2018 Winners & Shortlists

CAMELPOWER

BrandNISSAN
Product/ServiceDESERT LINEUP
EntrantTBWA\RAAD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryDigital Design
Idea Creation TBWA\RAAD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Media Placement OMD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Production NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Production 2 STOKED Beirut, LEBANON

The Campaign

We introduced Camelpower to the world: the first ever unit to measure automotive performance in the desert. Following the example set by Henry Watt, the inventor of horsepower, we developed our unit around the most effective and efficient desert animal: the camel. Horsepower (hp) was developed with land-based experiments using a horse as a benchmark. Our sand-based experiments used a camel and followed a similar scientific approach, creating a formula and value for Camelpower (dCP). We worked with Nissan engineers, accreditation experts and technical gurus to develop the formula and conduct field tests (accounting for sand friction, time, velocity, weight and inclination). Once a value for 1dCP was established, we measured the dCP value for Nissan’s top desert SUVs. And there we had it. Not only an empirical way to measure the off-road performance of our SUVs, but a metric against which every other car could be measured.

Creative Execution

The main feat of this design was to demonstrate how related our SUV’s and Camels are, when it comes to being desert-ready. We highlighted the SUV’s main desert features and created a parallel with the camel’s main anatomy features, placing both within the same graphic nucleus. These visuals were primarily traced separately on paper, in black & white, and later composed giving us the chance to point out certain elements and making sure the car parts were recognizable. To achieve this we used colors on the cables/veins that intertwined with the headline generating an eye-catching unity. A Science illustration style was used to give more credibility to the campaign, given it was an actual innovation. After meeting with a special division at Nissan and pinpointing the main junctions between car and camel, we assigned the project to an illustrator, who worked with us from the distance.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

1. Earned Media -Campaign reached over 450M people with a minor budget as every major news outlet covered the story -Earned 22m PR Media Impressions in GCC, worth $2.8m paid media 2. Engagement - 12.2 minutes average time spent on www.camelpower.ae (245% higher than Nissan average benchmark) - 14% of visitors clicked through to SUV model pages on www.nissan.me -Social post engagement rate of 3.87 (more than 2x that of Nissan new-model-launch posts) 3. Brand Impact -Those who had been exposed to the campaign were 60% more likely to believe that Nissan made the best off-road SUVs (a 31ppt increase) and 64% more likely to believe Nissan was an innovative company (a 28ppt increase) -Nissan’s Brand Affinity increased by +4 points And while unexpected, in the month during and after the campaign, year-on-year sales for Patrol, Patrol Safari and Navara were significantly up (despite media spend being 83% down).

If we talk about road cars, any debate around performance is easily resolved with stats about horsepower, torque or acceleration times. Publications and websites are dedicated to this type of content. No measure existed to accurately measure performance in the desert sand. 500HP might give you supercar acceleration, but it’s not worth much on soft, shifting sand. To end the debate and officially claim leadership, we proved that Nissan SUVs are the best desert off-roaders in the region by creating a new unit of desert performance measurement: Camelpower. Credibility was a key factor. As such, we needed to follow a strict scientific process from start to finish. We needed to work with experts from Nissan (engineering, R&D and technical), plus third party engineers and geology professors. Furthermore, we needed official accreditation from the national standardization board. Only then would the science be robust and the metric accepted by the industry.

Credits

Name Company Role
Walid Kanaan TBWA\RAAD Chief Creative Officer
Manuel Borde TBWA\RAAD Creative Director
Oswaldo Sa TBWA\RAAD Art Director ACD
Gabriel Gama TBWA\RAAD Art Director
Guilherme Grossi TBWA\RAAD Copywriter
Alex Pineda TBWA\RAAD Copywriter ACD
Clayton Needham TBWA\RAAD Senior Digital Designer
Felipe Sona TBWA\RAAD Senior Digital Designer
Claudio Campisto TBWA\RAAD Head of Art
Saad Gharzeddine TBWA\RAAD Brand Leader
Mathieu Khaled TBWA\RAAD Senior Account Manager
Ali Marashi TBWA\RAAD Senior Planner
Vishal Badiani TBWA\RAAD Strategy Director
Rouba Asmar TBWA\RAAD Head of Production
Wataru - Illustrator
Hazem Atieh / Ezzat Habra TBWA\RAAD Creative Services Managers
Fouad Abdel Malak TBWA\RAAD Executive Creative Director
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