• by Karl Greenberg , March 16, 2011

Lexus is venturing into branded entertainment to promote its CT hybrid sedan. The effort extends the CT 200h launch last month with a branded entertainment series via a partnership with Microsoft's MSN.

The series, called "Fresh Perspectives," examines six artists from a variety of fields and how they create: LA-based "underground" chef Craig Thornton; graffiti/street art painter Augustine Kofie; fashion designer Robert James; singer/songwriter V (Veronika Bozeman); paper sculpture artist Jeff Nishinaka; and Brooklyn-based photographer Tod Seelie.

The central conceit of the series is that each artist had to create original pieces of art around the themes of "Escape," "Challenge" and "Empower" within 24 hours.

Although Lexus has been promoting the new car with grassroots programs, tie-ins with music and guerrilla events for the new films -- which start on April 18 -- are an unusual venture for Lexus, which hasn't done branded-entertainment video content since the brand launched its L Studio broadband channel for video content in 2008. The program will be supported by a custom content hub page destination, a promotion on Xbox Live, MSN.com and mobile, and social media activation.

A Lexus spokesperson says that the CT Hybrid will be integrated into "Fresh Perspectives." "For instance, when chef Craig Thornton travels to the farmer's market to purchase produce for his CT-inspired dish, he will travel in a CT. The series landing page will also be branded CT Hybrid," she says.

Nancy Hubbell, Lexus Prestige Communications Manager says the program will be extended to a branded experience within Xbox Live that was created for the December 2010 "All-Nighter" sponsorship. She says that the idea is collaboration between (Lexus AOR) Team One's media arm and MSN's custom content division, BEET, with Team One overseeing the media deal and facilitating the program's implementation. "This is the first time Lexus has worked with BEET." She said, however, that Lexus has done buys on MSN.com on the past.

Lexus and MSN also collaborated on selecting the artists, according to Hubbell. "We were looking for innovative and buzzworthy creative types who fit Generation X/Y's evolving definition of artistic relevance," she says. "We weren't looking for only gallery fine artists, but wanted to expand the definition of 'artist.'"