2014 Winners & Shortlists

Results and Effectiveness

We didn’t just break through the sales barrier; we broke a Guinness World Record. - The Patrol Challenge site registered 600,000 interactions. - 600 challenges were submitted by users. - Over 10,000 people voted to choose the final challenge. - Over 1 million views on YouTube. - 50 stories generated in Print, Online & Broadcast. - More importantly, sales increased by 30% and market share increased by 33.33% (Source: Nissan Middle East Sales Data 2012-2013). Through a user-generated event where the audience challenged the Patrol, we claimed and proved why it is The Hero of All Terrain.

Creative Execution

We first created a new platform - Challenge. The print campaign showed how each feature overcame a challenge. Then we asked people to visit our microsite and challenge the Patrol. 600 challenges were submitted and an eminent panel shortlisted the 10 best. Then we asked people to vote and they chose “Patrol pulling a cargo plane”. This was a risk. But to prove that Patrol could take on the toughest challenge, we decided it should pull the heaviest commercial aircraft, a Russian Cargo Plane weighing 170 tons, and set a new Guinness World Record. This beat the record set last year by the Toyota Tundra which pulled the Endeavour space shuttle weighing 150 tons. The Patrol Challenge was witnessed by government officials, the Guinness team, as well as key TV and print media, making it the most talked about automotive event in the region.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

In 2010, the Nissan Patrol was launched as The Hero of All Terrain. Our high-end model sales managed to overcome the leader, Toyota Land Cruiser, in that segment. But the bigger market share (over 80%) was in the lower-grade model and this was huge potential for growth that was not tapped into. In the highly-competitive SUV segment, superior features define the purchase decision. But with SUV ads communicating catalogue-style features without benefits, ATL communication became a sea of sameness. Our insight was that people don’t believe claims; they want proof. So we needed a live demonstration that would prove that our features were best-in-class, in a path-breaking manner.