The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

-d -h -min -sec

Lexus

Lexus places virtual reality at heart of campaign to launch new NX model

Author

By Natalie Mortimer, N/A

October 3, 2014 | 3 min read

Lexus Europe has developed a new virtual reality driving experience to allow consumers to test drive its new NX model.

Using the latest DK2 Oculus Rift (OR) headsets, consumers are able to virtually experience the car via an immersive and interactive car configurator, which allows users to create their own NX by selecting from a range of features; including colour and wheel trims.

Consumers also have the opportunity to enter into a virtual driving experience, to test-drive the car through a multi-dimensional urban landscape using CGI technology.

The experience, created by digital marketing, commerce and technology agency Amaze, makes up a key part of the launch campaign, Striking Angles, which announced its partnership with singer Will.i.am recently.

Working closely with OR, the technology took six months to build and is being billed as a “digital first for consumers” when it will appear in showrooms ahead of the launch of the car.

Speaking to The Drum, James Deeley, creative strategy director at Amaze, said that Lexus wanted to create an experience that was “a bit bolder” than traditional campaigns, and would allow consumers to have a more tangible look at the car before its release.

“When you’re developing a new car you don’t have the physical car available,” he said. “So we worked with the client to create something that would virtually give people an introduction to the car and experience it, but also experience the emotions and sensations of driving. So that’s what this has principally been developed for; to go into showrooms and events to let people really experience the car.”

The experience will appear at key events, such as roadshows, showrooms and launch events and Deeley said Amaze will “continue to build on the momentum” as the car hits the streets.

“We’ve created something that’s meant to be portable, for us we needed something that we could take with us. Who knows what the future is? The future of virtual reality is really exciting.”

The Lexus NX campaign features the use of dynamic shapes and polygons; something Deeley said is reflected in the landscape of the virtual driving experience.

Lexus

More from Lexus

View all

Trending

Industry insights

View all
Add your own content +