ATLANTA — Acura, striving to return to 200,000 annual U.S. gross sales, is relying on a brand new crop of youthful and racially and culturally various clients to assist it meet that aim.

To achieve these potential patrons, Honda’s premium model has turned to popular culture platforms comparable to music and anime. The technique coincides with the latest revival of its compact sporty Integra, which begins at $31,895, together with transport. An additional $5,000 will get patrons the A-Spec w/Know-how trim and a six-speed guide transmission. The entry-level Integra replaces the ILX.

“We’re making an attempt to draw that next-generation premium purchaser, and which means these millennials, Gen Z. And when you consider that group, we all know that that inhabitants at this time is majority multicultural and really various,” stated Meliza Humphrey, senior supervisor of Acura advertising and marketing, throughout a presentation to members of the media right here. “So all the pieces we do is to focus on that viewers. Not solely that, who they’re, the place they’re and what they’re into.

“The factor we wish to get into now,” she continued, “is popular culture — and actually attending to the place our audience is.”

The marketing campaign’s first effort was the model’s first ever anime collection.

In January, Acura launched “Sort S: Chiaki’s Journey,” a four-part YouTube collection of one-minute episodes that includes a heroine and Sort S variations of the MDX crossover, TLX sedan and NSX unique automobile. The background music is carried out by the all-female Japanese metallic band Nemophila, and every video has a Spanish-language model. Mixed, the 4 clips amassed greater than 24 million views by the top of June.

The final time the model surpassed its present aim of 200,000 U.S gross sales was 2006. Amid the twin COVID-19 and microchip crises, Acura recorded 157,408 gross sales in 2021.

The present age of the typical Acura purchaser is 48, and the Integra — which coincidentally was final out there in 2006 — is without doubt one of the keys to reaching that gross sales goal.

“Because the gateway to our efficiency model, Integra is focusing on a next-gen Acura purchaser who’s closely millennial (26-41),” Humphrey advised Automotive Information. “The following-gen Acura buyer is bold, assured, real and fun-loving. They know what they need and encompass themselves with like-minded and confident high-achievers.”

“We additionally need these younger and various clients to see Acura as a enjoyable model by tapping into music and leisure programming, together with hip-hop, anime and revolutionary artistic that appeals to a broad vary of pursuits,” she stated.

Among the many entertainers teaming with Acura is 36-year-old New Orleans jazz musician and singer Trombone Shorty, who performed right here along with his band in Atlanta’s prosperous Buckhead neighborhood late final month and is at the moment touring the nation.

“In 2016, Acura turned the official automotive accomplice of the Trombone Shorty Basis in addition to the presenting sponsor of Shorty Fest, the muse’s largest fund-raising occasion,” Humphrey stated. “By means of Acura’s partnership with the Shorty Basis, we proceed to assist conventional jazz music schooling, instruction, mentorship and efficiency in New Orleans.”

Acura’s different entertainment-themed variety advertising and marketing efforts embody:

• A marketing campaign that includes California hip-hop artist Vince Staples, 29, and the Integra. “Staples had a task within the artistic improvement of the brand new marketing campaign, and tracks from his newest album are featured within the new spots,” Humphrey stated.
• Partnering with Tao Group Hospitality and the Story Nightclub in Miami Seashore, Fla., on a four-day music occasion for the Method 1 Miami Grand Prix weekend in Might. DJ Khalid, DJ Snake, Martin Garrix and Gunna have been featured artists.
• Teaming with Genius, a platform for track lyrics and music data, and showcasing rising artists with showcases in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta and Miami.
• Sponsoring the annual Sundance Movie Competition in Utah since 2010. “By means of our sponsorship we’re in a position to elevate up-and-coming multicultural administrators and expertise,” Humphrey stated.

Humphrey, a Pontiac, Mich., native who’s of Puerto Rican descent, has been with American Honda for 18 years — the final seven to eight of them in advertising and marketing. She stated her private expertise and profession background are massively instrumental in informing her position at this time.

“Rising up in a various metropolis like Pontiac with a big, prolonged household spending each vacation and celebration collectively, performed an enormous position in my understanding of the significance of tradition and household,” she stated. “Puerto Rican tradition, music, meals, have been a part of all the pieces our household did rising up, and having the ability to share these experiences with buddies and find out about different cultures and traditions whereas residing in Pontiac significantly formed my understanding of various cultures.

“My first alternative to be in promoting with a background of market analysis, was really in Honda’s multicultural advertising and marketing division,” she stated. “That was the place I had the chance to work in multicultural advertising and marketing. And I felt like for me personally, it is coming full circle with my profession, or simply my private life.”