The majority of Lexus media is traditionally spent in TV. But when it comes to telling a story about the progress of the LGBT movement, and connecting the brand to a younger, more inspired audience driven by this cause, the traditional TV spot was a hard place to begin. With a subject so topical, it’s hard to connect individuals with these stories in just 30 seconds. We wanted our viewers to become fully immersed in each influencer’s story. Each documentary was roughly 7 minutes long, and we saw over 62% completion rate across all six videos—one of the highest amongst all Lexus brand channel content series. IT GOT BETTER proved that when you stand for something inspiring, viewers are willing to spend more time with you than they’d typically spend on branded online content.

The majority of the audience was drawn to the content via PR or organic social media:

144 million PR impressions, including a segment on Entertainment Tonight and articles on The Huffington Post, People.com, Out.com and Upworthy drove interest in the content, with viewers actively sharing with friends to help spread the word.

Each new episode release was promoted across all partners’ social media channels, including L/Studio and the It Gets Better Project, as well as the individual producers and celebrities to raise awareness among their own social followings (including George Takei’s audience of 10 million across Facebook and Twitter combined).

IT GOT BETTER was successful in engaging and inspiring the target audience:

· Promotional tweets for the IT GOT BETTER series generated engagement rates over 2x benchmark

· YouTube InStream view rates exceeded benchmarks by 123%

· Content garnered a strong 62% completion rate on YouTube with over 5 million minutes watched

· Positive comments across social media reinforced that engagement with the content was achieving the goal of inspiring the target:

o “You inspire me Jane Lynch.....:)”

o “You are an inspiration George!”

o “Tim Gunn inspires me.”

o “Laverne Cox is fabulous, This video was so Beautiful. we need more people like her sharing there stories. so moving and can truly save lives.”

o “What a great interview. There are so many people I'd like to watch this. Remember, who you are or what you like or how you feel is not wrong. It's not sin. It's you. Authentically you. And it's ok to love YOU even when others can't seem to do it.... yet. #love #lgbtq #pride #equality”

In the process of delivering messages of hope and inspiration, Lexus garnered a 174% increase in positive brand opinion among viewers…without ever showing a car.