events and to receive a certain number of complimentary tickets."
I know that raising money is very difficult. The people at the Carnival Center have a big job on their hands and nobody should underestimate how hard it is to build a network of sponsorship support.
Still, I wonder if the good people in Lexus marketing have asked themselves if this strategy is really such a good idea?
Almost a decade ago, when AT&T was still supporting the arts, I learned how savvy sponsors think. AT&T was a lead sponsor of an Arena Stage production. As we were preparing for opening night, I was walking around with the sponsorship agreement making sure that all their benefits were fulfilled. There was a 3 foot by 8 foot banner over the entry to the theatre acknowledging AT&T support. Nothing too big or splashy, just your garden-variety sponsor banner.
AT&T's marketing representative came into the lobby, briskly walking up to me. She smiled, shook my hand, and politely asked me to remove the banner. I reminded her that we agreed in our sponsorship contract to place banners over the theatre entries during the production. We wanted to keep our agreements.
After taking one look, her instincts told her that the banner was too much. She explained that AT&T's customers didn't appreciate a heavy hand when it came to sponsorship. She had learned that aggressive acknowledgment actually hurt AT&T's brand awareness and marketing goals among their customer base - especially their big business customers. It was a good lesson.
Personally, when I read this story, I didn't feel better about Lexus' brand. I was turned off and I'm afraid that Lexus customers - and more importantly prospective Lexus customers - will be turned off as well. They may not buy the story that South Florida Lexus Dealers are generously supporting the Carnival Center because it looks more like they are paying for a new advertising channel. Worse, while it might make Lexus drivers feel better, it actually has the effect of making the drivers of other cars feel like second-class citizens. This is no way to win friends and gain new prospective customers.
Of all forms of fundraising, sponsorship development can be the trickiest. Corporate fundraisers are branding brokers who have to know how to craft strategies that are brand-enhancing, and avoid those that "cheese-up" a brand. They have to know how to associate one brand's positive equities with another's, while avoiding the association of negative equities - and most brands have them. To do this work, you have to have some knowledge of brand strategy and customer psychology. Consumption is a modality of self-expression. As one of my Southern California friends once said only partially in jest, "Here in L.A., you are the car you drive." Not everybody is a Lexus. I really question whether someone will buy a Lexus over another brand to get free valet parking, so the benefit here is questionable, really. The downside feeling, however, sure isn't.
Audiences are fairly forgiving when it comes to tolerating advertising message incursions at what seems like every waking moment, but they have their limits. I believe that Lexus would be better served by a different strategy than the one they have chosen - one that reflects the craftsmanship of thinking, understated design, and good taste for which Lexus automobiles are known.
This isn't it.
Posted on August 17, 2006 06:32 AM | Permalink
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Comments
As soon as I started reading your post I felt uncomfortable with this sponsorship arrangement from all sides - Lexus, Carnival Center for the Arts, Lexus drivers and non-Lexus drivers. Your commentary is right on the mark. Interesting story about AT&T's knowing when to back-off in order to protect and strengthen its brand.
Very well put. It would seem that a lot of sponsorship does come out as advertising, though it won't if it's well done.
For instance, my wife and I took in an Ottawa Senators hockey game at Scotia Bank Place after Scotia Bank acquired the naming rights for the arena.
The obligatory ads for the bank were plastered around the arena, but a lot of it did not try to sell you a mortgage, RRSP or anything of the like. Instead, the marketing they used emphasized the colour red (primary colours for the team and the bank.) The tagline was "Rev up the red."
A very interesting campaign that played up the team's colour, boost some spirit in the fans (come decked out in Red) and offer some tied in advertising for the bank (playing up the commonality).
Some people might say that the strategy is flawed (http://www.umm.ca/sports/week42.html), but hey, it worked for me.
Also, there was no special treatment for Scotia Bank customers. Very important (something Lexus should learn)!
You're exactly right. Sponsors often make the mistake, in my humble opinion, of treating sponsorship like advertising instead of what it should be -- genuine support of the arts aiding in demonstrating their corporate values and translating into brand loyalty in the customer base and curiosity and eventual 'experience sampling' from the non-customers.
Instead, they've made their own version of the 'in your face' banner by making a very public scene of free valet parking for Lexus owners, as you've pointed out. Lexus has never seemed to me like a pretentious brand, but instead a brand for smart consumers who want luxury and value without pretense. This strategy was off brand. I agree.
One simple twist on this same theme might solve the problem:
• Paying for randomly selected valet parking or selected nights paying for ALL valet parking for arts center patrons, regardless of what car they're driving, carrying the message that it's a gift from Lexus, so the very car owners that are potentially offended by the original strategy now have Lexus top of mind when they need to purchase a new car and want to self express as you've described. It's well targeted... not many people below reach of a Lexus are going to be using valet parking anyway. Even if they don't end up buying one, there's a positive message out there associated with the brand and not a 'pretentious Lexus owners' misperception.
This is a problem with human nature that goes back to the beginning. What's the scripture about not letting your right hand know what your left hand is doing when you're giving, or the one about not shouting your prayers and announcing your generosity in service of your own pride? I never thought about it applying to sponsorship until your post today.
I'm not sure if you'll agree with this analogy, but I often think of the Extreme Home Makeover television show as a great example of this kind of thing done very well. Sponsors like Sears are very obviously noted throughout the show, but the focus is never off of the actual subject of the show. Their obvious strategic product placement is tasteful. Even their advertising spots during commercial breaks are focused on the show's emotional content first and their products second. Their care for the families being helped at least SEEMS genuine, and implies that choosing Sears for your next purchase might be in some way supporting that next act of kindness. The consumer feels good, Sears gets the business, and some families get helped. It seems to be a win/win/win, even though I'm pretty sure they're probably also doing this for significantly less investment than they would have in a traditional advertising strategy.
I have to agree with you, Neill. I felt uncomfortable reading about Lexus’s plan, and you put your finger on it in your post. It will scare off prospective customers, the sort that would drive a rival brand, and cause resentment. I have a feeling that Toyota’s head office, while it knows of the sponsorship, might not know specifically what it entails. The marketing-savvy company probably would not go this far, since Lexus has never been about snobbery, but about creating an excellent product and letting that, and keen marketing, do their work.
I'm obviously getting to this a little late, but my first reaction upon reading this post was, "What an obnoxious form of sponsorship!" Guaranteed to drive potential purchasers away, and I think if I drove a Lexus, I might even be embarassed! And, as one other commenter has noted, it's so "off" Lexus' brand. As Jack Yan commented, Lexus has never been about snobbery, nor have other luxury marques like Infiniti or Acura (I'm not sure I'd say this about Jaguar, RollsRoyce, or Mercedes, though.). A serious miscalculation, if you ask me—on BOTH sides.