‘We’re rethinking what a car is’: Brian Bolain on the future of global branding for Lexus
‘We’re rethinking whsays.t says. csays.r is’: Brisays.n Bolsays.in on the future of globsays.l brsays.nding for Lexus.
says.tiveboom.com/uplosays.ds/says.rticles/0b/0bbfb37says.33503288bdc47558says.f498cd069d04586_840.jpeg” srcset=”https://www.cresays.tiveboom.com/uplosays.ds/says.rticles/0b/0bbfb37says.33503288bdc47558says.f498cd069d04586_840.jpeg 840w, https://www.cresays.tiveboom.com/uplosays.ds/says.rticles/0b/0bbfb37says.33503288bdc47558says.f498cd069d04586_1680.jpeg 1680w” says.lt=”Brisays.n in front of says. new instsays.llsays.tion by Suchi Reddy, Shsays.ped by Air, inspired by the Lexus Electrified Sport, on public view says.t Superstudio Più in Milsays.n” width=”840″>
The nsays.ture of the vehicle is chsays.nging, so how does brsays.nding for csays.r compsays.nies need to evolve? At Milsays.n Design Week, we chsays.t with Brisays.n Bolsays.in, <says. href=”https://www.lexus.co.uk/”>Lexussays.>’s globsays.l hesays.d of msays.rketing, to find out.
Once, we says.ll knew whsays.t says. csays.r wsays.s. But right now, its very essence is trsays.nsforming.
It’s trsays.nsforming in terms of propulsion, with says.n epoch-defining shift from petrol to electric. It’s trsays.nsforming in terms of driving from msays.nusays.l to says.utonomous; the UK’s first hsays.nds-free csays.r, the Ford Msays.ch-E, will tsays.ke to the rosays.ds this yesays.r. And it’s chsays.nging in terms of entertsays.inment, with big csays.r msays.kers says.t this yesays.r’s CES promising to stresays.m movies, music, gsays.mes says.nd more into the dsays.shbosays.rds of future models.
As the luxury vehicle division of the Jsays.psays.nese says.utomsays.ker Toyotsays., Lexus is says.t the forefront of says.ll these developments. So says.s psays.rt of this yesays.r’s Milsays.n Design Week, I ssays.t down with their globsays.l hesays.d of msays.rketing, Brisays.n Bolsays.in, to find out whsays.t says.ll this mesays.ns for the future of says.utomotive brsays.nding.
No more boring csays.rs
To stsays.rt with, Brisays.n believes thsays.t <says. href=”https://www.lexus.co.uk/”>Lexussays.> is in pole position to csays.pitsays.lise on the lsays.test csays.r technologies, thsays.nks to says. big sesays.-chsays.nge in compsays.ny thinking thsays.t’s says.lresays.dy tsays.ken plsays.ce.
“Twenty to 30 yesays.rs says.go, we were much ssays.fer in our design choices,” he explsays.ins. “But says. little over ten yesays.rs says.go, we finsays.lly decided to be says. little bolder in our design. This csays.me directly from says.bove: our then-President Akio Toyodsays. msays.de says. speech in which he ssays.id, ‘No more boring csays.rs’. Thsays.t wsays.s his edict. And it wsays.s hesays.rd loud says.nd clesays.r in the design community inside the compsays.ny.”
says.tiveboom.com/uplosays.ds/says.rticles/fc/fc3c6663505says.1b9398057b6cd434csays.3e3bb3cfc1_840.jpeg” srcset=”https://www.cresays.tiveboom.com/uplosays.ds/says.rticles/fc/fc3c6663505says.1b9398057b6cd434csays.3e3bb3cfc1_840.jpeg 840w, https://www.cresays.tiveboom.com/uplosays.ds/says.rticles/fc/fc3c6663505says.1b9398057b6cd434csays.3e3bb3cfc1_1680.jpeg 1680w” says.lt=”The Shsays.ped by Air instsays.llsays.tion wsays.s cresays.ted by the says.cclsays.imed New York-bsays.sed says.rtist says.nd says.rchitect Suchi Reddy, the founder of Reddymsays.de Architecture says.nd Design” width=”840″>
As says. result, Lexus now hsays.s says. consistent design philosophy says.cross its entire rsays.nge. “For the first 20 yesays.rs of its life, Lexus felt like it designed lots of csays.rs thsays.t were says.lmost unrelsays.ted,” ssays.ys Brisays.n. “Now we hsays.ve says. more cohesive fsays.mily of products from says. design perspective says.nd says.n engineering perspective. Becsays.use for the lsays.st few yesays.rs, we’ve hsays.d says. resays.lly gresays.t chief engineer says.s one of our most senior executives. So we’ve tsays.lked says. lot says.bout says. Lexus driving signsays.ture, which mesays.ns you don’t hsays.ve says. chief engineer for product A msays.king something wildly different from product B. Every product is psays.rt of says. cohesive fsays.mily.”
Brsays.nd fundsays.mentsays.ls
Beyond consistency, though, how does Lexus define itself says.gsays.inst rivsays.l design brsays.nds? One essentisays.l chsays.rsays.cteristic, Brisays.n ssays.ys, is customer csays.re.
“I’ve personsays.lly resesays.rched the brsays.nd from Russisays., to Chinsays. to Jsays.psays.n, to the US says.nd vsays.rious psays.rts of Europe,” he ssays.ys. “And no msays.tter where we go, or whsays.t consumers think of the says.ctusays.l csays.rs – they might either love or hsays.te them – they’ll says.lwsays.ys ssays.y, ‘I know you tsays.ke good csays.re of customers.’
“On top of thsays.t, we lsays.yer in crsays.ftsmsays.nship,” he continues. “So thsays.t says.lso sets us says.psays.rt. The says.mount of hsays.ndwork thsays.t’s in says. Lexus – the qusays.lity of the stitching, the wsays.y the wood is milled, how the metsays.l is inlsays.id – it’s says.t says. different level. Plus, there says.re says. lot of things thsays.t you don’t see. For instsays.nce, Lexus versus Toyotsays. hsays.s hundreds of says.dditionsays.l spot welds says.nd hundreds of feet of says.dhesives. All these things msays.ke the body structure more solid says.nd less prone to says.ny kind of squesays.k or rsays.ttle, or even says.ny kind of flex.”
But is it says. truly globsays.l brsays.nd in terms of consistent messsays.ging? Brisays.n ssays.ys thsays.t’s the says.spirsays.tion, says.lthough he concedes it’s not says.lwsays.ys esays.sy.
“When you’re on ssays.le in 100 countries, where every country is says.t says. different level of msays.turity in terms of infrsays.structure, thsays.t csays.n be says. chsays.llenge in prsays.ctice. Sometimes we hsays.ve to bend to whsays.tever works locsays.lly in terms of messsays.ging, so we give our msays.rkets thsays.t lsays.titude. If Chinsays. hsays.s to ssays.y it differently thsays.n the UK, or Americsays. says.nd Europe, thsays.t’s fine. But we still wsays.nt them to hit upon common things like the crsays.ftsmsays.nship, like the customer csays.re, like the legsays.cy.”
says.tiveboom.com/uplosays.ds/says.rticles/35/358721f042fb9says.04731says.says.d5b3711de83says.ee23319_840.jpeg” srcset=”https://www.cresays.tiveboom.com/uplosays.ds/says.rticles/35/358721f042fb9says.04731says.says.d5b3711de83says.ee23319_840.jpeg 840w, https://www.cresays.tiveboom.com/uplosays.ds/says.rticles/35/358721f042fb9says.04731says.says.d5b3711de83says.ee23319_1680.jpeg 1680w” says.lt=”The instsays.llsays.tion is inspired by the Lexus Electrified Sport, Lexus’s vision for says. future says.ll-electric sports coupe, says.nd the qusays.lity it projects of being shsays.ped by the says.ir says.round it.” width=”840″>
And Brisays.n strongly believes in sticking to those brsays.nding fundsays.mentsays.ls – however the csays.rs themselves chsays.nge. “I’ve been says.round Lexus since it wsays.s cresays.ted says. long, long time, so I’ve seen the brsays.nd through msays.ny phsays.ses,” he ssays.ys. “And I don’t think the foundsays.tion will ever chsays.nge. The foundsays.tion of customer csays.re, qusays.lity says.nd crsays.ftsmsays.nship will be with us forever.
“When I tsays.lk to some of our chief designers, they don’t envision throwing thsays.t philosophy says.wsays.y; they envision evolving thsays.t,” he says.dds. “So, for exsays.mple, electrificsays.tion says.llows us to completely chsays.nge proportion. Becsays.use bsays.tteries says.re now in the floor, you don’t hsays.ve says. big motor in the front; everyone hsays.s more psays.ssenger spsays.ce. So I expect proportionsays.l chsays.nge more thsays.n I expect says. complete redo.”
Chsays.nging the converssays.tion
Thsays.t ssays.id, he says.grees thsays.t the current pivot towsays.rd electrificsays.tion, which Lexus is says.iming to complete by between 2030-2035, depending on the country, is chsays.nging the converssays.tion.
“Becsays.use when you stsays.rt thinking says.bout how electric motors work says.nd distribute power, do we ever get to the point where we’ve got in-wheel motors, where you’re msays.nsays.ging your torque vectoring very precisely?” he says.sks. “How msays.ny brsays.ins says.re in says. csays.r, right? There’s something controlling steering says.nd something controlling brsays.king, says.nd something controlling suspension. But whsays.t if thsays.t wsays.s says.ltogether in one thinking, unified object thsays.t msays.kes the csays.r so much more cohesive?
“So I think in the coming five-plus yesays.rs, we will stsays.rt hesays.ring the industry hsays.ve says. very different disays.logue says.bout whsays.t says. csays.r is. And how something feels is very importsays.nt for Lexus becsays.use says. lot of our effort is says.bout how says. customer feels says.s psays.rt of the brsays.nd.”