Nissan Caters to their Demographic with a Content-rich CD-ROM – Brief Article
Brandan Nakamura
“Nissan included several music tracks from chart-topping artists like Smash Mouth, the Blues Travelers, and the Gin Blossoms.”
In the highly competitive automotive industry, generating buzz for a new vehicle model is no easy task. It’s a crowded field and traditional advertising channels are largely inundated with marketing messages whether on television, over radio, on billboards and through all manner of print materials. Getting a consumer to notice and give your automobile more than a passing glace is no easy task.
As Nissan was about to launch their new Sentra model, they saw a difficult road ahead of them. How would they reach their target market in the most cost-effective way possible?
Nissan found their answer in a shiny CD-ROM disc. Market research showed that the target demographic for the Sentra shared two common interests: the Internet and music. Producing a CD-ROM was a slam dunk.
The goal of the pre-launch marketing campaign was to generate interest in the Sentra before it hit the showrooms in April of 2000.
Nissan produced 120,000 CD-ROMs in the hope of generating 50,000 handraisers aware of the new model. The CD-ROM opens with the entire Nissan automotive line visually scrolling across the screen. A narrator introduces each vehicle and explains the key attributes of each model.
The CD-ROM then allows the viewer to delve deeper into the new Sentra. By pointing and clicking, the consumer is able to find out detailed information about both the interior and the exterior of the car-including the engine, body structure, design notes, air bag, and more through visuals and content rich text boxes.
To enrich the experience and to add value to the disc, Nissan included several music tracks from chart-topping artists like Smash Mouth, the Blues Travelers, and the Gin Blossoms. In addition, Nissan also included fun PC and Macintosh screen savers showcasing the new Sentra. It doesn’t end there. The CD-ROM also includes sound effects that represent a Sentra driving through traffic. The disc also includes such things as Real Names of Funny Cities and Mythical Roadside Attractions (the world’s smallest giant redwood, among others) all of which is related to the fun and enjoyment of road travel.
Naturally, the CD-ROM also includes the all-important link to the Nissan Web site at NissanDriven.com.
The CD-ROM was created by TWBA Chiat/Day with the help of Media Revolution, a company that specializes in interactive CD-ROM development.
Distribution took two routes. Prior to the launch of the new Sentra, CD-ROMs were handed out at auto shows around the country. CD-ROMs were also handed out at malls, nightclubs, and restaurants popular with the Sentra’s demographics. Upon launch of the Sentra, CD-ROMs were sent out in fulfillment to a direct response marketing campaign.
While many automobile manufacturers have tapped into video direct marketing in recent years, Nissan decided to take it one step further by enriching their video content with interactive media. The result is a marketing tool that combines information, entertainment value, and sustained exposure to a new product launch. Given the fact that many consumers would keep the disc in order to enjoy repeated listens of the music on the disc, this is one marketing tool that consumers are actually welcoming into their lives. What other marketing tool can boast an enjoyment factor?
Therein lies the value and appeal of CD-ROMS as marketing tools: the ability to deliver a marketing message backed up by all the detailed information a consumer could possibly want-enriched and driven by entertainment-value content.
COPYRIGHT 2000 BPI Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group
