In order to gain insight into consumer perception of the brand, Lexus USA General Manager Mark Templin has been arranging dinner parties for both current and previous buyers in their own homes — Automotive News has the details:
Lexus Division boss Mark Templin figures the best way to get up close and personal with his customers is to dine with them — in their homes and in style.
For one thing, none of the luxury consumers cared which brand sells the most cars, despite media attention paid to the sales race involving Lexus, Mercedes and BMW.
“To these people, it doesn’t matter how many you sell; it’s how you sell and how you take care of them,” Templin said.
Templin also was startled by the extent to which luxury-car buyers allow their grown children to decide what car the parents should purchase. He said Lexus marketing in the future also will have to aim at young adults who may not be buying luxury cars but who may strongly influence their parents’ decisions.
“Mark wanted to know why people did or didn’t become a Lexus owner and what Lexus could do so those people would become owners,” Licht said, adding that nonowners typically referred to a Lexus as “my parents’ car.”
Templin called the dinner a success and plans to host a total of 10 of them around the country. A second dinner was held recently near San Francisco.
This looks to be from the same dinner that was featured in a recent Lexus Youtube video — it’s certainly an interesting approach, and seems less about market analysis and more about Mark Templin gaining a more personal understanding of Lexus customers.
(I definitely recommend reading the full article if you can get access to it — sometimes Automotive News pushes up a Subscription wall.)
[Source: Automotive News]
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