There is no doubt that technology is playing an increasingly important role in the way brands are targeting consumers. While UK consumers used to be satisfied by a creative or abstract TV ad, an increasingly marketing-savvy audience now expects more. The race is on to come up with more innovative and engaging campaigns in a bid to excite audiences and add real value to their lives.
The focus for marketing in the UK is shifting, with a greater priority on providing an experience that consumers can engage with – as opposed to showcasing campaigns via traditional advertising on TV or billboards and leaving people feeling as though they’re constantly being targeted with a sales pitch.
The relationship between brands and consumers is changing and I personally hope this means that customers will receive more fun, interesting and relevant content on their TVs, mobiles, PCs and tablets. As this change takes place, the line between the virtual and real world is becoming increasingly blurred. Brands are harnessing the power of social media as a marketing tool and looking for other methods to engage customers in the digital world – again, in a bid to better understand a consumers’ needs and engage directly on their chosen platform – be it Facebook, YouTube, Twitter or other.
In my experience, this not only allows us to get to know our customers directly, it also helps them to get to know each other, exchange ideas and help the decision making process for a brand.
At Nissan, we have just launched a new car (the Juke Nismo) within a Gameloft app before its launch in the real world, giving users the opportunity to test drive the car in mobile driving game Asphalt 7 Heat before the car hits showrooms across Europe. As smartphones and tablets are increasingly dominating consumers’ time and attention, we used this opportunity to reach a wide range of consumers directly, engaging with them on a popular platform in a way that perfectly suits today’s digital age.
In this instance, our decision to launch via an app was due to the nature of the car – as the first in a new motorsport derived line, and including a number of tech and gaming inspired features (e.g. connecting to smartphones), it is a car that should appeal to gamers and social media users. Gamers today are not just young guys who are really into computers – they are a mass audience of people who are playing on mobiles, tablets or online. We are trying to communicate with people we call ‘tech seekers’ – not necessarily ‘geeks’ or fast adopters but people who use technology to get more value from their life. That can come through enjoying a game.
When people play the app, they’ll see that we have recreated the vehicle meticulously – from the power, handling and aerodynamics of the car to its design elements. If they enjoy the experience of driving the car within the game, we hope they’ll be inspired to take a real test drive. Since the game featuring Juke Nismo launched in December, we’ve already had over 2 million downloads. That’s 2 million people who have experienced the fun of Nismo before we’ve even delivered a single car in Europe; this launch has already been very successful! If you also count the people who already had Asphalt 7 Heat installed on their devices, it means almost 10 Million people can potentially experience the thrill of Juke Nismo before it even hits the streets.
We also wanted to continue to innovate within the gaming world following the huge success of GT Academy which we run in partnership with Sony. The programme, now running for over five years, takes the very best drivers from the gaming world and puts them on the real-world race track – with this year’s European winner, Belgian competitor Wolfgang Reip, who already made 2nd in class for his first international race at Dubai 24H. The skills honed on the virtual race track have enabled our pilots to compete and win at extremely high levels of motor sport including the gruelling Le Mans 24hrs. We’ve had great feedback from gamers, who naturally find the opportunity to take their skills into the real-world – or at least to watch their friends or fellow gamers do so – a far more fun and exciting experience than simply being marketed to.
I anticipate that innovation of this kind in brand marketing will become more and more popular and that marketers will continue to break down the traditional barrier between brands and consumers, and along with that between the real and virtual worlds. Gamers and social media users are generally well connected, technology savvy people who are always on the lookout for the next digital innovations – so any brand that can engage with them in a meaningful way is going to be at an advantage and ensure consumers feel less like they are just a target for sales.
Contributor
Gareth Dunsmore is Marketing Communications General Manager for Nissan in Europe.
