Nissan, an official sponsor of the NCAA March Madness, refreshed its ‘Road 2’ activation for the 2023 college basketball tournaments with integrated creative fronted by a team of athlete ambassadors, 16 college mascots, plus the automaker’s US fleet spearheaded by its Nissan ARIYA (the competitions’ official EV).
The strategic objective of the activation, developed in harness with TBWA/Chiat/Day, was to reach college basketball fans in-person, at-home and on-the-move while putting its new ARIYA EV at the campaign core.
The multi-channel, multi-phase marketing burst spanned TV, digital and social content and stickers, plus a mobile app, media partnerships, as well as in-person and on-site initiatives, plus a PR push.
At the core of the activation was a set of six commercials – four 16-second spots and two 30-second ads – which were posted online from 6 March and began airing on TV from 10 March.
These comic, road-trip style videos feature the ARIYA EV, as well as Nissan’s Z1 Rogue, Altima, Frontier and Pathfinder models, alongside a team of hoops brand ambassadors (including USC Coach Lindsay Gottlieb, plus former players Candace Parker and Kenny Smith) and no less than 16 college mascots (including a duck, a bulldog, a ram and even a tree) and all sought to entertain, drive partnership awareness, engage viewers and drive them to find out more about the tie-up at a bespoke website.
The campaign also included a first-of-its-kind TikTok Now tie-up inviting basketball fans to post live photos and videos during ‘key tournament moments’ via ‘Now’ notifications, a mobile app that included a BeReal copycat tool and an Instagram led ticket sweepstakes strand which encouraged college hoops fans to post a video of their live viewing experience to be in with a chance of winning tickets to the 2024 Men’s Final Four game.
Other elements of the activation included Giphy stickers for use on social media, a video series in partnership with Bleacher Report and an online bracket challenge in partnership with CBS Sports (which offered fans/players opportunities to win brand and basketball related prizes including a Nissan ARIYA crossover).
“March Madness is a beloved cultural moment with viewers spanning a wide range of demographics, from avid college sports followers to casual cultural bandwagon hoppers, bringing everyone together throughout the entire tournament,” said Nissan USA VP and CMO Allyson Witherspoon. “Unexpected moments are the allure of March Madness. With TikTok Now we are using real-time unexpected moments to attract and unite March Madness audiences on social media. A dual strategy is needed for a cultural moment that starts on TV and ends in social. We understand that the real conversation around March Madness happens on social, so we built a social landscape that enables everyone to join in on the thrill.”
The multi-phase campaign was created for and brief in by a Nissan USA team which included VP and CMO Allyson Witherspoon, Director Of Marketing Erich Marx, Senior Manager of Brand Marketing Communications Ty Webb, Senior Planner Of Brand Marketing and Communications Anvita Upadhyaya, Director Of Brand and Retail Demand and Data Innovation Phil O’Connor, Senior Manager Nissan T1 Media Strategy and Planning Tony Weeks, Director Of Customer Experience and Digital Platforms Colleen Boldon, Senior Manager Of Customer Experience and Digital Platforms Robert Brown, Director Of Brand Marketing and Strategy Yetunde Faparusiy and Senior Manager Of Marketing Strategy Rachel Booten.
The lead creative agency was TBWA/Chiat/Day NY where the US Nissan United Team included Chief Creative Officer Amy Ferguson,Head of Creative – Nissan Dave Banta, Group Creative Director Mike Blanch, Associate Creative Directors Monica Sagowitz and Anthony Pasqualone, Art Director Elissa DeBruyn, Copywriter Joey Chiarulli, Associate Art Director Hunter Swink, Associate Copywriter Joshua Blanco and Operations Manager – Creative Laura Czerepak.
The agency’s business unit on the project included Managing Director Scott Kavanagh, Brand Business Lead Val Tyll, Business Director Tony Burman, Senior Business Manager Raquel Devariel, Business Manager Anna Moscovici, Social Business Lead Katherine Udeze, Social Business Director Kim Harris, Manager Jack Cronin, MC Business Lead Darian Forh, Chief Executive Officer Nancy Reyes.
The agency group working on strategy included Chief Strategy Officer Leslie Stone, Executive Strategy Director Of Strategy and Innovation Elliot Bastien, Strategy Director Matthew Kaye, Strategy Director – Social Branding Victoria Tabio and Senior Strategist – Social Branding Avery Sawyer.
Production at TBWA/Chiat/Day was run through Head of Integrated Production John Doris, Group Executive Producer Sumer Friedrichs, Head of Production Operations Victoria Krueger, Executive Producers Sarah Farrand and Chris Klein, Integrated Producer Armando Melendez, Business Affairs Managers Rachel O’Malley and Leti Schumacher, while product strategy was handled by Director of Product Integration Andy Galvin and Senior Specialist Of Product Integration Patrick Jones.
The agency’s media team included Executive Director Media and Integrated Programs Sara Wilson, Business Lead For National Planning, Partnerships and Activations Steve Walsh, Associate Media Director Lauren Natale, Media Supervisor Influencers Simon Fenzi, Media Planner For Partnerships & Activation Emily Stalcup and Optimum Sports Account Directors Sam Levy and Mike Polvere.
The activation team included VP Client Services Megan Hanson, Senior Account Director Emily Morrison, Account Director David Schneider, Account Supervisor Katie Smits, Account Executive Casey Ausloos, Senior Strategist Experiential Alex Davidson, Associate Creative Director Liz Ha, Creative Technologist Joe Leitner, Senior Art Director Dia Yang, Senior Creative Project Manager Lisa Rasmussen, Senior Digital Project Manager Stacy Mallak and Content Production Director Emmie Cerow.
The web and digital analytics group included Business Lead Laura Thomas, Senior Account Manager Brittany Brown, Strategy Director Kerry Janes, Creative Director Skylar Pelletier, Copy Director Peter von Sass, Copywriter Lucy Findley, Content Director Tony Charron, Designer Cole Ottmann, Lead UX Designer Vagisha Singh, Tech Lead Adrian Alberto Carmiol, Project Manager Liz Smith, Search Strategist Andrew Ly, Marketing Science Analyst Lady Acheampong, Senior Group Director Of Marketing Science Kothand Venkatakrishnan, Group Director Of Marketing Science John VanderPloeg, Manager Of Marketing and Business Intelligence Jamie Westerman, Senior Analyst Of Marketing and Business Intelligence Sid Deshmukh, plus Analyst Of Marketing and Business Intelligence Christine Lin.
Additional production was handled by Reform School, editorial was by MacKenzie Cutler, VFX by Framestore, sound by Duotone Audio Group, music by Music & Strategy, Ride Together, with Ballroom Blitz by Sweet and Rock The World by BOSE.
Comment
This madcap marketing mirrors much of the March Madness frenzy whilst celebrating goofy, oddball and somewhat ridiculous Americana, plus a taste of mainstream basketball culture and, of course, the car brand and its new EV.
This campaign follows on from 2022 ‘Road 2 the Final Four’ campaign as well as 2021’s ‘The Chase’ activation.
This isn’t the first time Nissan has sought to engage and entertain by featuring college mascots in its marketing creative: its long-running college football ‘Heisman House’ platform also regularly features plenty of giant animal costumes.
The 2023 activation also saw the carmaker become the first brand to use TikTok Now – TikTok’s answer to BeReal.
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