The USGA’s annual US Open is one of the sporting world’s premier stages for brands to reach affluent buyers. A multi-year sponsor of the US Open, Lexus challenged its agency partners to take their activation at this year’s Open to the next level, creating greater excitement around the brand through more immersive experiences while also building lead capture into that activity. It also had to tie into related US Open marketing efforts Lexus had going, such as a virtual golf game online and digital ads.
We partnered with Lexus to do just that, producing a sophisticated installation – called the Lexus Drive Pavilion – and filling in with a variety of interactive elements, including autograph signing sessions with golf legends (such as Johnny Miller, Peter Jacobsen and Raymond Floyd), a popular virtual driving range, a photo activation that took pictures of visitors holding the US Open’s legendary trophy (which could be immediately posted to social media or emailed) and of course a lineup of the latest Lexus vehicles for potential customers to learn about both in the Pavilion and on the course itself. There was also a special VIP hospitality suite where Lexus executives played host to owners, dealers and other influential groups.
Throughout the experience, the RFID was cleverly deployed to capture potential leads and route them back to Lexus’ fulfillment system. In all the activation reached thousands of highly-qualified buyers and enabled Lexus to spend time with important customers and dealer representatives.
