While this season’s Lexus December to Remember holiday campaign is being panned, ridiculed, and parodied, we took notice on the astonishing long-term brand ramifications of it all.

Team One, a unit of Saatchi & Saatchi, created the commercials, in which an unsuspecting husband or wife is confronted by the Lexus December to Remember jingle (you’d know it if you heard it), while their partner watches and waits in gleeful anticipation. The delivery method varies from spot to spot (a rock-band themed video game, a crystal music box, and oddly, elevator music), but the hook remains the same — slowly, the gift receiver recognizes the music (as does the viewer) and realizes they’re about to receive a $30–80,000 present. The big reveal is the couple walking towards a brand new Lexus, as always, topped with a big, red bow.

The messy societal issues of such a campaign aside, the ads are a brilliant example of how short-term brand coherence can pay off in the long run, in surprising and unexpected ways.

Lexus first began using the jingle, a shortened version of songwriter Steve Kujala’s “Family and Friends,” for the local Los Angeles market in 1999, taking it, and December to Remember, national in 2001. Year after year, come November, Team One and Lexus returned to the jingle, and now, 13 years later, it’s built up massive amounts of brand equity.

13 years is an eternity in the advertising world, and most jingles — even those supporting entire global brands — don’t have a shelf life half that long. Here we have a single seasonal campaign whose theme music has become so recognizable, that it itself can act as a playful hook supporting an entire campaign, almost singlehandedly.

It’s these kind of results that show why brand equity is so important, and why sticking to your branding year after year can yield unexpected — and invaluable — results. No amount of money could have bought Lexus that kind of consumer recognition in a year, or even two. In branding, just like cooking, time itself is an essential component that can’t be replaced.

So what do you think? Are there other seasonal campaign jingles that can hold a candle to Lexus’ December to Remember? Let us know by leaving your thoughts in the comments below.

So, in that spirit, this occassional feature will showcase brands who are putting their “souls” out there in unique and engaging ways. The marketplace is a challenging arena, so we hope to bring some encouragement and inspiration from these brand moments, even if we didn’t have a hand in creating them.

Timbuk2
Timbuk2 makes custom travel bags, messenger and other kinds. They state that the company was “born in a San Francisco garage and bred on the backs of messengers in the city streets.” A few weeks ago I received my new 17″ laptop messenger bag from them, in this plastic shipping bag.

I think the images speak (loudly) for themselves, and for the roots, feel, and heart of the Timbuk2 brand.

Domino’s Pizza
Much has been made of the latest Domino’s Pizza campaign that centers around their newly-formulated pizza flavor and ingredients. It’s an uphill battle to change any brand’s image, and even gutsier to question its soul by admitting your primary product tasted like cardboard.

But they did it, and it seems this brutually honest new set of values has taken hold in a big way. Domino’s has now made a pledge to go against the grain with their food photography, promising not to use food styling or fake ingredients to depict their ‘za. Building on these new brand foundations, they are soliciting un-retouched photos of their new pizza. What a bold way to back up your new brand approach.