Social roadtrip with Nissan

Posted on 28. Sep, 2011 by Goran Minov in Digital Campaign

Roadtrips have always been great for telling engaging stories and sharing emmersive experiences. And funny ones. Talking about “engaging” and “sharing”, of course, it also makes very much sense, to combine a roadtrip with the social media tools of today.

That’s what Nissan and Critical Mass, Calgary were thinking, when the came up with the idea of the My Versa Road Trip contest, to  promote the new 2012 Versa compact sedan. As a part of their multi-platform ‘Most ________ per dollar’ (replace dash with “headroom”, “leg room”, or “fresh thinking”)  marketing campaign in North America (Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles), the social roadtrip perfectly fits the centerpiece of the campaign, which is a new ‘First Person’ digital experience.

“While highly social, target Versa buyers in their mid-to-late twenties often are juggling new time commitments and financial priorities. This makes staying connected with friends easier online, so the ‘My Versa Road Trip’ campaign gives them opportunity to engage online for potential chance to reconnect in person offline,” Jon Brancheau, vice president, Marketing, Nissan North America, Inc.

The competition starts on the My Versa Roadtrip mircosite, where users can set up a route by adding locations that will also be displayed on the integrated google maps view. And because a good roadtrip is nothing without a good soundtrack, you can select from 5 predefined music sets, that will be added to your virtual tour.

And here comes the social part. Contestant can login with their Facebook-Account and invite 3 of their friends to join the virtual trip, which can turn into a real trip. To enter that competition, contestants are asked to write a short explanation why they chose the trip and / or why Nissan Versa is the perfect car for them. If the Nissan-jury is convinced, the virtual trip will become reality.

On November 14th  six winners will be announced who will win a 2012 Versa Sedan and will get the chance to hit the road with their chosen friends to go on their real roadtrip. The car will be equipped with stop-motion cameras to document the roadtrips for 4 days.

Since I have made 2 roadtripsmyself (3 weeks through the Balkans, 1 week from Munich to Barcelona), I can tell this is a hell of a prize! I’m sure that all winners will have such a great time during their trips and that great footage will be created by the installed cameras and the shared experiences from the contestants. Even more a reason for Nissan to create films from that footage that will be screened at an online film festival in January 2012 — they will be watched and rated by the community, the best of the films will be named the Road Trip Video.

TV Spot “Headroom”

TV Spot “Leg room”

Tags: Nissan, Roadtrip, Social Media