After many days of thinking; chewing it over; working it out with my hubby and kids; analysing the family’s favourites and their suggestions and views; reviewing my shelves (being a bit food-centric I determined to get past a few “famous” but obvious food brands); then sifting this way and that; I have finally decided that my favourite brand is Lexus. Being a true marketer at heart and a great early adopter of new brands, products and packaging formats, I wanted to find that ‘certain brand’ that I’d loved for some time. In the end, I realised that I had been weighing up a number of brand criteria in order to make my final judgment. My brand had to deliver against the following:
1. A clear differentiated positioning
2. Truly lives up to its positioning in every way
3. Its positioning remains a competitive edge
4. The product delivers 100%
5. Every brand execution- either real or communicated – is flawlessly executed
6. The brand’s personality delivers something special and compelling to me
7. It didn’t matter what anyone else thought
So, Toyota’s Lexus brand won the day for me. My five-year relationship with Lexus has never been anything but loving. And why? Well, there has never been any question that the customer is the centre of the Lexus brand’s world. Every aspect of the brand – product, service, communication – stays true to a positioning that delivers an unsurpassed standard of ‘indulgent care’ to me. No other luxury car brand provides the level of service or the quality of included features and standards, in my eyes, to its customers. Lexus doesn’t stop with the big things, but makes the little things count.
Whether it’s the Lexus Encore programme and its associated partnerships, or the lady who answers the phone when you book your service, every single interaction with the Lexus brand engages and refreshingly delivers against the brand proposition. So in the end, maybe it is that it always delivers. In all ways, that sets it apart. Maybe it’s a highly charged emotional attachment on my part, or maybe (happily) it’s both. Many brands in many categories could certainly learn some lessons from the simplicity of Lexus’ clear positioning and make a concerted effort to deliver more than 100% at every chance in the way that this brand has always done for me.
