For the launch of its urban-inspired crossover, the UX, Lexus wanted to capture the attention of affluent millennials who usually scroll right past the brand on social media. For a demo who expects the unexpected, it had to capture their attention in a way Lexus hadn’t yet done. It needed to be elevated, inspired by life in the city, and ignite the curiosity of a people hunting for the next big thing.

The launch coincided with New York Fashion Week, for which Lexus was the official automotive partner. NYFW became our launch date, which made great sense given our demo’s attention to city-inspired fashion—especially sneakers.

There is no more iconic city sneaker than the Nike Air Force 1. Young, affluent millennials will stand in line for hours for the latest AF1 release all in the name of trendsetting. Thus, we used the special edition NIKE X JOHN ELLIOTT AF1 as inspiration for wheels for the UX. Bringing streetwear to our crossover, and in the process our bringing the UX to the sneakerheads who both are on the hunt for the latest shoe news and love to be surprised with something bespoke and urban.

We launched the tires on during NYFW to sports and fashion influencers in partnership with sneaker designer John Elliott. We then released a social campaign with videos and still that evoked fashion films, but features our custom tires on an all-white UX.

Our research had shown that the UX’s target demo—young, city-living professionals—were big into sneakers, and nearly always chose shoes based on appearance, not performance. The UX was engineered for the city—not the suburbs. It’s performance chops are best used parking in tight spaces, not climbing mountains. It was also designed to be very provocative, having been inspired by city architecture.

The idea of putting tires inspired by city culture onto the crossover crafted for the city made too much sense. Together, they could plant a flag and say, “If you love exploring the city, you should be exploring it in the crossover crafted for the city.”

We started with five tires. Four to be put on the UX, and one to be in a display case so people could get up close and appreciate its details, which included all the iconic features of the Air Force 1 sneakers.

We teased the tires in the days leading up to Fashion Week. We then debuted them during NYFW in partnership with Jon Elliott at a private event for sports and fashion influencers. Next, we released stills of the wheels and UX to social, and followed that up with a fashion film showcasing every detail of the wheels. We ended with a small paid social buy.

2 million organic reach on announcement post

Ranked #2 in HYPEBEAST’s Top Five biggest moments at NYFW

92 unique articles. Appearing in 273 in total.

435 million impressions.

91% positive sentiment

Passion Intensity Index of 100