2014 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

Sports is the biggest form of entertainment resonating within youth in this region, however they usually find themselves on the audience fence rather than being a participant. This is always the case especially when it comes to professional motoring sports. We delivered on the brand promise, by innovatively turning our TA’s passive motor sporting dream into an active reality: In November 2012, Nissan Middle East gave youth the chance to become professional racers, by bringing GT-Academy (GTA) for the first time to the region. GT Academy is designed to identify gamers with the most natural racing talent in the virtual world, before working with them to transform them into a professional racing driver in the real world. Selection is initially made through times set on a customized stage within the Gran Turismo game, now in its sixth generation. The fastest gamers then have the chance at a Regional Final event, before the very best head to Race Camp where they are assessed on their fitness, mental attitude and car control. Ultimately the winner gets a seat behind the wheel of a Nissan 370Z GT race car.

The Brief

- Showcase the uniqueness of Nissan’s programme through GTA and highlight their core DNA of innovation and excitement through Nissan’s brand behavior. - Drive recruitment and build media ambassadorship through engagement. Two audiences were identified. -The young motorsport enthusiasts resident in the ME with no racing license or professional experience to drive recruitment. -The broader public, to reinforce Nissan’s innovative programme reflecting brand behavior and its support of ‘grassroots’ motorsport in the region. Based on best practice learned from GTA programmes elsewhere and the prevalence of event-led culture in some ME countries and online-culture more popular in others, a combined internet and on-ground programme was agreed. Key programme milestones were identified and strong media interest was generated through various traditional, digital and virtual platforms.

Results

Brand engagement rate: • During the first two weeks of GTA, engagement rate increased to 1.31% becoming the number one (Non-luxury) automotive brand in the ME in terms of engagement rate (source: Social bakers) • The engagement continued to increase, reaching 2.03% especially when we aired the show on TV • Until today, Nissan Middle East Facebook page, is the leader between all automotive pages (non-luxury ones). Popularity of GT-Academy • Upon airing it on the leading TV channel “MBC Action” catered to the youth, GTA generated 7% TV rating (source IPSOS), making it one of the top programs for our target audience. • MBC Group signed a new contract with Nissan to air GT Academy season 2 as of January 2014

Execution

There were two routes to take part in GTA ME; ‘live events’, where contestants competed on GTA simulator pods and online events, where competitors raced on a specially generated, free to download Gran Turismo® GTA qualification challenge. The fastest drivers of each group went on to a place in the regional final. The second route is from the 25 of those who qualified, only eight were selected to go to the ‘International Race Camp’ at Silverstone, England. From this small group, the ultimate winner went on to receive full training and a seat in the GTA team, professionally racing Nissan 370Z in the GT3 class. Among many things we use a few key tactics ➢ Media experiences and opportunities to meet motorsport VIP advocates (including Dr ben Sulayem) from the region, contestants and previous winners ➢ MBC Action Driven five-episode series generated ➢ GTA promo video adapted to kick-start social media ➢ GTA ME specific social media video developed

The Situation

GT Academy is a unique programme offering Playstation gamers the chance to move from virtual racing on Gran Turismo to the reality of being a professional racing driver. The campaign was designed as an ideal opportunity for gamers and motoring enthusiasts to convert their virtual dreams into reality of becoming a professional racing driver. Further building on Nissan's brand promise 'innovation that excites.' Broader awareness was required across online and traditional media to drive recruitment and achieve our brand objectives. The challenge and visible opportunity for our audience to get familiarized with a new life-changing concept was definitely there.

The Strategy

Coordination and agreement on messaging, calendar and deliverables were conducted across multiple stakeholder groups, including co-operation with Sony PlayStation ME and Nissan’s global GTA stakeholders. Alignment across PR, online and marketing platforms on messaging and positioning were conducted with cross-media segment coverage including online engagement, on-ground activations, on-going updates through social media and press releases to maintain interest and broaden awareness. We spread interest into broader media segments by highlighting the participant’s human interest stories.