2011 Gold Automotive

Client Nissan Motors (GB)

What is wonderful about this work? We created a highly personalised CRM campaign to seek out the hottest prospects among existing owners, with a key launch piece showing the city directing the recipient personally, to be ‘In sync with the city’. We exceeded our database expansion target by 12,000 and generated an additional 17,056 hand-raisers against a target of 10,000. And we beat our pre-order sales target by over 100%. ROI was 12:1.

What details of the strategy make this a winning entry? The Micra has a special place in the hearts of its owners: like a family pet, they see it as reliable and uncomplicated. They choose their car to get them from A to B, rather than to turn heads. The new Micra fits the bill, being packed with friendly technology like easy parking and sat nav. We knew that the hottest prospects in the UK would be existing customers, so we took a CRM-led approach: unusual for a car launch. We knew from research that this predominantly older audience put great value on existing relationships. To find 240,000 contactable prospects for launch, we embarked on data-cleansing activities to re-connect and re-qualify the wider Nissan database – including ex-customers. We recruited new customers at test drives in garden centres and shopping malls, where they would feel comfortable. We also used media partnerships to expand the identifiable CRM opportunity by geography, media consumption and hobbies.

How did creativity bring the strategy to life? The positioning was ‘In sync with the city.’ The BTL creative used the warmth of the brand and city-friendly features to introduce prospects to the new car and encourage re-qualification; so a small ad ‘Desperately seeking MR A B SAMPLE’ ascertained data quality while reminding them of their close relationship with Micra. We also used an unusually high degree of personalisation. While in the TVC the car was guided around the city by various elements of street furniture, in the DM we used digital printing to personalise directions on pavements and walls such as ‘This way Mr A B Sample’. All in all, a truly through-the-line campaign.

Results We beat our objective to generate 500 pre-order sales by over 100%, with 1,014 pre-orders taken. Our other targets were to increase contacts by 70,000 – we exceeded this by 12,000. Integrating with media partners and events, we added a further 17,056 hand-raisers, exceeding our target by 7,056. So at launch we had a warm prospect base of 270,000 names (30,000 over target). Talking to our hottest prospects six months before the launch, and specifically when the TV campaign landed in January, led to an impressive ROI of 12:1.

Team Daren Kay - Executive Creative Director, Alex King - Writer, Nick Hurst - Account Director, Alison James - Senior Designer, Alastair Hutchison - Creative Director, Jane Rennie - Senior Production, Clare Treppleton - Art Director, David Napier - Account Director, Roz Hase - Planner, Alex Harold - Digital Project Manager