Nissan Unveils High-Impact Ad Campaign for New Sentra and Enhanced Pathfinder
3 April 2000
Nissan Unveils High-Impact Ad Campaign for New Sentra and Enhanced PathfinderGARDENA, Calif., April 3 Nissan North America, Inc., today announced the launch of the automaker's nationwide advertising campaigns for the new Sentra sedan and Pathfinder sport utility vehicle (SUV). Both vehicles recently went on sale at Nissan's 1,100 retailers across the United States. The campaigns for both vehicles will be part of a three-tier strategy -- national, regional, and dealer -- which Nissan has used since debuting its "Driven" umbrella campaign in 1999. "These campaigns continue our approach of capturing consumers' attention and reminding them that Nissan is delivering new, high-quality products," said Scott Fessenden, the company's Director of Marketing. "The new Sentra and Pathfinder represent the next step in Nissan's product revival -- and the campaign gives consumers powerful reasons to consider our vehicles." The first phase of national ads portray a "product vision" element, featuring Jerry Hirshberg, president of Nissan Design International, the company's La Jolla, Calif.-based design studio. Their aim is to emotionally position the design goal and product direction for each product. The second flight of ads to be aired nationally focus solely on specific product attributes, using contemporary music and a "model specific branding" approach. Sentra Debuting on April 3, the focus of the Sentra "product vision" spots is primarily geared toward first-time new car buyers and develops the concept of "the un-compact" sedan. Hirshberg emphatically drives that message home by crossing out the word "compact" with red paint, stating "this is a lot of car." Sentra's "model branding" phase, which begins airing on April 10, is called "Scratches." Contemporary music is used from various popular artists, including Smashmouth, The Cult, Blur, Kinder Atom and The Breeders, to grab the attention of Sentra's target audience. Viewers are treated to a non-traditional approach of highlighting the vehicle's attributes not by voice-over, but with single descriptor words and the use of a telestrator red pen to cross out words that don't apply to the Sentra. "Nissan broke the rules when we designed the new Sentra and we took the same approach with its advertising campaign," said Fessenden. "Using words on the screen, we show who drives the Sentra: independents. Sentra's turn-on: hugging curves. What it has: a seven speaker, 180 watt stereo system that is far from industry standard issue. What does Sentra want: a green light. Simple and to the point." Pathfinder The "product vision" spots for Pathfinder begin on April 17 and highlight the "needs" of SUV drivers -- luxury, comfort, and a new V6, 240-HP engine that provides more power than many V8s. "Your right foot is going to be very happy," says Hirshberg in the ads. His statements vividly sum up a key benefit of the Pathfinder's new engine and how Nissan is positioning its top-of-the-line SUV against the competition. "Nissan recognized that, in the past, consumers have had to choose between brawn or beauty in SUVs, with the new Pathfinder they get both," added Hirshberg. A second flight of "model branding" Pathfinder ads will begin later in May. The ads take off-roading to new heights, playfully demonstrating Pathfinder's all-terrain capabilities by showing how it performs in outlandish, but possible situations. "We wanted to visually show how much fun a driver could have. We don't recommend these situations in everyday life, but you get the idea very quickly," said Fessenden. The new campaigns were created by Nissan's agency, TBWA/Chiat/Day, based in Playa del Rey, Calif. In addition to the television campaign, the launch for both Sentra and Pathfinder also will be supported by an integrated marketing effort, which will include print/radio, billboards, theater ads, the Internet, Website banners, grass- roots efforts, public relations, co-branding opportunities, and direct mail. In North America, Nissan's operations include automotive styling, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing. More information on Nissan in North America and the complete line of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles can be found online at http://www.nissandriven.com or contact the corporate media line at 310-771-5631. Contact: Tim Gallagher of Nissan North America, 310-771-5606, or Jeremy Miller of TBWA/Chiat/Day, 310-305-5511. Or visit the Nissan Online News Bureau at http://www.nissannews.com)