MY STRATEGIC-BASED PROCESS
DIRECTED THE DESIGN OF
THE LEXUS LOGO
The Toyota Board of Directors originally hired two giant branding firms; each was to design one Lexus logo.
Enjoying a long history of successes with Toyota, my firm K+A Visionary Branding was selected, with our former sister-company Hunter & Associates, a PR firm, to create visual display panels for each of the two proposed logos, to be used in global, major-market focus group testing.
I WAS ARMED WITH ONLY A SLING
The moment I was shown the two proposed logos, I ironically drew upon my mentoring from the Marketing Executives at Toyota, USA. I then counted to ten and took a deep breath.
I told the Lexus team that neither logo conveyed the Lexus brand essence; sophistication, luxury, aerodynamics and advanced technology.
I FOUND A STONE FOR MY SLING AND
NAMED IT DOUBT
I then authored a quick, informal Strategy Document & Creative Brief using the process I developed; in great part based upon the strategic thought process taught to me by my mentors at Toyota, USA.
My Strategy Document verified that both proposed logos posed a significant threat to maintaining the Lexus brand essence.
THE BLOW TO THE HEAD
Finally, Toyota allowed me to create a third logo if I agreed to shut up and leave them alone.
In the nine-month global major-market focus group testing, my logo scored 81%.
