Nissan: Intelligent Parking Chair [video]

Credits & Description:

Titile: Intelligent Parkig Chair
Agency: Tyo Inc, Tbwa\Hakuhodo, Birdman
Brand: Nissan Motor Co.
Country: Japan
Advertising Agency: Birdman, Tokyo
Entrant Company: Tbwa\Hakuhodo, Tokyo
Media Agency: Tbwa\Hakuhodo, Tokyo
Pr Agency: Kartz Media Works, Tokyo
Production Company: Tyo Inc, Tokyo
Account Director: Akihiro Okamoto (Tbwa\Hakuhodo)
Director: Masato Goto (Tyo Inc.)
Interactive Producer: Shogo Ushiyama (Tbwa\Hakuhodo)
Copywriter / Planner: Tetsuya Umeda (Tbwa\Hakuhodo)
Pr Staff: Alexandre Zabava (Kartz Media Works)
Production Company Head Producer: Hideaki Hamatani (Tyo Inc.)
Pr Staff: Kaori Koizumi (Kartz Media Works)
Account Executive: Kentaro Ito (Tbwa\Hakuhodo)
Account Executive: Mari Nakasu (Tbwa\Hakuhodo)
Art Director: Takaya Masuda (Tbwa\Hakuhodo)
Pr Planner: Hideyuki Kobayashi (Tbwa\Hakuhodo)
Agency Producer: Hirotaka Fukatsu (Tbwa\Hakuhodo)
Interactive Planner: Kazuaki Kuribayashi (Tbwa\Hakuhodo)
Director: Jyunichi Inoue [Making Movie] (Tyo Inc.)
Producer: Kenichi Shimada (Tyo Inc.)
Device Engineer: Takumi Saito (Birdman Inc.)
Device Engineer: Yohei Kajiwara (Birdman Inc.)
Production Manager: Ayako Ogawa (Tyo Inc.)
Cameraman: Syuhei Onaga (Tyo Inc.)
Director: Takuro Ito (Birdman Inc.)
Production Manager: Daisuke Murayama (Tyo Inc.)
Agency Producer: Kaoru Otani (Tbwa\Hakuhodo)
Technical Director,Device Engineer: Takeru Kobayashi (Birdman Inc.)
Interactive Supervisor: Takuma Fujii (Tbwa\Hakuhodo)
Project Manager: Akane Inada (Birdman Inc.)
Chief Creative Officer: Kazoo Sato (Tbwa\Hakuhodo)
Interactive Producer: Kazuoki Uedo (Tbwa\Hakuhodo)
Interative Company Head: Roy Ryo Tsukiji (Birdman Inc.)
Senior Creative Director: Takahiro Hosoda (Tbwa\Hakuhodo)
Account Director: Yoshiki Okayasu (Tbwa\Hakuhodo)
Campaign Description:
Get office chairs to promote Nissan’s technology. Using Nissan’s self-parking technology, we created the INTELLIGENT PARKING CHAIR which completely frees us from having to arrange chairs in the office. However unarranged they may be, with a simple clap of the hand, these office chairs automatically return to their original positions to ‘self-park.’ This was a great way to offer a first-hand demonstration of Nissan’s self-parking technology in a very familiar everyday life setting.
Execution:
STEP1 Developed office chairs using Nissan’s self-parking technology.STEP2 Delivered the office chairs to 20 companies who had expressed prior interest. STEP3 Users of this office chair were requested to film their experience (due to information security reasons, we had the companies to shoot for themselves). The footage was edited into a web movie. STEP4 Simultaneously with the web movie release, we presented the Intelligent Parking Chair at the largest Nissan showroom in Japan. A huge crowd gathered to see the chair overwhelming the regular new models, and the display resulted in attaining the highest ever number of showroom visitors.
Outcome:
The news of the INTELLIGENT PARKING CHAIR spread around the world, and the web movie received over 20MM views. Its media exposure was worth US$ 30MM and it was highly praised as the “greatest unprecedented demonstration.” Nissan’s self-parking technology awareness rate increased by 364% y/ySales of the Nissan X-Trail, which is equipped with this technology, went up by 120% y/yFurthermore, the INTELLIGENT PARKING CHAIR was the first product by a car manufacturer to be ranked among the Top 10 Hottest Items of the Year. It has also led to successive purchase requests from companies and schools, which still continues today. The spotlight placed on an “office chair” consequently placed Nissan’s technology under the spotlight. Such a bold approach resulted in PR effect far beyond what ATL or online ads can deliver.
Strategy:
The feverish competition among various car companies boasting about their self-parking technologies made the difference so obscure that the consumers began ignoring them. So we came up with an unusual strategy to demonstrate Nissan’s technology in a daily-life setting instead of a regular Nissan showroom. The consumer insight we tapped into to promote the self-parking technology was that “putting back office chairs into their original positions after a meeting is a pain in the neck.”Using Nissan’s technology, we decided to create office chairs that can ‘self-park’ back into its original position. We believed that solving the “parking problem” in offices would allow us to communicate Nissan’s technology and its benefit in a very distinctive way from other car manufacturers. We then set out to develop an unforeseen office chair, dedicating the pride of the automaker that pioneered in inventing the self-parking technology.
Synopsis:
Car manufacturers around the world today are engaged in developing the latest self-driving car technologies. Nissan was also among them, and they made a head start in inventing the self-parking technology. But as competition quickly followed, Nissan’s presence was rapidly fading. We couldn’t let Nissan lag behind in the automation race, so we first set out to get the spotlight on Nissan’s self-parking technology.