How a Lexus redesign became a Spartan content series
How a vehicle redesign became a sponsored content series about redesigning the way you train, eat, and recover.
In 2022, as part of my work with Spartan through TORIAL, the sponsorship team came to us with a brief from Lexus.
Lexus was preparing to launch the 2023 redesigned RX and had committed to a sponsored content series with Spartan.
The obvious route would have been to create fitness content and attach Lexus branding to it, but I thought there was a more interesting connection.
If Lexus was redesigning the vehicle, what would it look like for Spartan to help people redesign themselves?
That became the foundation for The Spartan Redesign.
The opportunity for a Spartan content series with Lexus
Spartan already had a strong point of view on training, nutrition, resilience, and personal development.
Its founder and CEO, Joe De Sena, had spent decades continually changing the way he trained, ate, recovered, and challenged himself.
The idea was to use that philosophy as the editorial bridge between the two brands.
Rather than talk about car redesign directly, we could take the underlying idea of continuous evolution and turn it into useful content for the Spartan audience.
How do you redesign the way you train?
How do you redesign the way you eat?
How do you adapt as your body, goals, and circumstances change?
Those were questions Spartan and Joe could answer.
Building the series
I developed the core editorial concept around Joe De Sena's own evolution as an athlete and founder.
We interviewed Joe about the different phases of his training history, from his early endurance years through strength training, extreme events, and the more sustainable routine he uses today.
That became the anchor story: Redesign the Way You Train With Spartan Boss Joe De Sena's 'Sixth Day.'
From there, the idea expanded into a five-part Lexus-sponsored series exploring different elements of performance and personal redesign.
The content included Joe's training philosophy, his approach to nutrition and recovery, service-driven advice for changing the way you train, and a practical body-redesign training program.
We also worked with Spartan's video team to capture Joe discussing elements of his philosophy, giving the series another format beyond written editorial.
Making the sponsorship feel native
Instead of slapping a logo on the content, the published series connected the two through a simple premise: Lexus continually redesigns its vehicles to improve them, while Spartans continually redesign the way they train, eat, and think.
From there, the content could stand on its own.
Readers were getting practical training, nutrition, and recovery guidance rooted in Spartan's existing philosophy. Lexus had a clear strategic connection to the idea without needing to interrupt the content.
What I developed
• The core Spartan Redesign editorial concept
• The strategic connection between Lexus's vehicle redesign and Spartan's philosophy of continual self-improvement
• The editorial framework for extending the concept across training, nutrition, recovery, and mindset
• The anchor interview and story with Spartan founder and CEO Joe De Sena
• Supporting service content and a practical training program
• A structure that could extend across written and video content
See also: The Spartan x Lexus Discomfort Zone
What shipped
The concept became a multi-part sponsored content series published by Spartan in December 2022.
Additional pieces explored his nutrition and recovery philosophies, training modifications, and a seven-day body-redesign program.
Lexus sponsored the series as part of its broader partnership with Spartan.
The larger lesson
The strongest partnerships start by identifying an idea the advertiser cares about that the publisher has genuine authority to explore.
Lexus had redesign. And Spartan had a culture built around constantly testing, adapting, and improving yourself.
The job was to find the overlap and turn it into something people would actually want to read, watch, and use.
That's what made the Spartan Redesign work.
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