This is a story about challenging stereotypes, defying expectations with a bit of bravery thrown in. Nissan Micra was seen for decades as “the granny car”.  Even motoring correspondents made fun of it with comments like “no one ever aspired to a Micra, you just ended up with one if life didn’t go your way”. (I)

With Nissan Micra sales tanking, Nissan came close to killing the Micra brand altogether. They created a new design for the car, but would that be enough?

The market for new cars in Ireland was declining by -10.4% in 2017 (CSO). Nissan Ireland’s market share was in decline, they badly needed to recruit new customers.

Faced with these challenges, Nissan Ireland made the brave decision not to use the mandatory European campaign assets as they felt they didn’t go far enough.  They briefed their Irish agencies to develop a campaign to turn a generation of brand rejecters into brand supporters. Knowing there was a lot at stake, we had to do something unexpected.

This paper outlines how a powerful creative and media approach revitalised a dying car in a declining segment. Not only was it a commercial success but as The Sun said, the Irish team “have rewritten the book for how car commercials are made around the world” resulting in acclaim for the agencies and Irish operation that had the confidence to back its own plan.

“Deciding not to use the European campaign was a big risk, we had to justify investing in new creative and Nissan Europe would be monitoring the results. The campaign tells an inspiring story about defying preconceptions that resonated with our audience as can be seen from the spectacular results”.  Jeanne McGann - Head of Marketing and Communications, Nissan Ireland

We hope to prove how this bravery paid off.

The objectives were clear. The new car market was in free fall, Nissan was facing considerable market challenges. Nissan Ireland needed to build its brand and drive profitability. To achieve this, we had three core objectives:

1. Double Micra’s sales compared to the 2010 launch - Increase Micra’s segment share from 5% to 10%.
2. Recruit new Nissan Micra drivers – it wasn’t enough to persuade existing Nissan buyers or loyal Micra owners to upgrade. At Pre-launch the mix of customers was a ratio of 70:30 loyal to conquest.  And for post-launch, the target was a ratio of 50:50 loyal to conquest.
3. Repositioning Nissan and Micra brand. Both brands had strong awareness but weak opinion in comparison to sector leaders. We needed to drive greater awareness, consideration, and positive opinion.

Context of Objectives:

1. Sales for Nissan Micra in Ireland were falling since 2011.
2. Ranking share: Nissan had consistently been in the top 5 selling brands in Ireland, however since 2013, Nissan has been under serious pressure.
   
3. The Market had declined by almost two thirds in 2009: Nissan launched in the Irish market in 1977. For 40 years, it’s enjoyed a relatively positive presence in Ireland.  However, the recession in 2008 hit the motor industry hard, sales declined by almost two-thirds in 2009. Sales had started to recover but then, in 2017, the impact of Brexit had a devastating effect
   
4. Launch pricing strategy. Nissan Europe’s strategy is to never price discount on new car launches and Nissan Ireland wanted to use the launch to drive premium value. The car starting price in Ireland is €16,650. The RRP is the same before and after launch in each country.
5. Brand Scores were suffering: While Nissan scored well above average in the car market for spontaneous awareness, first choice and likeability were average which was not strong enough for a brand fighting to hold its place in the top five.

We faced the following challenges:

1. The market for new cars in Ireland was declining since 2016, it was well behind what it was in 2008.
2. Nissan Ireland’s share of that market was also declining since 2015.
3. Emotional affinity with the main brand under pressure since 2014. Competitors possessed deeper more relevant brand imagery.
4. Worldwide sales of Nissan Micra declined since 2010.
5. The perception that Micra is an old person's car. Weak Micra salience has reduced it to a commodity bought for rational reasons.
6. Small car segment predominately viewed as dull or less exciting than the other categories.
7. Increasing competition for the popular crossover/ SUV led to a decline in small passenger car B segment from 25% of the market in 2010 to 17.2% in 2016.

Declining market 

The market for new cars was declining in Ireland and Nissan’s share of that market was declining. Nissan needed to build brand equity with a view to strengthening its market position and driving profitability. One way to do this was to capitalise on new product introductions and its first new launch was the Nissan Micra.

Competitive environment

The Micra operates in a very competitive environment with 30+ other major brands, each vying for attention. The primary competitors are Ford Fiesta, Toyota Yaris, VW Polo, Renault Clio, Peugeot 208 and the Opel Corsa. It's a market with a lot of closely-matched brands. While Nissan would be the first to launch a new model in 2017, others would be hot on their heels. A new Fiesta was due out later in 2017 so we knew we only had a short period to shine and make a significant impact.

Rise above the homogeneity of car advertising

The automotive industry has long been criticised for the homogeneity of its advertising. The ability to cut through is diminished by this category's uniformity despite heavy media investment. It is often remarked on how cliché ridden much car advertising is. Formulaic visual trends dominate the car segment with beautiful people driving in cityscapes or on sunny open roads.

Nissan Ireland knew the launch campaign had to work very hard and fast as this is when you have the best chance to shape people perceptions.

A one-size-fits-all global solution

A lot was invested to deliver a European platform “Meet the accomplice”. All the assets were created, it would have been very easy to roll out the existing campaign here. Nissan Ireland and its creative agency made the brave strategic decision to eschew the free European copy and create a bold creative platform specifically for Ireland. Our ammunition was knowing that the Irish audience is different. As with the creative, we pushed back on the media and this led us to devise a robust omni-channel media strategy that for the first time used outdoor as a lead medium supported with digital, cinema, radio and press.

Ingrained perception of Micra as a less than desirable perception of Micra as a less than desirable pensioners car. Irish Times motoring correspondent sums up the huge task.

We set out with big ambitions. These were:

• Target a generation of brand rejecters and turn them into brand supporters.
• Future proof the brand and position Micra as a leader in innovation in the small car segment. This we hope will have a halo effect on the main brand and reassert the overall brand positioning of ‘Innovation that Excites’.
• Drive emotional engagement to create lasting connections and competitive advantage. This would be hard to measure but we knew that Nissan main brand affinity was suffering, so we look out for positive engagements with our target community.  

Nissan Ireland 'No More Nice Car' from In the Company of Huskies on Vimeo.THE BRAND CHALLENGE - A new vision

The challenge was considerable - we had to inject new energy and personality into a car with the opposite reputation.

The automobile industry is one of the most diverse industries, consumers can choose from over 350 models, suiting all lifestyles and pockets. SUVs and crossovers have been the growth drivers over the past decade. These cars are inexpensive to buy and offer better styling, putting the less exciting B segment under serious threat (share went from 25% to 17%). Micra buyers were traditional B segment value buyers. They buy cars for functional reasons like price, fuel consumption, and reliability. They’ve little interest in style, tending to be older retirees who just want a reliable car.

Unsurprisingly research highlighted that people were disengaged with this dull segment, driven by apathy, one third always buy the same model.

Yet read any article on car marketing and it theorizes on the psychological relationship that people have with their cars. Our brief was to give Micra a more universal appeal and edge. The target was a younger more urban audience who are advertising literate and cynical of formulaic advertising.

A key insight was that self-expression was important for this audience, they believe their car expresses their personality. 

They were seen to be independently minded, wanting a car they’re proud of. The European Platform was about escaping the ordinary/embracing adventure - summed up by “Meet the Accomplice”.

It was felt the positioning reflected the new design but that the platform and execution didn’t go far enough to address the cynical views of Irish consumers for Micras. The redesigned Nissan Micra had real attitude and so should the campaign. We wanted to craft a campaign that wasn't confined to the same formats. Instead, it had to be entertaining, culturally relevant, emotionally engaging and showcase the car. Our strategy was not just to create a local campaign but a new brand vision.

Customers look for brands they can believe in, that reflect their personal ethos. We delivered this through a differentiated brand story, to captivate the Irish audience in ways the European advertisements didn’t. This would be a measure of how the campaign and the Irish operation benchmarked against its European partners.

The result was a radical departure from previous car advertising. This strategy proved extremely successful, increasing sales In Ireland by 106%. But more interestingly, the Irish incremental sales growth far exceeded other European countries.

THE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN

The communications activity had a single objective: recruit more people into the brand to ensure future income, giving Micra more appeal and edge. The target was a younger in spirit, urban audience who are advertising literate and unlikely to be convinced by formulaic advertising.

THE IDEA

Rewrite a reputation built over 33 years, overnight.  The creative needed to shake people from their view of Micra and to present a cutting-edge, modern car. To create a creative platform that challenged conventions.

So we took it for a test drive.

Once we saw it - we knew this car was different. The old Micra was no more. The new Micra is longer, wider and lower than before giving it a more aggressive, muscular stance. This car was never going be made fun of ever again. We set out to make that clear to everyone!

NO MORE NICE CAR was born 

We wanted to create a brand experience that showed the new defiant personality at every stage from pre-tease launch, launch and throughout the full consumer journey.

We started with a bang. We created a short film. It was inspired by people’s attitudes towards the older Nissan Micra, and how these preconceptions resulted in it being prematurely judged as a car that should be cast aside. The all-new Nissan Micra, however, isn’t a car you should mess with; it’s a leader in style, technology, and innovation. We wanted to tell a story about defying preconceptions.

The theme set the tone for the entire creative process.

Our film also featured Isabel Lehane, a 15-year-old taekwondo black belt, who was defying the odds in her dream to become world champion in the ITF Taekwondo World. It was shot by one of the Nissan Generation Next ambassadors, Dermot Malone, a programme created to help young people from all walks of life to follow their dreams.

The film grips viewers from the opening scene with its young cast of on-screen brother and sister pulling at the heartstrings before delivering a clever twist which has catapulted its protagonist to widespread acclaim.

The response exceeded all our expectations and got the new Nissan Micra talked about across multiple social channels.

A strategic influencer outreach push formed a teaser campaign. The theory was by outreaching to relevant Irish influencers and key media journalists, Nissan would amplify product awareness while establishing credible relevancy to the target market.

The approach was simple, we seeded out 6 and 10-second teaser clips of the brand film through EDMs, 24 hours before it launched in cinema and online to drive hype, curiosity and the feeling of inclusion. The approach worked, we achieved a 57% open rate on all direct mails sent. Additionally, to this, we seeded the social space with “leaks”, targeting people who are naturally eager to learn about a new car. On the day of launch, a further outreach was made by providing the selected influencers with a link to the film on YouTube. 

This tactic was further supported by a high impact video paid media strategy across all owned channels, further amplified by ATL channel executions. The results were phenomenal, in the first 24 hours, 250,000 full views were achieved across social alone - And with that we had the media’s attention. The story of the new Micra told through a poignant film unlike any other car manufacturer before, had earned its credit by being picked up by all major Irish publications as well as abroad. The film aired in cinema and online for two weeks and earned an incredible 1,320,000 video views.

Communication strategy

The average consumer sees 370 advertisements every day (Core, 2017). In this cluttered media landscape, there are several categories which are particularly busy- Financial services, retailers, and motors. We know this because media space for these three categories sells out faster than others. These are the only categories which must book in their TV campaigns weeks earlier than the rest of the market, purely due to demand.

Clutter was one problem but budgets and Share of Voice (SOV) was another. Historically, Nissan’s SOV has fluctuated from as low as 4% up to 11%. Worryingly, when Spark, the media agency, analysed our biggest competitor, Hyundai’s spends for launches, we knew instantly we wouldn’t have the funds to buy our way to the top of the market share ladder.

Instead, we assessed our complex customer journey and evaluated the creative’s compatibility with different media and formats within those media channels. This resulted in a multimedia campaign executed in three phases.

Phase 1: Pre- Launch Activity

The first stage was a teaser campaign to incite curiosity and conversation around the launch. This phase created a bit of mystery to hook people into the build-up to the launch. It allowed us to dramatise the reveal through unbranded teaser creative executions. This was executed through OOH and teaser video outreach. However, outdoor would act at the home of this launch by splitting it into two important stages. We used the most affordable large formats here (48 sheets, Golden Square, and Metropoles) to facilitate spreading the campaign across two cycles.

Phase 2: Launch

The launch formed the basis of the big reveal at the awareness stage of the launch. The launch creative was an evolution of the pre-launch through tone, message, and style. We used cinema to air the emotive piece of film as this media offered us the most captive and engaged audience. We also used formats such as the YouTube Masthead format and Facebook, as they offer the largest online video reach. The OOH cycle for this phase involved us ramping up our number of formats and introducing iconic sites and special builds.

In addition to the sites we used in the first stage, we employed extra formats to boost reach and frequency, which were both critical for the official launch phase. These included 96 sheets and the 240 sheet in Ranelagh –making sure Micra was unmissable around the country.

Phase 3: The Education Stage

The creative worked to identify and promote different features that would strengthen Micra’s positioning.  The creative spoke to the customised BOSE audio system, clever technologies and stand out features such as personalisation of the car’s interior and exterior customisation, while still maintaining the attitude of the No More Nice Car launch creative.

This was executed through social, paid search and digital.

The implementation of this multi-faceted media strategy was imperative for the launch of new Micra to ensure the objective of driving mass awareness and visibility at every touch point of the consumer journey was achieved. This ensured we effectively navigated a prospecting car buyer’s path to purchase. Data-driven decision making from onsite user’s activity was key to ensuring the campaign converted into cars sales. Core consumer actions on Nissan.ie that drove positive purchase intent signals, informed data-driven actions through dynamic display creative and sophisticated remarketing techniques through PPC and social.

The results based on the implementation of Nissan’s bespoke consumer journey for the Micra launch have been conclusive based on the results. 

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This is a simple story of how a campaign re-energised an old model and transformed a declining brand in a declining market. It is as close an example of pure marketing as we are likely to see. The same new model was launched across Europe, similar price positioning with comparable investment and competitive environment, yet the results would be very different.  Some would say the task was more difficult in Ireland because of Brexit and consumer uncertainty, but the results can speak for themselves:

We had 3 objectives:

Reverse Nissan’s decline in the small car segment

1. It increased sales by a massive 106% in launch year.
2. It doubled its share of the small car segment to 10% whereas other markets maintained a 2-4% share after launch.
3. Nissan Ireland smashed its segment ranking in Europe versus other markets, jumping 6 places in less than a year. 
4. 100% more cars were sold than the last Micra launch in 2010.
5. It contributed enormously to Nissan’s overall business, constituting 16% of its overall sales, up from 11%. All the more impressive in a car market in Ireland that was down -10.35% comparing year on year volumes.
6. We achieved a ROMI of €6.40 or €8.66 if you include service value over 3 years (based on average 50% retention rate). 

Discounting Factors

2017 revenue proves there was no price discount. Pre-launch customers bought at the bottom price range. Post launch the average price was €17,450, an extra €1,050, further proof that now the Micra is a desirable purchase, a car they’re proud to own and as such deserved all the extra features.

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Recruit new customers for Nissan Micra –

It was not enough to persuade existing loyal Micra owners to upgrade. Pre-launch, the mix of customers were 65:35 loyal: conquest – post-launch, the target was to be 50:50 loyal: conquest.

1. We exceeded this target, recruiting 51.2% new conquests to Micra and we delivered younger, more gender-balanced buyers.
2. The old model relied heavily on the trade in from existing Micra customers but this has more than halved from 55% to 25% which is a massive achievement as it shows Micra is taking share from its competitors.  
3. There is an age shift towards a younger audience – every segment has approximately doubled apart from that 55+ audience which has decreased. The under 45 category has almost doubled from 17% to 32%.
4. There is a shift towards a better gender balance, the dial has moved to 1 in 3 new Micra owners are men from approx. 1 in 4.
5. We identified 3 core actions on the Nissan.ie website - Test Drives, Brochure Downloads and Outbound Clicks to the Dealer Sites. These core actions all registered positive purchase intent. Sessions increased by 334.4% and page views by 79% in April 2017 and brochure downloads was +398% YOY. The car-buying journey can be long and complicated so continuing brochure downloads is a strong indicator of purchase intent.  

Repositioning of the Nissan and Micra brand.

Nissan had strong awareness but weak opinion in comparison to other sector leaders. One objective was to change the perception of the brand and to use the campaign to drive awareness of the launch, consideration and positive opinion of Nissan and Micra.

In terms of generating awareness, the impact was immediate.

In the first 24 hours, 250,000 full views were achieved across social alone and it ultimately earned an incredible 1,320,000 video views. The response was outstanding. We were worried about how it would cut through the clutter but the film had a tremendous effect on all who viewed it. No More Nice Car has won two awards, including Irish Small Car Of The Year 2018 and has received countless praise for transforming the way a car is advertised forever and shaking up a dull small car segment.

The power and significance of No More Nice Car is still strong almost 1 year on as highlighted recently when the Marketing Society Future Council used Nissan’s No More Nice Car as an example of a ground-breaking ad that tapped into a cultural trend by redefining gender norms on Today FM’s The Sunday Business Show. However, when you tell a challenging story about defying conventions, you will provoke strong opinions and the downside is that it did receive 5 complaints, only one of which was upheld.

It is not unusual for the launch of a new car to get coverage and reviews and we must acknowledge that most of the published road tests have been very positive. It was rewarding to note that many of the journalists have made use of or referenced our advertising, helping to extend its effect.

There was a massive 102.87% increase in social mentions since the launch, rising to 126% increase during the heavy spend.

During the launch, Micra’s negative sentiment dropped to 6.2%, a 14.2% decrease in negative sentiment overall, while positive sentiment saw a 6.9% increase.

Just a few months into the launch and Nissan Micra has scored well above the industry average for awareness, familiarity, and good opinion. Not bad for a “mind-numbingly bland” car that was ranked 10th in its segment. 

As a result of the campaign, we saw a huge change in people’s attitudes and subsequent behaviour to the Micra brand. The Independent Motoring correspondent sums up the huge task that faced us and the massive shift in perception required:

 “Nissan had a chance to abolish the Micra name  - given the extent of change in shape, nature and market orientation. They didn't, choosing instead to make it plausible for traditional owners to see its merits while trying to attract an audience who'd have previously scoffed at the idea of owning one. In a way that was the biggest step of all.” (Eddie Cunningham June 2017)

The Micra went from being an undesirable pensioners’ car to an earring-wearing, tattooed model in one campaign - And the Irish public loved it.

There is no denying the new model was super and it sales improved all across Europe after the launch. But nowhere experienced even close to the phenomenal growth that Ireland did.

We hope this paper proves that a good product alone is not enough; it was a strong vision and bold creative solutions built upon sound planning and a strategy that made the difference in Ireland. All other things were equal, this is an example of advertising effectiveness at its purest.

Beyond changing the ingrained attitudes towards a 30-year-old car, the impact of the campaign was felt by Nissan Ireland and its agencies that had to have faith that they knew their market best.

• Be even braver. We were making a radical shift away from a heavily invested and free campaign. This demanded confidence and collaboration across the team - and a commitment to following through.
• Make the launch work hard. You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. Our influencer outreach programme with “teasers” and ‘leaks” online drove curiosity and inclusion which was a significant contributor to the hype of the launch, as was the unbranded teaser creative executions on OOH and video outreach.
• To stand out you need to do something outstanding - sounds simple but believe us, it’s not.
• Opened the debate about globalized homogeneity in advertising. The accepted wisdom is “Think global, act local”. It’s a difficult question for any multi-market brand, but sometimes a one-size-fits-all marketing solution doesn’t work
• Turning data into action. Goals and KPIs that drive growth were identified from the offset through core consumer actions on Nissan.ie that signalled positive purchase intent. Then we used data to communicate the right creative to the right audience at the right time. This was achieved through a sophisticated dynamic display remarketing campaign that took users through their research journey, by switching up the creative and providing them with different messaging to help them come to the right decision on their path to purchase.

Nissan Micra was a case of a brand “Thinking global, acting local”. Its advantage is different markets delivering consistency and savings on creative and media. However, this approach makes being local secondary, undermining local insights and strategies. It heroes homogenised advertising, underestimating market differences.

No More Nice Car shows in communications (like martial arts) “speed and energy beats size in creating power”. Agile markets like Ireland will never have the size of others. But the right message can be more powerful.

So perhaps we should not talk about “Thinking global, acting local” and instead “Thinking local and powering global performance”

The Irish Micra launch showed the power of effective marketing.  By defying past attitudes, sales grew 106%, doubling its market share to 10%, when all other markets only grew to between 2-4%.

The car was the same across Europe, the only difference was Ireland’s strategic and creative approach.  It’s fair to conclude that award-winning creative and a strong multi-channel media campaign was the main contributor to the success of the launch and reversing the fortunes the Micra.

It was a well-deserved result for Nissan Ireland who put their faith in the power of effective advertising.