Nissan Campaign

Nissan Campaign

SHIFT_ the way you move (FY 2013 – April 2013-March 2014) Audrey Lewis Torri Ishida Ashlee Badua

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Table of Contents Executive Summary………………………………………………………..…Page 3 Situation Analysis…………………………………………………………… Page 4 Brand Evaluation……………………………………………………………..Page 5 Research………………………………………………………………………Page 6 SWOT Analysis………………………………………………………………Page 7 Creative Plan………………………………………………………………… Page 8 Advertising Plan……………………………………………………………...Page 9 Strategy……………………………………………………………………...Page 10 Media Plan…………………………………………………………………..Page 11 Promotions…………………………………………………………………..Page 15 Partnerships………………………………………………………………….Page 17 Budget……………………………………………………………………….Page 18 Works Cited…………………………………………………………………Page 19

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Executive Summary Diversity, innovation, and quality are the characteristics Nissan Motors was founded upon. Over the last 70 years, the company has substantially grown from its humble Japanese beginnings into one of the most formidable automotive companies in the world. As a truck manufacturer for the Japanese military during the World War II Era, Nissan had to change their business when the war ended. This was the first time that Nissan was forced to evolve and develop a new direction. While this was not the only time that Nissan was forced to evolve, Nissan has proven to progress each time more positively than the last. With its evolution to modern times, Nissan has still been able to maintain the three characteristics that it was founded upon.

As the times have grown with the advancement of technology, it is time again for Nissan to evolve to include that aspect to connect with a different generation. The Multicultural Millennial have grown up in a world where advertisements are not only prevalent in American society, it is also heavily saturated. Companies must go to great lengths to stand out. Our campaign aims to stick to the characteristics that made Nissan successful while adding fresh perspectives to connect with the Multicultural Millennial.

Our campaign will prominently feature the Nissan Versa in the Sedan and Hatchback models. We feel that this car is not only appropriate for the needs that the Multicultural Millennial is currently experiencing in this stage of their life but it is an automobile that can grow with them. For those in this stage of life, there are many opportunities and paths that one may take. One could be heading off to college, finishing up college, working in the beginning stages of their career, or starting a family. Our campaign wants to let our target audience know that Nissan understands the needs in their lives and has the perfect car to meet those needs. The Nissan Versa is the VERSAtile car for the VERSAtile people that are the Multicultural Millennial.

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Situation Analysis During the past year Nissan has focused on Multicultural Marketing efforts to reach their sales goals. They have created a line-up of their top volume-driving vehicles: the Altima, Rogue, Sentra, Pathfinder, and Versa. Nissan Altima continues to be the leading volume drive for the brand especially amongst the Multicultural (MC).

Nissan has also been a proud sponsor of the Heisman and NCAA Football, and a fitness program called “Innovation for Endurance” for the past 5 years. Nissan strategically affiliated themselves with these efforts to ensure that Nissan products will be positioned in a way that will create brand and efficiently disperse marketing messages throughout the target and diverse audiences. Nissan used a variety of media channels to get these messages out such as TV, consumer print, online, and promotional events across the country.

The one thing that differentiates Nissan in the Market Place is their focus on Diversity.

“Nissan is committed to diversity because we’re committed to excellence.” Nissan in North America values diversity in all of their relationships. In the Workplace, Marketplace, and Community. With the known fact of the growing Multicultural industry as a target Nissan continues to use innovation to capture these MC segments. In August 2010 Nissan launch “Innovation for All” which covered grounds for the MC. With efforts in targeting the MC, Nissan has a few competitors. Most of these competitors are Japanese Original Equipment Manufacturers such as Toyota and Honda.

Though marked since 2008 Chevy, Ford, and Hyundai, have stepped into the MC competition as well. Though, Nissan need not worry. Currently, Nissan is in a good position with the MC consumers. In 2010, Nissan’s sales share for each ethnic segment exceeded the total non-luxury share, which meant Nissan held a higher total compared to other non-luxury competitors. The total MC sales volume increased 29% exceeding Total Market Growth and Nissan ranks third in terms of total Market Share.

In order to thoroughly communicate with the MC, Nissan must create marketing and advertising with PR tactics that will appeal to each target segment. Nissan’s strategy in the most recent campaigns is to focus on their distinctive lifestyles, media consumption habits, and language preferences. Nissan broke down their target audience by identifying them as people who are authentic, passionate, stylish, eco-friendly, and has digital as their domain. These audiences are in between the ages of 18-29 and are African Americans, Hispanics, and ChineseAsian consumers. Their average household income is $60k and higher and majority of them attended college, has a part time or full time job and is either in Sales/Office work or Arts, Entertainment, and sports.

Nissan has a very high chance of rising up in the MC market shares beating out the other competitors. Keeping up with the interests and needs of their consumers will help them. Nissan has the opportunity to make this happen with their strategic “Innovation for All” campaign and “Shift_the way you move.” Nissan is currently getting the right messages out and to the right people in the most efficient and effective way of channels.

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Brand Evaluation While many car manufactures here in the United States began their foray in to the marketplace to meet the needs of the general public’s transportation needs, Nissan’s beginnings was created to meet the needs of those in the Japanese business sector. The original brand name was “Datsun,” and was named accordingly to honor the three men who created the line of automobiles that mainly consisted of trucks for the military. While the military’s need for vehicles changed, Datsun merged with another successful Japanese truck manufacturer and in 1934, Nissan Motors was creating trucks, airplanes, and engines for the military. Several mergers later, created a stronger company that contributed to the foreign expansion of the brand.

With the creation of a North American manufacturing plant in the 1980s, Nissan has not only grown to grab more and more of the market share in the United States but also diversify the model lineup over the years.

Diversity, innovation, and quality are some of the key points on which Nissan was founded upon that are still true to this day. The power of Nissan’s brand stems from its history.

Throughout the history of the company, Nissan has only really fallen on dark times once. That time was during the late 1990s when Nissan was struggling financially. With the alliance created with the French Automotive company, Renault, Nissan began to truly flourish. Fresh energy was all Nissan needed to go into the Millennium with high expectations. Now just over ten years later, Nissan has been at the top of the list for many awards with some of the most recent going towards the revolutionary fully electric vehicle, the Nissan Leaf. With the Leaf being the first one of its kind, Nissan continues to change and adapt to the now-fast moving times. Innovation means to be able to create something that does not exist and to make a product that fuses creativity with sheer ingenuity. Combined with the commitment to quality and affordable products, Nissan is nothing but a positive fixture especially while they are able to attract 25% of the multicultural demographics. For the past five years, Nissan USA has been sponsoring NCAA Football and The Heisman. For a collegiate football athlete, The Heisman is considered to be of the highest honor that could be bestowed to any one individual in the sport at that level.

Winning The Heisman award means that the athlete possesses talents that encompass performance, quality, and style with the highest regard. Through this venture, Nissan has been able to reach new multicultural demographics as well as positively align itself with the epitome of what it means to be an athlete in the game of football at the collegiate level. Of all of the motor companies in the world, not many can say that they originally began as an exclusive truck manufacturing company that successfully expanded to other continents and to be able to offer the public full-line of cars to choose from. Nissan has always been able to positively adapt and change to meet the current needs of its customers and able to carry its dedication to diversity, innovation, and quality from decade to decade.

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Research What better way to find out information that from the horses’ mouths itself. We conducted polls and surveys using the social networking site Facebook, the online survey tool SurveyMonkey.com, and face to face contact with the target market. We asked friends, family, and acquaintances that fit the description of Nissan’s target audience (18-29 year olds of African American, Hispanic, and Chinese ethnicities).

After polling 116 people, we found that after Nissan came in 4th after Chevy (3), Toyota (2), and Ford (1). The Hispanic and African American population mostly voted for Ford and Toyota, when asked which vehicle they preferred from the brands the top choice was a truck followed closely by family vehicle like a van or SUV. Majority of the Chinese we asked choose Toyota or Nissan, their preference was the smaller more compact cars.

We asked all those who choose Nissan to pick what their favorite type was. Of the Hispanic population the top 2 choices where the Nissan Quest and the Nissan Titan. For the Chinese population the choices were the Nissan Sentra and the Nissan Versa Sedan. The African American population choice was the Nissan Frontier and Nissan Rogue. The difference was not very significant between genders within the ethnicity, but there was an obvious difference between single people and those that choose for a family.

Car brands are not the only things that are catching consumer’s eyes. Young adults are the most connected generation ever with the advancements in technology. Another aspect of our initial research was to ask what do our poll moderators look for in a car. Majority of them are becoming more and more conscious about the actual engine and longevity the car can offer over the look and style of the car. In this day and age where gas is more than $4 for a gallon of unleaded, people are more money conscious that ever. The target audiences are recent high school graduates to college students to college graduated to young adult professionals. This target market typically is not the best off. Most of these people are paying for college tuition or beginning to pay off their college loans. They do not have much money to spare and having a car now more than ever is steadily becoming higher and higher.

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SWOT Analysis STRENGTHS

WEAKNESS

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They have a lot of very traditional style cars

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They aren’t considered one of the top brands

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They have a name that people recognize

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Try to be to future forward

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Family cars at good prices

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Targeting wrong audience

THREATS 

Bigger companies are more well known

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They don’t have a strong following

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They don’t have a bad reputation (nothing against them)

OPPERTUNITIES  

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They aren't well known enough, able to have brand re-tweaked Available to change slogan to something memorable

Creative Plan Over the past five years, the North American marketplace has become more flushed with competing car manufactures such as Hyundai. While other Japanese Original Equipment Manufactures such as Toyota and Honda still have a tight grip on the market place, Nissan is right up there with them. When it comes to the Multicultural Millennial, traditional marketing strategies will not cut it. This generation grew up in the most sophisticated of times. By the time that they reach the beginning of grade school, they would have already seen slurry of advertisements that could line up together and circle the world more than a few times. These groups of people are highly individualistic with their own distinct style. Nissan is currently on the right track to capture their attention but we feel that our media strategy can help to strengthen the message in addition to increasing the awareness of the Nissan brand and their quality products.

Our proposition is to target that individualistic nature within each multicultural millennial. Our media strategy is to focus on the Nissan Versa Hatchback and Sedan. This line of cars by Nissan is the perfect automobile for those getting their first car while being a car that they can grow with over the years. Of all the years in a person’s life it is this time that one would experience the most changes. From ending grade school to entering higher education or the workplace to having more freedom or starting a family, the Nissan Versa Hatchback and Sedan can fit their needs. It is a versatile car that can transform to haul goods or people with an affordable price tag.

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Advertising Plan Overall Objective: Enforce the brand image of Nissan by continuing their slogan “Shift_the way you move.” This campaign will reflect upon their values and goals of a company “to change the world and the way we move through it.” The focus on Nissan’s theme of “Shift_the way you move” is set to increase market shares across the multicultural target from fiscal year 2013 (April – March 14) with the budget of $100MM. First Phase (April 2013-July 2013): To focus on Brand Building Advertisement to get the target audiences and potential Nissan Consumers change their views and familiarize themselves with what Nissan stands for as a company through various channels of media and Public Relations tactics.

Second Phase (August 2013-March 2014): To launch promotion of the Nissan promotion and sales of the Nissan Versa Sedan and Hatchback through various channels of media and Public Relations tactics and to also measure the success of the Campaign that is set to reach an increase of 30% within Multicultural Sales.

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Strategy Overall Objective: A focus on Lifestyle, Media Consumption and Language will be used strategically to communicate with Target Audience. Each Target Audience will be segmented for Individual Focus.    

Create Media Strategy and Media Plan to support Marketing Strategy.

Use Creative ways to target each audience through their Dialects (Language).

Use Scenarios where individual language is used based on their customs/traditions.

Use language with popular cultural customs

Execute Lifestyle Events  Event Promotions in cities where it is highly populated of our Target Audiences.

(Chicago, IL. - New York, New York - Dallas, TX. - Atlanta, GA. - Los Angeles, CA.)  Lifestyle Everyday places.  Create events Based off of Tradition and Culture.  Create links with Sporting events, Dance, Music, Fashion, Family, Holidays, Festivals, Technology.  Utilize Web/Social Media Promotions. (Facebook, Twitter, Email Subscriptions, Major Internet Sites) Dealership Environment  Create Visuals that captures the Campaign and also include a lead to directing them to Nissan Online.  Create Web Presence and Execute Public Relations.  Dealership will reflect the focus on Brand Promotion (1st Phase).  Dealership will reflect the focus on Product Promotion (2nd Phase).

Measure of Success  Performance Benchmarks (Impressions, Insights)

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Media Plan Media Channels:

This campaign will utilize:  Internet o Social Networks Facebook Twitter o Major Websites Nissan North America Google Yahoo! AOL Skype Bing Email   Print Material/Publication       

Radio Advertisement TV Advertisement/Commercials/News Coverage Press Releases/Conferences Mobile Phones o Applications

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First Phase (April 2013-July 2013): To focus on Brand Building Advertisement to get the target audiences and potential Nissan Consumers change their views and familiarize themselves with what Nissan stands for as a company through various channels of media and Public Relations tactics.

What to Promote

Scheduled Date

 What Nissan Stands for Focus: COMPANY VALUES/GOALS/IMAGE/BRAND

APRIL 2013

 Set Nissan Aside from Competitors Focus: NISSAN PAST SUCCESSES AND CAPABILITIES TO SET ASSIDE FROM COMPETITORS 

MAY 2013

Showcase and Build Brand Loyalty Focus: NISSAN SUPPORTERS AND CURRENT CONSUMERS -PUBLIC FIGURES 

JUNE 2013

Product Line

Focus: HOW NISSAN’S VALUES AND GOALS REFLECT THEIR IMAGE AND VALUE OF THEIR LINE OF CARS.

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JULY 2013

Second Phase (August 2013-March 2014): To launch promotion and sales for the Nissan Versa Sedan and Hatchback through various channels of media and Public Relations tactics and to also measure the success of the Campaign that is set to reach an increase of 30% within Multicultural Sales.

What to Promote

Scheduled Date

 SHIFT_THE WAY YOU MOVE BRANDING - “VERSAtile” Focus: VERSA SEDAN

 SHIFT_THE WAY YOU MOVE BRANDING - “VERSAtile” Focus: VERSA HATCHBACK

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AUGUST -NOVEMBER 2013

DECEMBER - MARCH 2014

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Promotions  Holiday Specials: (Sale Promotions) o 4th of July Summer Special o President’s Day o New Year Innovation o Christmas Red Tag Sale o Thanksgiving o Beginning of college and ending of School Year (first car purchase) “Nissan Versa. Innovation for versatility. Innovation for all.”  Contests: o Pigskin Picks: call into radio stations to receive your raffle keys then come to the game and see if your key works o Random Informational shows at college campuses or busy parkways To be tied in with giveaway contest  Promotional Events: o Sales and Awareness Event o Goal to sell (Different Culture stops & and group affiliations/organization with the same intentions as Nissan. o College Music tours (free car contest to win Car) o Win an all paid expense College road trip of your choice will be used as documentary for upcoming college students in the selection of the college that is right for them and their future. Will cover gas and the Versa to use throughout the road trip.  Media Tour: o Demonstrations o Alert Media to remind them you are coming o Radio o Social networks o Email  Print Publications: o Placing in articles as a feature to increase leads and sales- Introduce the new Versa Sedan and Hatchback o Car magazines o Editorials o Trade journal or business magazines  Dealership Environment: o In Store Environment

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o Brochures, wall photos, Car lot, Banners o Contests: Features, be the first 1000 visitor and you may win a brand new Versa. o Video of the test drives and commercials of versa  Web/Social Media Promotions: o Modify Facebook to become more appealing to Target Audience in today’s market. o Use Facebook Like Page which will measure the amount of interactions demographics, reach, and likes. o Use Email Subscriptions o Create Versa’s own Website  Viral Marketing: o Using the power of www and existing social networks to increase brand awareness o “Change the way you move through the world. What better way to move through the world than through the world wide web.”

O Use Emails, Videos, Games, Mobile Phone Apps to be passed around

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Partnerships  ESPN o National Football League (NFL) o Boxing  Google  Apple  Android  Nationwide College Universities  Non-Profit Organizations  9to5 National Organization  UNICEF  City Year  Acumen Fund Path

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Budget

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Works Cited Sports NFL online. 4 December 2011. http://espn.go.com/nfl/schedule. 6 December 2011. Web. World Series of Poker. 29 November 2011. http://www.wsop.com/. 3 December 2011. Web. Boxing Via ESPN. 25 November 2011. http://espn.go.com/boxing/. 3 December 2011. Web. Survey Research Survey Monkey. 22 November 2011. SurveyMonkey.com. 2 December 2011. Web. www.facebook.com www.twitter.com

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