• by Karl Greenberg , June 13, 2011

Lexus is launching a new ad campaign with a new aesthetic, a new focus around technological innovation, and new tag, "Engineering Amazing." The campaign actually evolves a theme the luxury brand has used in various ways for years, in which an aesthetic around precision is evinced with carefully balanced objects.

The first spot in the campaign features glass beakers stacked up on glass shelves. Each beaker contains a different kind of fuel, whether hydrogen, ethanol, natural gas, gasoline, algae-based fuel. The camera pulls back to reveal that the beakers are stacked by the hundreds, forming a wall of glass and liquid. Perfect for a bull-in-a-china-shop event.

A Lexus LS 600h hybrid car serves as the former, crashing through the wall in slo-mo, bursting through the other side in an umbra of shattered glass and liquid.

"Lexus hybrid drive technology is designed to optimize any fuel source on the planet, even those we don't know about yet," says the voiceover.

Said Dave Nordstrom, VP marketing for the luxury brand, in a statement: "It's not about simply making incremental strides and improvements, but about taking giant leaps in innovation."

The second spot illustrates Lexus' driving simulator by showing a driver behind the wheel of an LS sedan. As he is driving, he encounters dangerous scenarios like a drowsy driver changing lanes suddenly. When the camera pulls away viewers see that the experience is a drive simulation. The voiceover states, "When you pursue perfection, you don't just engineer the world's most advanced driving simulator. You engineer amazing."

The company says the new campaign, running through January, uses a different aesthetic than past campaigns, including a new color palette, and music and a different take on photography and font style. There is also a different focus on how vehicles are presented and lit.

Media strategy for the campaign puts ads on cable, cable prime, cable sports and full episode players on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and Hulu. The company has also designed Lexus.com, which includes footage about the making of the fuel add including interviews with engineers about the future of automotive fuels technology.

Lexus has also signed on as the exclusive automotive sponsor of the USGA U.S. Open. The deal gives Lexus a presence on NBC Sports and the Golf Channel, including an "Innovations of the Game" feature on ESPN and ESPN2. Lexus is also running a program around Major League Baseball's All Star Game featuring new vehicle technology.

Print ads will be in Food & Wine, Playbill, Sports Illustrated, Vogue, GOOD and National Geographic. The company says it is also running ads in The Daily Beast, Facebook, MSNBC Digital Network, Pandora, Pulse newsreader application and Twitter.

The campaign, via AOR TeamOne also comprises an out-of-home buy on 28 permanent boards in 11 markets and Lexus, plus a takeover of D.C. Gallery Place with three digital units, including a wallscape and three branded kiosks, per Lexus. The kiosks let consumers access Lexus.com -- and consequently their local dealerships -- through a touchscreen.

Lexus is doing a consumer Tweet chat with Nordstrom Thursday morning.