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Acura is getting artsy to promote its latest SUV, continuing a trend of luxury car brands partnering with visual artists to reach millennial and Gen Z consumers.
Set to debut during March Madness on national broadcast TV, the Honda-owned car marque has launched “Crafted to Match Your Energy,” from agency of record MullenLowe LA, a colorful 60-second spot that promotes its 2025 ADX model.
From stop-motion animation to digital design, the campaign features a driver moving through different landscapes, each created by five rising multidisciplinary artists: Dalkhafine, brothers Arturo and Rodolfo Ambriz, Antoni Tudisco, Xander Opiyo, and Crystal Cashmere.
Acura is the latest luxury automaker to incorporate contemporary art into its marketing.
Recently, brands such as Porsche, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, and Jaguar Land Rover have collaborated with global artists for everything from painted cars to immersive installations at art events like Art Basel and Frieze Art Fair. Last month at Frieze LA, Aston Martin unveiled a light sculpture by British-American artist Anthony James.
Statista predicts that revenue in the luxury car market worldwide will grow at an annual rate of 0.85% from 2025 to 2029 to reach $28 billion.
Tapping into the arts is a familiar move for Acura, as the car brand recently celebrated its 15th year partnering with the Sundance Film Festival on activations and events like Acura House of Energy, where it showcased the Ambriz brothers’ work and hosted interviews, panels, mixers, and premiere parties.
The new campaign also expands on a collaboration forged between the brand and French and Canadian artist Dalkhafine. In December 2024, the pair debuted a mural at the Scope Art Show designed to “invoke the brand’s fun, youthful energy” through eye-catching, bright colors, Acura’s head of brand marketing Hundy Liu told ADWEEK.
Working with Dalkhafine has helped introduce the brand to new, younger customers who share a passion for art, including multicultural customers in Miami, an important market for Acura. The brand said it has already been seeing growth with millennial buyers since 2020, though it declined to share specifics.
In another foray into the arts, the brand created an anime series in 2022 to attract young buyers for the return of its Integra model. It also tapped rapper Vince Staples for a campaign that debuted during the NBA Finals that same year. The exec shared that since then, it has captured the youngest buyers in its segment “with 38% under 35, and 58% of Integra buyers conquested from other brands.”
“The opportunity for [us] to work with big visionaries and innovative and unique people can help us tell great stories for the Acura brand,” said Liu. “We want to continue to infuse that into the brand so that when people see Acura, they see us as a brand embracing this type of passion and challenging spirit.”
From murals to March Madness
The exec said that debuting the spot during March Madness aligns with this spirit of disruption, furthering its “mission in amplifying challengers and giving a voice to the visionary and risk-taker within us all.”
She also noted that the brand’s target audience varies depending on what vehicle they are promoting. For example, Integra and ADX are geared toward young millennials and multicultural buyers, including Black, Asian, and Hispanic Americans, who are making their first luxury purchase. Elsewhere, its electric ZDX model targets existing luxury buyers.
“In general, we want to connect with super passionate [people], not just about cars but somebody who is always thinking about new ways of doing things [and] challenging themselves to try new experiences, whatever it is,” said Liu.
The ADX campaign will air during the college basketball tournament on national broadcast TV, cable, local TV, local CTV, and streaming as well as social and digital channels. It will also run on Yahoo Sports and across other sports programming like Premier League Football, NBA, and IMSA Racing. Out-of-home elements in high-traffic areas of Los Angeles, New York, and Miami can also be spotted.
While Honda doesn’t separate earnings for Acura, the parent company reported an 8.9% increase in sales revenue year-over-year in the nine months ending Dec. 31. Last month, Acura reported a 2.1% decrease in total vehicle sales, or 18,014, year-over-year.
Statista projects that the brand’s revenue will reach $6 billion this year.
