Nissan Canada has launched an adventurous new campaign that marks a shift in how the vehicle manufacturer typically comes to market – moving towards building Nissan as an overall brand rather than focusing on individual vehicles in its line-up. Nissan Canada developed a campaign made by Canadians for Canadians, alongside the brand’s long-standing partner, Nissan United, Juniper Park\TBWA’s integrated bespoke agency team for Nissan.
The campaign’s video asset, which showcases Nissan’s Sentra, Rogue, all-new Nissan Z, and Super GT, also demonstrates the brand’s connection to Canadian motorsport by bringing the audience into a Nissan “multiverse”. First, we see an everyday driver taking a corner in her Nissan Sentra, which then cuts to a split screen of Nissan Sentra Cup driver, Valérie Limoges, “cornering with you”. This theme continues throughout the video, with scenes of exceptional everyday driving performance showcased alongside the motorsport inspiration behind them.
“Nissan has a rich history in motorsport that continues to this day, including competing in the prestigious Super GT Series in Japan, and in Canada with our very own Nissan Sentra Cup,” says Ken Hearn, Director of Marketing, Nissan Canada. “We wanted to shed light on this fact by creating a campaign that demonstrates to Canadians that whether it’s the Nissan you drive every day, or the one that’s racing competitively, every Nissan is a Nissan; they all share the same performance DNA.”
The automotive manufacturer worked with world-class Canadian VFX studio, RodeoVFX, to develop the extensive CGI work needed to bring the Nissan multiverse to life. The soundtrack of the video's adrenaline-fueled storyline is aptly powered by a punk rock throwback, 1965's "Have Love Will Travel" by The Sonics. The campaign also continues its Canadian focus by featuring Quebecois actress and Nissan’s Quebec brand ambassador, Karine Vanasse, in the French version of the video asset.
“As the first Nissan brand story to come out of Canada, we wanted to both recognize the company’s history in the country while also reminding audiences of the performance excellence of all Nissan vehicles,” says Andrew Caie, Creative Director, Juniper Park\TBWA. “Through a data-informed creative approach, we took this as an opportunity to create a Nissan multiverse, visually demonstrating the connection between Nissan’s competitive race cars and their production counterparts in a way that feels exciting and celebratory.”
The national campaign launched this summer across TV, OLV, Social, OOH, Digital and Cinema and will be in market until this fall. The campaign was directed by Canadian director Ozan Biron and produced by Slice Films. Post-production was handled by RodeoFX, music and sound design by Eggplant, while strategy, creative, data analytics and media were handled by Juniper Park\TBWA’s Nissan United team.
You can view the 60 second version of the video asset here.
