Atsushi Takada / David Nordstrom / Yolande Waldock
Lexus International
Global Brand Team
Henry-Alex Rubin
Smuggler
Director
Fergus Brown / Chris Barrett
Smuggler
Executive Producers
Ray Leakey
Smuggler
Production Company Producer
Joel Collins
Smuggler
Production Designer
Olly Burn
Olly Burn
Photgrapher
Brief Explanation
Lexus is a global luxury car brand. A challenger brand up against the might of the big German 3, it is known more for it’s engineering credentials than for its imagination or creativity. It is seeking to target and engage key global influencers and to drive reappraisal by demonstrating a new side of the brand personality than previously seen.
The Brief
The brief was simple. Showcase the imagination, creativity and innovation at the heart of the Lexus brand. The difficulty came in telling that story to an audience of global influencers who didn’t care and weren’t listening. To reach them we needed to create a project with genuine social currency that would grab their attention and drive reappraisal of what they thought they knew about Lexus. With little or no media budget, the campaign needed to create its own awareness and earn, not buy, its visibility.
How the final design was conceived
Starting from just a basic table-top physics demonstration, The Lexus Hoverboard needed to be conceived from the ground upwards. Over the course of more than a year, the agency team worked alongside Lexus and magnetic levitation research specialists to develop the core technology, build that into a working prototype, and then combine Lexus materials and craftsmanship with the world of skateboarding to produce the final working object.
Like all Lexus design, the Hoverboard features a combination of finely crafted detail, modern materials and technical innovation. Inspired by skateboarding culture and Lexus design principles, the result is the perfect combination of the natural and the high-tech. The Hoverboard features the iconic Lexus Spindle Grille shape and uses materials found across the Lexus brand, including carbon fibre and bamboo.
The Hoverboard itself was just the first step. A custom skatepark was then conceived, designed and fabricated, providing a unique home for the Hoverboard and its rider. The hoverpark needed an instantly recognisible aesthetic from the world of skateboarding, yet at the same time invisibly house thousands of high-powered magnets to allow the Hoverboard to float across it.
Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market
From the first teased reveal of the Lexus hoverboard, through to the full reveal and detailed documentaries, the impact of the Lexus Hoverboard floating above the ground needed to capture the imaginations of all who saw it.
The millions of views (33million and counting), the unprecedented social discussion (1.5 billion impressions) and the massive level of global media coverage, are all testament to the impact of the design of the object.
The huge interest in the detailed backstory of the board also proved that it was the object itself that was the source of so much of the interest, not just the spectacle it was then used to create.
Levitating replicas of the board are now being showcased in ten countries around the world, showing the ongoing interest and fascination that our audience has for the Hoverboard.