One of the most elite sports cars in the world, the Nissan GT-R has been called the most eagerly anticipated car in a generation. With its extremely limited production and North American availability, Nissan Canada sought to build an experiential marketing campaign that leveraged the excitement and the legendary status of this high-performance Japanese sports car.
As long-standing partners, Nissan and its agency TBWA turned to kubik to create a program that built on the allure of the GT-R and encouraged driving enthusiasts to test drive a range of other Nissan vehicles in cool, unique environments.
We wanted to create a truly exciting and inspiring marketing program that, just like the Nissan GT-R, would enthrall and engage consumers right across the country, said Danny Burns, Corporate Manager, Marketing Operations, Nissan Canada Inc. With our SHIFT_into Gear Experience, we established a program that leveraged the excitement of the GT-R, showcased a range of our outstanding vehicles, and offered our customers the chance to test drive a series of vehicles in fun, entertaining settings.
kubik, working with Nissan’s agency TBWA, created an experiential campaign that not only offered consumers the opportunity to test drive one of many high-performance Nissan vehicles including the 350Z and 2009 Nissan Maxima in a number of urban closed-circuit tracks across Canada but reflected the values of the GT-R: outstanding design, legendary performance and flat-out excitement. The successful campaign combined targeted mail, custom graphics – including a graphic-wrapped 53 foot vehicle carrier – custom glass-walled vehicle displays with outstanding customer service.
Excitement wasn’t limited to the track, customers were thrilled to be able to see the legendary Nissan GT-R up-close while contests, giveaways and friendly competition with the Play Station Gaming area added to the experience.
This program was an exciting challenge for kubik as it touched on so many different areas of our expertise: experiential marketing, imaginative design, great graphic treatments, creative concepts and seamless execution, said Elliot Kohn, COO/Principal, kubik. Designed for Nissan to establish new customer relationships and strengthen existing ones, it was also a great opportunity for our staff to work with some really cool cars.
The SHIFT_into Gear Experience ran in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton, resulting in over 2700 test-drives.
kubik created an environment that engaged our consumers, increased our test-drive uptake and, most importantly, created enthusiasm. We knew kubik had the perfect combination of skills and services to design and deliver this program, said Danny Burns, Corporate Manager, Marketing Operations, Nissan Canada Inc. We are confident we’ll see these positive results transferred to our dealers and ultimately increase sales.