Nissan chose Canada Day to launch the 2013 Altima in a guerilla campaign that targeted hundreds of thousands of families who gathered to watch the fireworks along the shorelines of Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Halifax.
Nissan’s media agency of record, OMD, approached Newad and requested a campaign that would match its new tagline “Innovation that excites,” and go above and beyond the average car launch experience, said Sarah Mckay, account manager, experiential marketing at Newad.
“We came across this amazing 3D Water Screen technology and thought it would be a really great fit for the brand and for the launch of the 2013 Altima,” she said. “It’s a pretty complex technical installation where you build the technology in the water. A generator creates a mist screen which is 100 feet tall by 150 wide and then we used projectors to create the holograph image on the water.”
TBWA did the animation for the 90-second video which showed a lighthouse trying to spotlight the Nissan Altima in a cat and mouse game. The Nissan is initially racing from the light and then slams into the lighthouse. As the lighthouse falls, the water splashes up and the Nissan drives through it.
“We went out to a series of partners and asked for a big idea that was non-traditional and had potential reach to really let everybody know what this car was about and give it that wow factor,” said Neal Bouwmeester, senior manager marketing communication for Nissan Canada.
The core target market for the Nissan Altima is professional men and women in their late 30s to early 40s with children and household incomes of $98,000 or more.
Mckay said crews filmed the fireworks in each city and the plan is to run the content on social media as well as Newad’s RestoBar network.
Bouwmeester said Nissan also did a national newspaper wrap with the National Post, and was the first advertiser to take over the entire outside of the Toronto Star on July 4.
Television ads started airing at the end of June and will run throughout the summer. Nissan will also add a Facebook contest in the next few weeks, he said.
The intent, said Bouwmeester, is to continue to gain awareness around the vehicle and engage customers through conversations around Altima and the lifestyle of the Altima buyer on social media channels.
