How to stand out from the crowd? That question was at the heart of Nissan’s strategy at the Dubai International Motor Show, held November Tuesday to Saturday at the Dubai World Trade Centre, where more than 150 manufacturers showed hundreds of new vehicles. The automaker focused on two functions for its activation. First was to create a unique experience that allowed visitors to get inside a Nissan Patrol vehicle. The second was to give them content they would want to share on social media with friends and followers around the world. The solution: a mobile production studio that turned visitors into stars of a James Bond-style movie trailer.
“As digital proliferates and everyone is so used to these platforms and the way brands try to engage with them, you have to work so much harder to generate any meaningful conversation and noise,” said Rich Rust, head of digital marketing and social media for Nissan Middle East. “We wanted to set the bar for motor show activations. You need to create something that is a truly unique experience and gives the people taking part a genuine reason to want to do something with the content. All of the brands here will ask customers to do the basics of ‘Here’s a great photo of one of our cars, please share it,’ but that doesn’t cut it anymore.”
Instead, visitors to Nissan’s exhibit entered a 43- by 60-foot building equipped with studio cameras, green screens, and professional directors. Guests first entered a small photo studio to have their picture taken for a customized movie poster. Then they entered the movie studio where they sat in a Nissan Patrol vehicle and followed cues from the directors who shot the scenes using robotic cameras. Within minutes of exiting the experience, participants received an email that included a high-resolution image of their movie poster and YouTube and download links to their minute-long trailer for Nissan Patrol: The Movie, with the participant cast as "Agent 23."
“We didn’t want to create something that felt like a ride. We wanted the production values to be very high, so we engaged great creative partners and shot it like you’d shoot a real movie trailer,” Rust said. “And it’s not about showing people our cars and it being a pure marketing piece. That’s absolutely not what we wanted to create. We wanted to create something that had a story line, an emotional connection. I’ve never seen a motor show activation where so many people come out with the reaction they have—they are genuinely delighted.”
Participants shared the experience using the hashtag #IamAgent23, and Rust said the reach of those posts has exceeded five million. Nissan is still analyzing data but estimates the shared videos have already received about 100,000 views. In the days leading up to the activation, Nissan created a teaser video that it shared on social media, which Rust said garnered more than 1.3 million views. The automaker also aired a 30-second commercial that played before showings of the new James Bond movie, Spectre, in theaters across the United Arab Emirates.
Rust said the studio is designed to be reusable, and they may take it to other cars shows, shopping malls, or additional Nissan events.
