ad: Annual 2024 Now Open For Entries!
*

Lexus unleash the first car with a heartbeat

Published by

The campaign to launch Lexus Australia’s world-first “Heartbeat Car” innovation project via M&C Saatchi, went live over the weekend, and it isn’t half bloody exciting! Lexus aimed to showcase the experience of driving its high-performance F line of vehicles, which have built from the ground up to excite any driver in any environment, and to conquer the world’s toughest racetracks whilst still delivering a visceral thrill on the road. To achieve this in a very unique, eye-catching, and technologically inventive manner, an RC F V8 Coupe was taken aside and given a very special treatment: It was given a heartbeat.

The campaign to launch Lexus Australia’s world-first “Heartbeat Car” innovation project went live over the weekend

*

In a R&D collaboration between Lexus, M&C Saatchi and the agency’s innovation hub Tricky Jigsaw, the car was fitted with technology that enabled it to react to the driver’s heartbeat in a uniquely visual way. The driver’s pulse lights up the car in a compelling demonstration of the impact human and machine can have on one another. The magic happens via bespoke-built high-tech sensors that detect the driver’s heartbeat and then synch it to illuminate bespoke LumiLor electroluminescent paint applied to the car’s exterior panelling. A standard heartbeat monitor sends the driver's heartbeat wirelessly to a control board in the rear of the car. The custom-built Arduino control board takes the electrical signal from the driver’s heart and prompts the electro-luminescent paint to display it in a pre-determined, pulsating pattern on the car's panels, appearing in a similar fashion to an LED light.

*

Ben Cooper, innovation director at M&C Saatchi, said that the six-month build started at a closed-off track in southern New South Wales. To begin, Cooper and his team had to find out how driving affects the human body, especially the heart rate. He said: “We saw first-hand that when you sat in the passenger seat with a professional driver taking you around the track, your heart goes through the roof when he takes that corner. From there, we looked at how we were going to take the heartbeat and express it throughout the car."

The Lexus “Heartbeat Car”

The Heartbeat Car campaign went live over the weekend, with bespoke digital executions that link to an M&C Saatchi-created film (above). The campaign is being rolled out across a suite of premium mainstream mastheads and business, tech and men’s lifestyle sites, both online and in print. In another first, the print executions will feature just-released visual recognition capability from Shazam that will bring the ads to dynamic, interactive life for readers via their mobile phones.

The magic happens via bespoke-built high-tech sensors that detect the driver’s heartbeat and then synch it to illuminate bespoke electroluminescent paint

*

Lexus Australia CEO Sean Hanley said: “The Lexus Heartbeat Car is a stunning testament to the strength of our collaboration with creative partners M&C Saatchi. It perfectly embodies the New Lexus ethos that is innovative, bold, dynamic and dynamic. Above all, it reaffirms that we make high-performance vehicles, exemplified by the ‘F’ line of which this RC F is a one-off that will truly get hearts racing.” M&C Saatchi Australia Group CEO Jaimes Leggett, added: “It has been a privilege to help Lexus bring its vision to life in such a compelling way. They are fantastic partners. Pushing the envelope is their default position and their drive and bravery to explore what’s possible are inspiring. We are grateful to have had this opportunity to deploy a number of our Group’s capabilities: innovation and NPD, creative, strategy, content, media and PR.”

*

Heartbeat Car continues a big year for Lexus since appointing M&C Saatchi in June 2014. Within four months the agency had relaunched the brand with the “This is the New Lexus” repositioning to trigger a reappraisal of the luxury marque by new audiences. In January it also built on the positioning with a campaign to launch the NX Crossover that featured the world’s smartest billboards.

*

Comments

More Leaders

*

Leaders

Inspiring Female Leaders: An Interview with RAPP CEO Gabrielle Ludzker

Gabrielle Ludzker is not just any CEO. The current head honcho at customer experience agency RAPP has spent her career breaking away from the traditional corporate CEO stereotype. and leads to inspire rule breakers. Gabby is an inspirational rule...

Posted by: Benjamin Hiorns
ad: Annual 2024 Now Open For Entries!