Acura ILX Marketing Challenge

Syracuse UniversityFall 2016

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3. Executive Summary4. The Ask5. Original Target9. Positioning 10. Original Get/To/By11. Final Target12. Final Get/To/By13. Big Idea14. Metrics15. Content Plan

16. Creative: Print Campaign 120. Creative: Print Campaign 222. Creative: Event23. Creative: Event Video24. Creative: Podcast25. Creative: Spotify Playlists26. Creative: Native content27. Creative: Social Media29. Budget and Metrics30. Team

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

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The Acura ILX is the entry-level car in the larger Acura ecosystem, which serves as a gateway to a higher-end line of superior quality vehicles. With a multitude of intelligent features perfect for an audience of young professionals, the ILX is the budding millennial of cars. With this in mind, TNH and Hill Communications teamed up and challenged ourselves to create an integrated marketing campaign to increase purchase consideration for the 2017 ILX, generate awareness and buzz about its features, and increase target market perception of the brand. In order to appear bold and innovative to ambitious and aspirational millennials, it was important for us to understand how these individuals relate to the industry. Cars are still a major part of millennials’ lives, and possessing a vehicle fuels a kind of escapism and reinforces their independence.

Taking this into consideration, we came upon an important insight: for aspirational millennials, experiences outweigh tangible goods. They don’t just seek experiences, they craft them. They live for their “passion projects,” additional endeavors that allow them to explore their skills and interests outside of the workplace. The cultural value of this “side hustle” was too big to ignore. It’s a phenomenon that no car brand has dared to own. It’s what led our two agencies to position the Acura ILX as the vehicle that can #PowerYourHustle.

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The Ask

Raise target market perception of Acura as an innovative, youthful brand that offers precision crafted performance.

1 Develop an integrated marketing communications plan to increase purchase consideration of the 2017 Acura ILX among the millennial target market.

Generate buzz by creating a viral pass-along that educates consumers on the features and benefits of the 2017 Acura ILX.2

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First, we met the aspirational millennial.

Despite the rise of ride-sharing applications like Uber and Lyft, this audience still believes in the value of having a car.1 They see it as liberating.2 “Owning a car provides a sense of control that public transportation simply cannot match.” To further narrow down the target, we honed in on the segment that is ready to make a big-ticket purchase in the near future. This is to ensure that the ILX’s messaging will remain top of mind as they look to purchase a new car.

This target is composed of men and women aged 25-37 who are making a household income of $75K or more. They reside in and around urban areas. Specifically, we targeted “driving cities”– cities that lack a developed public transportation network where owning a car is of great use. In market research databases, we filtered our audience by Nielsen broadcast markets 6-25. These include places like Cleveland, Miami, and San Diego.

1Bloomberg- https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-01-04/millennials-are-buying-cars-after-all2Focus Group, 10/14/16

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Then, we really got to know them.We initially sent out a survey that was centered around performance vehicles, but we recognized this was simply not enough. We had to go further. We had to dive deep into the aspirational millennial’s culture and how they interface with car brands. To do this, we followed up with an additional questionnaire. As early adapters and digital natives, this generation aspires to always be at the forefront of technological change.1

These millennials live in the experience economy, prioritizing creating memories over purchasing material goods.2

Major lifestyle changes are near as this generation changes jobs, moves to a new place, gets married, and settles down.3

They struggle with a career paradox: they believe they are in the right line of work5 but are not satisfied.4 1Index 1492Qualtrics Survey3Focus Groups 10/13/16 and 10/14/164Index: 1285Index: 133

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From there, we wanted to see what aspirational millenials look for in a new car.

As they prepare for major lifestyle changes – a new job, moving to a new city, or settling down with a spouse and family – they want a car that can grow with them.1

Millennials seek to balance reliability and longevity with aesthetics and features. They want a car that looks nice that’s in it for the long-haul.1

1Focus Groups 10/13/16 and 10/14/16

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Then, we drew a parallel between the target and the Acura ILX.

UNDER-APPRECIATED: While millennials work harder than their predecessors, they have yet to receive the same level of acknowledgment. The Acura ILX provides the same technological features of comparable brands, but the target has yet to fully grasp what the car is capable of.

MULTI-FACETED: Aspirational millennials know that life isn’t just about work and the 9-5. Similarly, the Acura ILX is not designed to simply take you from point A to point B. The ILX will get drivers to their destination, while making sure that they’re prepared for whatever the journey brings, whether that means taking calls for work or jamming out to music on the way to a concert.

DIGITALLY NATIVE: The aspirational millennial lives in a world where staying on the grid at all times is vital. Acura shares the same belief, imbuing the latest technology like SMS messaging and Bluetooth hands-free into the ILX to ensure constant connectivity.

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These parallels led us to an important realization: Acura has the opportunity to play in an untapped space.

The area between “reliable” and “refined” is uncharted territory for car brands. The Acura ILX has an opportunity here to carve

its own message as a bold, youthful, and innovative alternative to the mainstream buckets.

Source: Dealership Visits and Focus Groups (10/13/16 and 10/14/16)

Reliable Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Kia, Ford

RefinedLexus, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche

Practical Refinement Youthful, Innovative, The Next Step

Acura

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We originally planned to...

“The Aspirational Millennial” (Older, affluent millennials who aren’t fulfilled by their 9-5 job, and are ready to make a big-ticket purchase in the near future.)

GET TO BYConsider the Acura ILX as a personal reward for their hard work and determination to rise to the top of their careers.

Positioning the Acura ILX as a rite of passage. It’s finally their turn to celebrate their accomplishments without settling at where they’re at.

But that wasn’t enough. We knew from our focus group that this audience tunes out and doesn’t pay attention to stereotypical car advertising. We didn’t let our curiosity waver. If traditional marketing tactics wouldn’t work, we had to figure out what would. We dove into their culture, their habits, their daily lives, and subsequently, uncovered a major phenomenon.

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These millennials are side hustlers.They are living in an era where it is becoming mainstream to “be your own boss”. They no longer seek work-life balance, rather work-life integration so they don’t have to compromise their passions for work.1

To compensate for the career paradox they’re stuck in, millennials are side hustlers. They pursue a project outside of work that provides an outlet to express their creativity and personality.2

In today’s world, it’s never been easier to maintain a pet project with services like Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, Patreon, Etsy, and Redbubble. All it requires is the ability to stay connected and adapt to change.

Acura has to be as youthful and innovative as the consumers it wants to capture.

These consumers strive to reach the height of their careers while still keeping a passion project alive to express their personalities.

They work for the money and live for the hustle.

1Gemba Marketing http://gembamarketing.com/the-millennial-shift-work-life-balance-vs-work-life-integration/ 2Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/giana-pacinelli/generation-1099-reinvents_b_11651074.html

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We took this new insight and shifted our direction to...

“The Aspirational Millennial” (Older, affluent millennials who aren’t fulfilled by their 9-5 job, and are ready to make a big-ticket purchase in the near future.)

GET TO BYConsider the Acura ILX as their next big-ticket purchase and see the brand as youthful and innovative.

Highlighting the fact that the Acura ILX powers your hustle with innovative features that allow you to achieve work/life integration.

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Acura is stuck between two major categories of car brands – the reliable and the refined. Simply selling it as an upgrade wasn’t enough. We needed to tap into a cultural phenomenon in order to position Acura as a youthful, innovative brand that delivers precision-crafted performance.

Enter the side hustle. The passion project. The hobby that lets you be you.

According to Quartz, “the side hustle offers something worth much more than money: a hedge against feeling stuck and dull and cheated by life”.

This updated strategic campaign message hits a cultural nerve by establishing relevancy. With smart, tech-savvy features at a manageable price point, the Acura ILX can own the side hustle. It keeps you connected through work, play, and everything in between.

Whatever your hustle is, this car has the features to power it.

Big Idea: The 2017 Acura ILX Powers Your Hustle

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600 earned engagements

8127 earned impressions

10200impressions & CPI of

$0.003

39video shares

8,756 video impressions

61.5% of survey respondents said they were either extremely likely or somewhat likely to purchase a new or used vehicle in the next 2-3 years

84.6% of survey respondents said they would consider definitely, probably, or possibly buying the Acura ILX upon purchasing a new or used vehicle in the next 2-3 years

80.8%of survey respondents said

I have a more positive impression of Acura after this event

““

Min: 2

Max: 5

Mean: 4

Survey respondents rated how much the “Power Your Hustle” message spoke to them on a scale of 1 to 5

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Objective 2Generate buzz by creating a viral pass-along that educates consumers on the features and benefits of the 2017 Acura 2017 ILX

Objective 1Develop an integrated marketing communications campaign to increase purchase consideration of the 2017 Acura ILX among the millennial target market

Objective 3Raise target market perception of Acura as an innovative, youthful brand that offers precision crafted performance

Content Plan

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#PowerYourHustle

Podcast

Native

Print

Event

Social

Spotify

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Creative: PrintFor our first set of print ads, we wanted to show our target how the specific features of the Acura ILX allow the car to seamlessly fit into their chaotic day. The specific benefits that we highlighted include: the unlimited productivity possibilities in the On Demand Multi-Use Display, the ELS Studio Premium Audio System, and the Active Sound Control feature.

In order to ensure maximum views, we knew we wanted to run our ads in the campus publication with the largest readership, The Daily Orange. We recognized that it was just as important to have a broad audience in addition to getting as many eyes on our ads as possible. This is why we decided to run these print ads in the Friday football special edition, “In The Huddle.” This Friday publication is not only read by Syracuse University students, but also by a larger population consisting of the greater Syracuse community. 4,000 copies are printed and distributed before kickoff.

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Creative: Print

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Creative: Print

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Creative: Print

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Creative: PrintFor our second set of print ads, our goal was to highlight specific features of the Acura ILX while nodding to one of the main insights we found about our target: they pursue a project outside of their 9-5 that provides an outlet to express their creativity and personality.

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Creative: Print

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Creative: Event

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Creative: Event Breakdownhttps://www.facebook.com/tnhsyracuse/videos/1343757595657548/?pnref=story

To garner buzz on campus, we placed the Acura ILX along with a full event setup (complete with a DJ and 8 ft, Snapchat-story-worthy sign) on Walnut Park, a busy epicenter of activity at Syracuse University. If people couldn’t stop by, TNH and Hill Communications came together to bring the #hustle to them. With a little help from the popular local vendors (Recess Coffee & Roastery, Picasso’s Pastries and Cafe, and Hangry Baker), we made sure to inform SU students that the ILX is here to #PowerYourHustle.

• 3,712 video views (87% organic) • 8,756 total reach• ~2.5K unique views (roughly equivalent to17% of full time undergrad students at Syracuse University)• Over 80% of audience was 18-34 years old• 256 Facebook likes, 1,191 Facebook engagements, 39 Facebook shares• 81% of views came from the post being shared (indicates virality)• 350 cups of coffee given away in under 2 hours• 500 event attendees

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Creative: Podcast

We created “The Hustle” as a form of user-generated content that our target can listen to during their commute. This podcast includes relatable stories from the day-to-day lives of members of our target. The two examples we have included are stories that follow the author through the mundane occurrences that take place from 9-5 to the exciting, after-hour side hustles they spend all day looking forward to.

For example, episode two tells the story of a man stuck in traffic on his commute home one Friday afternoon. Despite the traffic delaying his weekend hiking trip, he is able to reflect on the early days and the future of his travel blog.

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Creative: Spotify

• Pre-Outing Before you hop in the cab, let the 2017 Acura ILX power your pre-party with our list of audible pump-ups.• The Long Commute Every great day starts with a decent commute. Ready yourself for the day ahead with beats from the new 2017 Acura ILX.• Sunday Decompress After a long weekend, Sundays are better with a smooth soundtrack, powered by the 2017 Acura ILX.• Weekend getaway Throwbacks to get your weekend going, powered by the 2017 Acura ILX.• Work Mix Tunes to keep you going through your workday from the car that knows, the all-new 2017 Acura ILX.• Late Night Jams For the late-night run or hangout, vibes brought to you by the all-new 2017 Acura ILX.

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Creative: Native Content

A trending form of web content amongst our target is Buzzfeed listicles. Members of our target share these branded articles on social media with their friends and family when they find the content to be funny, relatable, and “too true.” We created a subtly branded listicle, “8 Things You Need Before You Graduate That Aren’t A Job” and published it on the website of Syracuse University’s Jerk Magazine. By the time students reach their senior year at SU, they will come to rely on Jerk Magazine for funny, relevant, and satirical content. Because of this reputation, we knew Jerk Magazine would be the best platform on which to publish our listicle because, there, it would have the best chance of being shared and, ultimately, going viral on the Syracuse campus.

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Creative: Social Media

SNAPCHAT

We bought a geofilter on Snapchat for use during our event day, and encouraged people to add the filter to

their Snapchat stories.

Instead of making a traditional Facebook page,

we chose to create an event page to use to invite people

and engage directly with attendees and potential

consumers.

We chose to harness Instagram in order to show

off the beautiful images of the ILX and continue to

engage with our consumers on a platform

they frequent.

We used Twitter as our main platform for launching content and for staying in

contact with our event attendees and

potential future ILX drivers.

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Facebook Instagram Twitter

Social Content StrategyPROMOSPOWERPARTSPARTS

Posts focused on and highlighting the ILX’s individual superior features

Posts that connect powering consumers’ daily hustles with the ILX

Posts that connect our event and other executions with the general excitement of ILX

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Budget and Metrics

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Total Media Cost: $39.71Total Impressions: 39,705

Video: 258 reactions 3,712 views 8,756 people reachedEvent Page: 10,893 total reach 1.8K views 1,615 total engagement

Filter: 10,200 impressions CPI: $0.003

Account: 268 plays in 3 days

Article: 1,243 views 1,112 unique views 303 Facebook likes 3:15 avg. time on page 1,089 social entrances

Account: 53 followers 149 tweets 38 retweets 7.065 impressions#PowerYourHustle: 96 tweets 46 retweets

Account: 22 followers 503 likes 2 reposts 7.065 impressions#PowerYourHustle: 1,568 likes 9 reposts

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$2,227.66Event

$2,354.54Total

$69.40Strategy

$57.48Media

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Team MembersAccount

Josh Daghir, PresidentSydney Trager, Account ManagerCarla Caban, Account ManagerKennedy Patlan, Account Manager

StrategyRohan Krishnan, Director of StrategySam Feldman, Associate Strategy DirectorSandeep Gourkanti, Associate Strategy DirectorTyler Coleman, StrategistKim Flatley, Head of Research

Ed Russell, Faculty Advisor

CreativeMatthew Hankin, Creative DirectorLan Zhang, Lead Art DirectorOlivia LeRoy, Lead Copywriter Shelby Guller, Head of Social Media/CopywriterAlanna Quinlan, Art DirectorAudrey Heurlin, Art DirectorChi-Ching Ada Lam, Art DirectorBrianna Henry, CopywriterVictoria Pla, Copywriter

Media/PublicityGreta Rosenblum, Head of MediaAlexis Meade, Media AssociateKevin Agyakwa, Event Coordinator

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