Granted that I haven’t seen the ads because I’m in the wrong country, but I think you’ve missed the point of the ads: they’re almost certainly not being broadcast to get those precious few executives to buy a car for Christmas, though that would be a happy coincidence, but to raise brand awareness and image. Just think how about much the TV ads cost and how many cars would need to sell just to cover that. See, you’re talking about it now, aren’t you?
Do we have any advertising guys in the house? They’ll undoubtedly explain it better than I have.
Yeah, but I’d still never buy a Lexus. Or any luxury car. And I’d never take any car as a prize unless I could get the cash equivalent instead because then I’d have to sell it, taking a loss, so that I could get some capital I could work with, even if I decided to then buy a different car.
Bingo. We did this last year. I needed a new car, so I got one “for Christmas.” Of course, it also served as a gift for my birthday… which is in March.
Sure, I roll my eyes at those ads, because even if I had that kind of money, I wouldn’t buy my husband a car for Christmas.
But from a marketing perspective, they’re brilliant. All car dealers must suffer abominably slow sales during the winter. Even if they sell just a handful as presents, that’s got to make a huge difference for their sales goals in December.
My mother bought a truck for my stepfather a couple of years ago for his birthday (I think–might have been Christmas). His old truck was on its last few miles, and he’d already picked out the one he wanted to replace it with. My mom still borrowed it from the dealer to give to him before signing the papers, just in case. (No giant bow, unfortunately.)
And my dad bought me a cell phone with service (and severe warnings about not going over the contract minutes) for Christmas and/or my birthday when I was in college. He said it was the only way he could ever talk to me. Actually, he did it again for me as an adult, at a time when I wouldn’t have bought cell phone service for myself. It was a very nice present.
Both my parents make good money, but neither is a millionaire or prodigal with money, so I’d guess a fair number of people are potential targets for the ads.
My dad gets my mom a new car for Christmas about every 3 years. I’m not sure if he’s ever got her a Lexus, but he got her a Caddy a few years ago. (Big mistake - tiny woman with an attitude in a big, big car. It was a bad scene.)
I think this is the best answer. It’s not about selling cars as gifts: otherwise, most of the ads would be for the sort of cars people DO give as gifts (usualy to kids graduating high school): Used (mostly) and new low end cars. The idea is about establishing your type of luxury car as the ultimate gift, because that feeds into the whole idea that buying a luxury car is the ultimate consumer purchase. When people watch those ads, they identify with the recipent, not the giver, and they think “God, I wish I was getting one of those”.
This means that when they do go to buy a new car in a few months, they are a little more likely to swing by the Lexus dealer as well as the Honda place.
