Nissan: SPEED PERSONIFIED VIA SMS

Credits & Description:

Advertiser: NISSAN
Agency: MINDSHARE UAE
Category: Best Use of Mobile Devices
Media Executive: Gemma Mascarinas (Mindshare UAE)
Director - Client Leadership: Melhem Najem (Mindshare UAE)
Account Manager: Yara Maroun (Mindshare UAE)
Account Manager: Hassan Alhindy (Mindshare UAE)

Strategy
Nissan 370Z is not for the faint-hearted. It’s a sports coupe for those with a need for speed; a niche audience that always wants to be ahead of the rest. A niche audience meant a smaller marketing budget. In the past, this small budget was always spent on TV in order to maximize reach. A strategy that used to work; but not anymore. In 2011, test drive requests have dropped resulting in a 38% drop in sales (compared to 2010). At a 2% category growth, it was evident that we were losing market share to our direct competitors (Audi TT, BMW Z4, Mercedes SLK & Porsche Boxter/Cayman) The insight was that speed is the most important driver to purchasing a sports coupe vehicle. Our communication strategy was to utilize the advanced targeting capabilities of SMS to increase test drives; while incorporating a speed element.

Execution
Our communication strategy was to utilize the advanced targeting capabilities of SMS to increase test drives; while incorporating a speed element. The twist: In our region, when a vehicle is caught speeding, its registered owner receives an SMS specifying the details of the speed infraction. We decided to capitalize on this concept in a humorous yet thought-provoking way. •Using the advanced mobile targeting capabilities of Optism (permission-based mobile advertising), we sent 20,000 messages to males that matched our TA’s profile. •Speed element: 20,000 males were shocked to receive the following SMS on their mobile phones: -“Dear driver, you were spotted going 0 to 100 km/h in 5.5 seconds on 23-02-2012!” Directly followed by another SMS: -“You wish. You could if you were driving a Nissan 370Z. To feel it, reply `Y` for Yes.” •For those who replied `Y`, they received an invitation to test drive the car.

Effectiveness
Out of 20,000 SMS’ sent: 397 replied ‘Yes’ for test drives & 43 potential consumers showed up. The conversion rate to test drives from the SMS campaign was 10.8%. On the qualitative side, this humorous form of text messaging assisted in increasing the TA’s perception of Nissan 370Z on the parameters of speed. (Mention: this was part of a 360 degree campaign)