According to The Wall Street Journal, Lexus is enlisting people with a strong following on Twitter and other social media to create buzz around its products.
Its new campaign includes online videos that show actress and comedian Whitney Cummings interviewing an array of social-media heavyweights as they take the Lexus CT 200h for a spin around their hometowns. The stars of the campaign include Baratunde Thurston, Web editor of satire website the Onion; Brian Solis, a marketing guru and social-media expert; DJ Qbert, a well-known disc jockey and others.
Armed with images and video from their test drives, the stars of the Lexus campaign have been spreading the word by blogging, tweeting and posting images on Flickr. R&B singer Goapele tweeted: “I had a great time last night with @Djqbert @WhitneyCummings. Thanx to @keyinfluencer @VanHoven @lexus for a solid production. Go #Lexus1″
These social-media personalities will “propagate the message,” says Jonas Hallberg, co-founder of Skinny, the New York ad firm that helped craft the Lexus push.