AAF 2011-2012 Nissan Campaign Ball State University

Luke Chase (Campaign Director)

Contents

Research Team

Jessica Sharp (Director) Julie Floran (Asst. Director) Laura Spalla

Inhyup Hwang Sarah Nix

IBP Team

Shelby Jacobs (Director) Zachary Anderson (Asst. Director) Sara Bobo

Brooke Bushong*

Media Team

Sarah McVey (Director)* Kayla Green (Asst. Director) Amanda Meyer* Laura Bayard Graham Becher Ryan Bonnell Jessica Mills Whitney Rodeffer

Creative Team

Jeff Hardesty (Director) Nolan Marker (Copy Director) Stephanie Wiser (Asst. Director) Graham Becher Jake Brauner Aaron Cole Katie Frampton Emily Gazda* Anne Haben David Hoffman Max Jones Kim Knapp

Chris Lohss LaTonya Looney Ross Miller Sarah Mitchem* Jorge Perez Olivia Romero Hannah Stroup JP Ubana Austin Vance

*Executive Board Member

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Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Target Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Creative Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Creative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Media {earned, owned, paid} . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Integrated Brand Promotions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Recommendations / Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Brand analysis nissan Brand Evaluation Nissan’s goal is to build awareness and long-term relationships with the multicultural community. The global company vision is “Enriching People’s Lives” through their products and services as well as improving the communities around them. Nissan has developed various charity efforts such as the Nissan Neighbors and The Nissan Foundation which focus on the environment, education and humanitarian aid.

For the African American segment, Nissan ranks high in brand and model purchases. Hispanic and Chinese buyers rank Nissan as middle of the road; they like the brand, but do not purchase it more than brands like Toyota, Honda and Ford.

Our objective is to increase awareness of the Nissan brand in the eyes of our target. We want to relate to and engage our audience in a brand experience.

Nissan is founded in Japan

1933

1959

Nissan USA established

Nissan named Best of the Best by Environmental Protection Agency

1997

2009

“Look Closer Nissan Delivers”

Nissan Leaf released | “Innovation For All” | “Limited Engagement Winter Event” | “Shift the Way You Move

2010

2011

Minivan marketed as “Innovation for Family” “Most ___ Per Dollar.”

Market Research Competitors Toyota Toyota ranks number one in total multicultural market share and number one in overall market share. The company focuses on increasing functionality, quality and safety. In 2010, there were 6.5 million Toyotas recalled for accelerator issues. Even after the recalls, the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 Vehicle Dependability Study gave Toyota 4 out of 5 stars.

Lexus, Toyota’s luxury brand, received 5 out of 5 stars surpassing Ford and Chevrolet.

The total multicultural sales volume increased 29% from 2010 to 2011.

Nissan has a higher non-luxury total multicultural market share compared to its competitors, but ranks third behind Toyota and Honda in total multicultural market share and fifth in terms of total market share. Nissan’s placement in comparison to its competitors provides an opportunity for growth.

Major Trends

Honda Honda ranks second in total multicultural market share and fourth in total market share. Their lineup consists of mostly mid-size, highly fuel-efficient vehicles. Honda uses their brand to sponsor many sporting events including the National Hockey League, The Honda Classic golf tournament and Major League Soccer with the “Honda Player of the Year.”

Nissan and its competitors consistently sponsor events and use broadcast networks to target specific ethnic audiences. They have also been able to successfully reach the multicultural target through various integrated brand promotion initiatives. Car companies are increasingly hiring specialized advertising and public relations firms to more accurately reach their intended multicultural audience.

Chevrolet Chevrolet ranks fourth in total multicultural market share and third in total market share. Chevy sells a variety of vehicles from sub-compact sedans to medium-duty commercial vehicles. Chevy began building more fuelefficient cars and trucks to better compete with Toyota and Honda. In 2011, Chevy posted the best 1st quarter sales.

What this means for Nissan is that we need to find an unexpected way to reach our multicultural audience that is not being used by other brands.

Ford Ford ranks fifth in total multicultural market share and second in total market share. Ford is the fifth largest automaker worldwide based on vehicle sales and one of the largest and most profitable companies in the world. Much of Ford’s success can be attributed to its ownership of the Mercury and Lincoln brands, each of which is targeted to a different demographic.

Hyundai Hyundai ranks sixth in total multicultural market share and total market share. Hyundai was cited by Kelly Blue Book as having the most brand loyal consumers for the second quarter of 2011. In the next few years, Hyundai expects to offer low-emission, hybrid and high-efficiency models for a lower price. Hyundai also has a “go green” campaign entitled Blue Drive and plans to create a fleet average of 35 mpg by 2015.

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Market Share

Current Nissan Market Share 8.39 %

Chinese American market share

13.66 %

Hispanic American market share

13.74 %

African American market share

13.04 %

Total Multicultural market share

8.83 %

Total market share

Research HISPANIC American Media Consumption time / week Network TV National Cable Digital Media Print

68% 15% 12% 5%

TOP DMAs Chicago Dallas El Paso Houston

65%

of Hispanic Americans consume media in English

Los Angeles Miami / Ft. Lauderdale New York Orlando Phoenix

Sacramento San Antonio San Diego San Francisco

“My vehicle is a part of my Personality and independence.�

Demographics

Psychographics

Geographics

The Hispanic target comprises 49% of the total Nissan multicultural audience and is the fastest growing population segment in the U.S. More than half of the Hispanic population is between 18 and 34 years old and Hispanic families tend to have a higher concentration of children. The average Hispanic Nissan consumer is 39 years old with a household income of $68,000.

Hispanics in our target are family-oriented, which includes extended family. Young Hispanic Americans maintain their cultural heritage while embracing the American lifestyle, easily switching between the two cultures. Many Hispanic Millennials speak Spanish at home or with friends and speak English at school or work. They are heavy users of traditional and new media and view advertising as entertainment.

More than half of the Hispanic American target population is heavily concentrated in the South and Southwest regions of the United States.

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Research AFRICAN AMERICAN Media Consumption time / week Internet Television Radio Newspaper Billboards

35% 34% 21% 5% 5%

TOP DMAs New York Atlanta Chicago Washington, D.C.

70%

5

of African Americans trust Black Media more than Mainstreem Media

Philadelphia Los Angeles Houston

Dallas / Ft. Worth Miami Indianapolis Memphis

“My vehicle is an extension of my Personality and symbolizes my independence.�

Demographics

Psychographics

Geographics

The African American segment is 34% of the total Nissan multicultural audience. This segment is becoming more affluent and educated. The average African American household income is $66,000 with a median age of 45. African American consumers that purchase Nissans are typically single, collegeeducated mothers.

African Americans express their individuality in their purchasing choices and lifestyle more than other groups. They are heavy users of traditional media and are more likely to trust ethnic media than mainstream media. The majority of African Americans say ethnic identity is more important than national identity. They value family, friends and education highly.

African Americans are more spread out than the other segments. However, they tend to live in the Eastern and Southern United States.

Research CHINESE American Media Consumption time / week Satellite Spot TV Digital Media Print

22% 25% 18% 35%

TOP DMAs Los Angeles new york chicago

93%

san francisco washington, d.c.

seattle houston philidelphia

“my vehicle is a part of my personality and lifestyle.”

of the total Chinese American population reads a Chinese language newspaper

Demographics

Psychographics

Geographics

The Asian segment comprises 17% of Nissan’s multicultural audience, the majority being Chinese.

This segment has the highest level of education; 44% have at least a Bachelor’s Degree. The average Asian Nissan consumer is a 36-year-old married, college-educated, male with a household income of $78,000.

Chinese Americans are focused on having fun and spend more on food, education, vehicle purchases, furniture, footwear and clothing. They are more likely to purchase a new car. They spend a great deal of time consuming new media and 70% go online daily. The Asian population is easily offended by cultural identifiers because traditions are drastically different across countries of origin.

The highest concentration of the Chinese population resides on the West Coast. The rest are primarily located in New York and along the East Coast. Over half of the Chinese population resides in California and New York.

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Research Primary Focus Groups

We reached 418 members of the target through our primary research initiatives Survey

We conducted focus groups with all the target segments and wanted to know: • Features the target felt were important • Research resources they used when purchasing a vehicle • Role their current car plays in their life and in relation to cultural traditions • How they felt in their car What we found was that cultural traditions were the only separating factor between the ethnic segments. Their individual wants are influenced by personality, not ethnicity. The must have feature was fuel efficiency and most went online or to their family for guidance and information.

The most important insight we found was that our participants see their car as a reflection of their personality so the vehicle they purchase must accurately represent them. The participants want to make a statement with their car about their lifestyle and accomplishments. They feel as if they have more independence and freedom because they have a vehicle. Participants look for reliable, stylish and comfortable vehicles and described Nissan as having these qualities.

In order to get a better understanding of our target we conducted an online survey as well as individual interviews asking about must-have car features, research methods, what their vehicle symbolizes and their top, personal values. We also asked how they wanted advertisements to target them. We reached 178 people in our targeted segments in 15 states online and conducted 81 individual interviews.

We found some important insights to support and build on our secondary research as well as the focus group results. The majority of our respondents chose fuel efficiency as their top, must-have feature and 75% of respondents said they use the internet to research those features.

Again, one of our most important insights was that the target viewed their vehicle as a symbol of their independence, lifestyle and personality. As individuals, their values were all similar; they consistently chose family, friends and education. When it came to how they want advertisements to target them, 85% of them “want advertisements to treat them the same as everyone else”.

85% of respondents said “I want advertising to target Me the same as everyone else.”

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TArget Analysis What it all means Key differences While the multicultural segments don’t want to be targeted by their ethnicity, they do consume media differently based on their ethnicities.

All three of our segments value their culturally specific media, but are also engaged with English language media. For example our secondary research demonstrated that African Americans trust ethnically specific and owned media twice as much as they trust mainstream media. Particularly among Hispanics, they are consuming in-language and English language media at various times of the day. Therefore, we have chosen to purchase ad placements that reach each ethnicity specifically as well as other vehicles that reach the entire multicultural target which we will refer to as crossover media.

Motivational factors require the vehicle fit their personality, independence and lifestyle.

While creative lends itself to targeting through purchasing segments, media lends itself to targeting through ethnic segmentation.

Consumer desires regarding automotive purchases are influenced by personality and not ethnicity.

Hispanic American African American Chinese American

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Research creative target segmentation Purchaser Segments Our goal is to reach our multicultural audience in an unexpected way. We conducted research and held conversations with over 400 people in our target. From these conversations we found that African American, Hispanic American, and Chinese American Millennials want to be targeted based on their individual personalities and lifestyles, not ethnicities.

Based on our research, we divided the target into three categories focused on their individual personalities and purchasing habits. There is no single category to exclusively describe each person in our target and we recognize that there will be cross-over among the segments as well as the vehicles they are likely to purchase.

These segments are meant to transcend the ethnic divisions of the target.

Entertainment Seeker The entertainment seeker values style and having fun with their car. They are adventurers, entertainers and sports car fanatics. They are constantly active and seeking stimulus from the world around them. Their car is a reflection of their outgoing personality and they are willing to spend more money to customize the car to their individual likes.

Cars: Rogue, Pathfinder

72% of our targeted segments shared beliefs that their cars reflected their lifestyle, independence, and individual personality.

Over 83% of our segments said that price and fuel efficiency are the most important factor.

85% of our target segment said treat me the same as everyone else; don’t show that you are targeting us.

Status Seeker The status seeker likes to make a statement through their purchases, lifestyle and personality. They are likely to be in the upper portion of our target with a tendency to have more disposable income. They are advancing their careers and will most likely have graduated with at least a Bachelor’s degree. Their car is a statement of their growing success and independence. Status seekers are likely to customize their car to fit their personality and lifestyle outside of the work environment.

Cars: Altima, Pathfinder

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Value Seeker The value seeker is the largest part of our target and is the umbrella segment; they are primarily concerned with price and efficiency. More specifically the value seeker includes families, the younger end of the target and those who are on a budget. They are looking to get the most for their dollar while still having the latest technology.

Cars: Sentra, Versa, Rogue

“

“

To be a minority is unique.

To be a minority is empowering.

But that is not all that i am.

Motivational factors require the vehicle fit their personality, independence and lifestyle.

We have to realize that minorities are individuals first and foremost, making their cultural background just a piece of the puzzle. We are all unique based on our characteristics, personality, hobbies, goals, and previous life experiences.

Who we are today is not about who we were born as, but rather who we have worked to become. By blatantly grouping consumers based on their race, we would risk offending them leading to a loss of trust in our brand. Trying too hard to target people based on their race and not based on who they are as individuals is a mistake brands make too often. We will steer the Nissan brand away from these stereotypes and connect with our target on a much more personal level.

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We understand that every consumer is an individual with unique needs and desires. With this in mind, Nissans are designed so the driver feels their vehicle was built especially for whom they define themselves as.

Introducing the ‘Define Your Drive’ Campaign.

The Define Your Drive campaign showcases how Nissan innovation empowers consumer individuality. This campaign takes Nissan’s love of innovation to its ultimate conclusion: cars so versatile they feel customized for every driver.

Once you drive a Nissan you’re hooked. The wind blowing through your hair. Rocking out to music. Finding your way when you get lost. And going on spontaneous trips with friends. All made possible by the individuality of your lifestyle and the versatility of Nissan.

These life moments are daily experiences that our target feels, remembers, and relates to. We want consumers to define their perfect use of a Nissan. What they want in their car. How it drives them to succeed in life. We want them to understand that Nissan is the company that creates cars with individuality in mind. By providing them with a car that fits their lifestyle, let’s them be who they are and helps them find where they’re going in life. We give consumers the opportunity to define their drive.

Cognitive Convince prospects that there is a Nissan model

that satisfies their individual needs, regardless of how they define the perfect vehicle.

Affective Elicit the feeling that Nissan understands and

respects consumer individuality by designing innovative vehicles along with many options that meet their desires.

Conative Motivate prospects to visit the Nissan website and a dealership to test-drive a Nissan vehicle that fits their personal lifestyle.

Tone & Manner Our campaign uses humor to help consumers engage

with Nissan. Executions feature a headline that is redefined based on personal experiences while driving.

Executions also include a unique image and a Nissan feature that relates to the humorous situation illustrated in the ad. By selling these features we continue to position Nissan as an innovative car for the individual.

Visual engagement

Each unique image will be indirectly related to the headline below it. They will serve as visual representations of the segment of the target we are selling to.

Headline

The headline will be a bold word that relates to a feeling the driver experiences while traveling in their Nissan.

These words will be redefined in the copy below.

QR code

Scanning the code will send users to a site where they can “Define� their own Nissan, choosing the individual features and style that fits them.

Body copy

The copy will be a fresh take on the word featured in our headline. The stylized text treatment allows for key words to pop off the page.

Product description

With Nissan being the market leader for innovative features, we will include a single feature that fits the lifestyle of the person the ad is targeting.

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Print Television Rationale While the trend of watching television shows online is growing, this generation continues to watch shows on their TV sets as well.

Ethnic centered channels like BET, Univision, and BTV allow us to target the three ethnic groups using the channels they trust to deliver their news and entertainment.

While commercial executions on the ethnic centered channels will be in-language, commercials on network TV will be in English. Network shows like Dancing with the Stars and NCIS hit both the African American and Hispanic portion of our target.

Print Rationale Although Millenials are very technology driven, when considering the target, print media consumption is still significantly high. Hispanic Americans consider magazine advertising as a useful source of information. African Americans read 3.2 more magazines a month than their non-African American counterparts and 93% of Chinese Americans read a Chinese language newspaper. QR Code usage is also much higher among the target than their Caucasian American counterparts.

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Television

television Fade in, background music, “So Good” by B.O.B. Full body shot of Woman 1 texting in front of C.E.O. letters.

Pan to phone display as she types, “I’ll drive” to her friends.

Cut to interior of Nissan Altima. Woman 1’s friends are in the back seat enjoying their trip.

Cut to Man 1. Man 1 plays with drum sticks in front of a green background displaying the C.E.O. letters.

Cut to interior of Nissan Altima as he drives and taps out a drum beat on his steering wheel.

Cut to Man 2 in front of an orange background. Man 2 fixes his hair and glasses in preparation to go out.

Change Everyone’s Opinion Cut to exterior Nissan Altima. Car drives through the shot. Voice over: “In our own little way, we’re all in charge of something.”

Change Everyone’s Opinion will appear on the screen as the voice over says “Change everyone’s opinion.”

A front end of a Nissan Altima drives into focus as the voice over states, “Nissan, define your drive.”

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ONLINE

Online Rationale

The Millennial generation has grown up with access to the internet and as such is very sensitive to advertising clutter online. To address this issue the Define Your Drive campaign incorporates multimedia components in ads when possible to help cut through the clutter. Online advertising will be placed on both in-language and English websites.

A commercial presence will also be maintained on sites where the target consumes television content online. By using both Hulu and individual network sites, the Define Your Drive campaign is never far from the target’s mind.

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Mobile

Mobile Rationale

Consumers of mobile media are never far from their mobile devices and smartphone ownership is high and rising for the target audience of this campaign. For these reasons, $4.2 million have been dedicated to the mobile environment.

Nissan already recognizes the importance of mobile devices in their marketing strategy, incorporating QR Codes with the release of the 2012 line. The Define Your Drive campaign goes a step further and strives to create a lasting presence in the mobile arena.

Ad network purchases targeted to the apps and mobile optimized sites the target visits often will help reach the target where they live, work and play. Mobile ads are also a great place to increase interactively via proximity marketing and to promote local IBP events by utilizing global positioning systems.

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LEaf BAthroom Ads The Leaf showcases the industry leading innovation that Nissan offers more than any other car they’ve engineered.

Running 100% electric and leaving behind zero emissions, the Nissan Leaf is the only pure electric car available amongst our target. Rest stop gas stations serve as the place for drivers to pull off the road, relax and refill before getting back on the road. While most people are spending their precious dollars filling their tanks, Nissan Leaf drivers can spend their money to refuel their own energy supply.

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Out of home Out of home Rationale

The young multicultural segment resides in urban areas more than they do in rural environments. This makes them a perfect audience for Out-of-Home advertising.

Ads will be placed in locations that the target routinely passes by and hangs out around. Our Out-of-Home ads will be produced in English and will engage the target using short copy that can be easily read and processed.

The bright colors of our billboards will be hard for drivers to miss and the clear and concise messaging will guarantee that our target stands our ad.

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Augmented Reality Augmented reality

Consumers of mobile media are never far from their mobile devices and smartphone ownership is high and rising for the target audience of this campaign. The target is always interested in finding new exciting ways of using their devices. When walking around their city, select out of home advertisements will be enabled to interact with their smartphone.

Augmented reality advertising represents an opportunity for the audience to interact with the advertisement. The key to the success of these installations is to have large variety and volume in convenient locations. Once individuals interact with one they will want to know what the next augmented reality advertisement does.

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Dealership P.o.p.

The Define Your Drive A-Z Dictionary is an innovative car manual. It will allow the driver to look up detailed features and specifications of the car all the way down to the nuts and bolts. The Define Your Drive A-Z Dictionary will be easily navigable by the reader. The language of the manual will be witty and humorous much like our ads. Learning curves are common when purchasing a new car and this manual will make the transition as smooth as possible.

The colors involved in our campaign inspired Nissan car “swatches” and allow prospective car buyers the chance to visualize their new Nissan sitting in their garage. Purchasing a car takes a lot of commitment from the buyer and being able to take this visual representation home will make these decisions easier. Much like color swatches when painting your walls.

This allows people to see how their new car will fit their home environment.

Concept Tests To test our creative executions, we conducted 146 individual concept tests. We received feedback from all three ethnic segments. They were given examples of creative executions and asked to complete a six-question survey.

Overall, respondents referred to the advertisements as personable, relatable and trendy. One respondent even stated that the ads were “funny and thought provoking.” More than half were able to correctly identify the executions with the correct purchaser segment it was targeted toward.

The respondents were then asked to classify themselves into one of the purchaser segments. Value seekers were the largest category of respondents at 50%. Entertainment seekers were the second largest group (34%) followed by status seekers (15%). We then found that those who classified themselves into a category related best to the advertisements targeted towards that segment.

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Media crossover mobile Mobile usage is a fast-growing trend among

all three targets. Hispanic American Millennials use their phones as their main source to the Internet. 51% of African Americans are mobile Internet users, mostly using their phone for social networking and search capabilities.

Chinese Americans tend to adopt new mobile technology earlier than other Millennials, using their phones as a way to show their status.

Ambient Ambient marketing and non-traditional media placements will be used to expose our message to our target in unexpected places to engage them with the brand and create additional buzz.

Online Our target spends more time participating in online activities than with any other medium.

Hispanic Many online media conglomerates have developed subsidiaries targeted specifically to Hispanic culture. Hispanic Millennials are more likely to download content than the general population.

They also are more likely to use social media to connect to their peers and culture.

outBillboards of home will be placed in the top DMAs of our

African American African Americans use the Internet to interact with their culture and to express their opinions online.

They are more likely to research products, shop online and share their findings with others.

They are often ahead of the digital curve.

target and taxi toppers and bus shelters will be used in conjunction in the top five crossover DMAs for promotional events. Because commute times continue to increase, our targets are spending more time in their cars in transit.

Crossover TV TV events (MLB WORLD SERIES) Print Radio Direct mail Online OOH Social media Mobile

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April

May

June

Chinese 69% of Chinese Americans use the internet to find information on cars. Chinese consume news-related information online the most as a source of entertainment.

July

Aug

Sept

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

March

Media HISPANIC American

Television Hispanic Millennials that speak primarily

English still turn to Spanish-language television.

Hispanics age 18-24 are more likely to watch comedies in English than in Spanish, but remain involved with Hispanic culture by watching other types of in-language programs.

Print Nearly three-quarters (72%) of Hispanics say

that magazine advertising provides useful information about products. 33% spend some time each day reading Spanish magazines.

radio Hispanic in-language listeners are more strongly influenced by radio advertising compared to non-Hispanic English-listeners. 66% of Hispanics listen to in-language radio, while 73% listen to English-radio. Radio will primarily focus on local promotions, as well as upcoming IBP events.

Hispanic April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March TV Print Radio Online Online Pre-Roll Guerilla Mobile Direct Mail Social Media OOH

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Media AFRICAN AMERICAN

Television African Americans tend to have more TV sets

per household than the general population, and they spend time daily consuming premium cable programs. Millennials have more control over program choices than older family members.

African American TV Print Radio Online Online Pre-Roll Guerilla Mobile Direct Mail Social Media OOH

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April

May

June

Print radio African Americans trust ethnically specific print While African American Millennials consume more than mainstream media. They tend to take more direct action from print ads and have higher rates of recall than other ethnicities.

July

Aug

Sept

Oct

Nov

online radio, they also listen to traditional radio.

They tend to listen to ethnically specific stations that are run by African Americans, using music as an outlet to their cultural origins.

Dec

Jan

Feb

March

Media CHINESE American

Television 80% of Chinese Americans prefer to speak

in their native languages and consume nonEnglish media. The most popularly viewed program formats are news because they are active in remaining up-to-date on Chinese news.

Print In-language print is more influential in

purchasing behaviors than English-language print. Because they are more concerned with current events, they are more prevalent in news readership within newspapers than entertainment in magazines.

radio 76% of all Chinese listen to any format of

Chinese radio. Los Angeles and New York are among the only cities that hold high concentrations of the population and also broadcast in Mandarin and Cantonese radio.

Chinese April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March TV Print Radio Online Online Pre-Roll Guerilla Mobile Direct Mail Social Media OOH

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Integrated Brand Promotions

Sponsorship Festivals

Paid to made Much of the buzz surrounding a brand today is from “made” media

Strategy

or earned media. This is people using social sites to talk about a brand event, product opinions and new and upcoming products.

This is generated media that the client never paid for.

The idea behind earned media is a trust. Especially with our multicultural targets who tend to trust peer groups, colleagues, family and community. Establishing a relationship between Nissan and the consumer rather than just another marketing campaign is crucial to winning brand loyalty and market share among the multicultural Millennial target.

These Millennials have the power, knowledge and access to build the Nissan brand. Multicultural Millennials spend more time than any other group online, on mobile devices, tablets, e-readers and more. Most of their day is spent on these devices and sometimes on multiple devices at the same time.

Paid Media Paid media will be used to generate initial buzz. Ambient

advertisements can generate interactive viral relationships and sharability of the ads (i.e. re-posting viral campaigns to facebook, twitter and youtube).

Earned Media Erned media includes IBP events, PR campaigns, social media campaigns, and viral campaigns. Interactivity and engagement with the brand equates to shared content.

Owned Media Use the Nissan website and ethnically specific Nissan

Microsites. With events people can tag Nissan on Twitter and Facebook to earn special promotions while simultaneously providing a way for Nissan to measure its “social voice.”

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Nissan will sponsor major ethnically centered festivals across the country to meet the target where they live. Nissan would target the entertainment seeker with these events.

Tactics Being a top-billed sponsor with a strong presence at multicultural events across the state will associate the Nissan brand with the community and with the ethnic pride of these festivals.

Nissan will feature a large booth where the car simulator will be located. Nissan representatives will be speaking the language of the ethnic festival they are sponsoring.

Nissan Jamfest will be a concert event featuring local and regional ethnic bands as part of the festival. Nissan Jamfest will host an online and mobile voting contest for the duration of the top 10 crossover DMA festivals. The index percentage of votes will determine the winner of each region.

Regional winners will be forwarded to a national contest, where online voters can select the top band. The band that receives the most votes online will be sponsored by Nissan to produce an album at the end of the campaign year. Each online voter will receive a free download from the winning album.

Rationale Nissan will have a dominating presence at these

festivals. The target segments are more likely to support businesses that support their community.

As an added benefit, Nissan can leverage the sponsorship to provide a venue for the Nissan Jamfest concert event. In addition, the simulator will help increase brand trial.

Paid Radio spots

Out-of-Home Newspaper Pandora Ads

Earned Local Buzz

Attendance Voting Contest News Coverage Online Buzz

Owned Social Media

Company Site Nissan JamFest

Landing Page Voting Pages

Sponsorship Budget $1,200,000

Car Simulator Strategy A Nissan car simulator, which will increase

brand interaction without the high pressure of a sales environment, will be featured at the multicultural festivals.

Tactics The screen of the car will have the ability

to adapt to the individuals environment and surroundings (i.e. rural, mountains, urban).

The simulator will adjust to whichever model the person chooses. The steering wheel, shifter, etc. will be disabled from regular vehicle function, which will be used as controls for the simulation feature. For the audience to use the simulator they need to input an email address. This login information collected from the car simulator, will then be used to compile a list of potential customers.

Rationale While in the dealership 40% of shoppers

leave without even getting behind the wheel.

Creating a test drive not associated with a dealership will reduce the pressure on the potential customer. It also creates brand awareness and brand trial by offering an occasion to test drive a Nissan when otherwise the target may not have had the opportunity.

Simulator Budget $600,000 26

Guerilla Car wash ambush Strategy This Guerilla event will target the Entertainment and Value seekers in our

target. Nissan will target the top urban DMAs, running a contest for people to upload pictures & video content of the ambush. The first 25 people to upload and tag the Nissan social media pages will win items such as gas cards and free car washes. The target will scan QR codes that will be around the event ground to gain access to the contest and learn more information. Nissan will create brand awareness through the car wash ambush by having the team use branded towels, shirts and promotional magnets.

Rationale The car wash ambush would increase awareness for Nissan by creating an

event in which new media would be promoted. This ambush serves as a way for people to upload content and pass the word along to friends.

Tactics A Nissan team will ambush a stopped car at a red-light, wash it, dry it and

leave before the light turns green. Right before it speeds off, one of the team members will place a branded #defineyourdrive Nissan magnet on the back of the car. The cars involved in the ambush will be unplanned and unsuspecting city drivers. Nissan will also have a touring van that goes to each of the ambushes and is used for additional promotion. Radio ads will be promoted to tell people about ambushes that will happen in their area in the next week. The ads will explain that prizes can be won from uploading their car wash ambush experience and can be picked up at their local Nissan dealership. This will bring possible customers to point of purchase locations.

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Paid Radio Ads earned Social Media Buzz Radio

Owned Social Media Nissan Van Magnets

Car Wash Budget $650,000

Social Media Twitter campaign Strategy

The twitter campaign will associate the Nissan brand with innovative solutions and increase brand engagement on social media outlets. This also provides the potential to collect consumer research about potential frustrations when driving. Nissan will specifically targets the value seeker with Twitter.

Rationale The target uses Twitter extensively. The

primary topic of individual tweets is often complaint based. This campaign gives Nissan a way to provide a courtesy to help make driving more enjoyable.

Tactics This campaign provides an opportunity

to hear complaints about driving when Tweeters use specific hashtags (#drivingshouldbefun).These Tweets will include driving inconveniences such as potholes, detours, and accidents. Nissan will then choose to solve the tweets in a useful or humorous way.

Paid Promoted Tweets Online

Earned Media Coverage

Re-Tweets Social Media Buzz

Owned Twitter

Facebook Corporate Webpage

Sponsorship Budget $500,000 28

Sports Stadium Sponsorship National Basketball Association

Strategy Nissan will have a sponsored sports section inside stadiums for teams that reside in our top DMA’s.

Tactics Nissan will design a small section inside stadiums that have a high

attendance of people within our targeted demographic. The section will have Nissan car seats replacing the original stadium seating.

Nissan will then be able to “upgrade” people’s tickets to the Nissan branded section during the game.

Rationale Sports have heavy viewership for our targeted demographic

Major League Baseball

especially in sports such as soccer for Hispanic Americans, basketball for African Americans and baseball for Chinese Americans.

Paid In-Stadium Promotion earned Attendence

Social Buzz

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Owned Social Media Stadium cost $750,000

Major League Soccer

Rental cars Strategy Nissan will create an extended test drive by sponsoring with an existing rental company to supply the company with luxury cars.

This sponsorship will target the Status seekers in our target.

Tactics Nissan will be partnered with a national rental car company such as

Hertz or Enterprise. The rental company vehicle app will offer the option to rent a Nissan vehicle for the customers on the run. The partnered rental company will feature different Nissan luxury vehicles available for rent.

Rationale Since test driving directly

national rental car provider

Earned Extended Test Drive Social Buzz

Strategy The Nissan Define Your Drive

app provides a useful continuing connection to the brand post purchase. It also provides an avenue to advertise sponsored events to current Nissan owners.

Tactics This app is an added value feature

for existing Nissan Drivers. Features such as routing, weather updates, fuel price tracker and more will help simplify the target’s busy lifestyle.

Rationale Mobile consumption is high among

influences purchase decisions, Nissan will be creating an extended test drive experience without the high pressure of a sales environment.

Paid Partnership costs with

Mobile app

the target and will only continue to grow. A common pitfall of existing automotive applications is a lack of purpose. This app strives to provide useful information and features to the consumer. The app also provides an outlet for Nissan to easily continue to advertise to the app users.

Owned Corporate Webpage Rental Car cost $850,000

Paid Festival Promotion earned Pass-along

Owned App

Facebook Twitter Dealership Promotions

cost $450,000

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Budget IBP $5,000,000 Production $5,000,000

Evaluation $500,000

Contingency $500,000 Television $26,664,474

Ambient $5,520,061

Online $11,307,000 OOH $20,969,056 Mobile $5,360,400

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radio $7,539,424 Print $11,639,585

Recommendations & Evaluations To promote continuing success Nissan should: •

Continue its established sporting partnerships

•

Continue leading the automotive industry in innovation

•

Promote innovation in all advertising messages

•

Continue the JamFest and festival sponsorships beyond the scope of this campaign pending evaluation results

•

Continue existing charitable partnerships

•

Provide incentives for dealerships to operate without a commission based sales structure. Regardless of the reality of the sales environment, there is a stereotypical thought that automotive salesmen are ruthless. Promoting an environment where salesmen are not paid on commission may set consumer’s minds at ease.

The Define Your Drive campaign is founded on solid research insights that aim to maximize the effectiveness of our messaging, both from a creative and media-targeting standpoint. To ensure the media effectiveness we will use a third party research entity to evaluate the campaign effectiveness across all segments and mediums.

PreOneand Post Test month before the start of the campaign

QRQRCode Code access statistics can be used to a

Web The ability to measure advertising

Social Using social tracking services we will track

an independent research firm will be hired to conduct an analysis of the target market’s awareness and favorabilty of the Nissan brand and messaging. A similar analysis will be conducted after the campaign to evaluate effectiveness and identify opportunities for future market strategies.

effectiveness post-click is widely available and is extremely valuable. Through an analysis of post-click activity we can garner insight around which elements our audience make most use of and adjust promotions accordingly.

Mobile Monitoring mobile app download and usage

statistics will help gauge consumer interest.

Mobile web accesses will be evaluated according to similar tactics used for standard web access while adding in a geo-locational component to identify areas of brand loyalty and interest.

limited extent. Although this target shows high levels of engagement with QR Codes, industry misuse has led to consumer apathy toward this technology. However, for those who do scan the QR Code we can gauge the effectiveness of the resulting messaging by tracking duration and level of engagement post-scan.

the buzz on two levels. First, we can gauge attitudes about the brand and messaging throughout the campaign. Second, we will track buzz surrounding the events sponsored

by Nissan. We can also gauge interest in competitor’s offerings to effectively combat their specific tactics.

Event Convenience Sampling Participants in the various Nissan sponsored events will be polled at random for their feedback during and as they leave the venue.

Contact information gathered during events will be used to survey the audience and gauge event success.

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