2018 Winners & Shortlists

The Campaign

For many young men in the region, heading out to the desert and conquering monster dunes is a way of life. During the warm winter months, hundreds of people watch as SUVs line up to race up mountains of sand. YouTube videos and Instagram posts that capture the thrills generate hundreds of thousands of views, likes and comments. The debate online about which car is the king of the desert has raged on forever, most typically, this banter is dominated by Nissan Patrol and Toyota LandCruiser fanboys. If we were talking about road cars, the debate would be easily resolved with stats about horsepower, torque or acceleration times. Yet no measure exists to accurately measure performance in the desert. 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.

Creative Execution

We worked with a team of technical experts, engineers, geologists and measurement officials to develop the formula. We then had to conduct real-world field tests (accounting for sand friction, time, velocity, weight and inclination). Once a value for 1dCP was established, we measured the Camelpower (dCP) value for Nissan and competitor SUVs Our Formula: dCP = velocity x weight x sin (trajectory) Testing took place over two stages. In the first (Feb 2016), camels of equal weight ran side-by-side per test. The test was conducted repeatedly with the times across all tests averaged out to arrive at a benchmark value. This value was used within the formula to establish the value of 1dCP. The second stage took place 6 months later and began with field visits to ensure consistency in conditions (e.g. sand moisture & friction). We then assessed the timings on the same track for each of our off-roaders and our competitors, running multiple tests with each and averaging out the timings of all optimal runs. Entering their times into the formula at the end of the tests gave us the dCP values for all vehicles.

1. Earned Media -450M+ people reached with a minor paid budget -Earned 22m PR Media Impressions in GCC, worth $2.8m 2. Long-Term Brand Outcomes -Those exposed to the campaign were: 60% more likely to believe Nissan made the best off-road SUVs 64% more likely to believe Nissan was an innovative company -Nissan’s Brand Affinity increased by +4 points 3. Long-Term Business Outcomes -Year-on-year sales of Patrol increased 97% in March / 26% in April -Patrol Safari year-on-year sales increased 60% in March / 99% in April -Navara year-on-year sales increased 170% in March / 49% in April - This was achieved despite media spend being 83% down 4. Innovation Scalability - Verified dCP ratings across the Nissan off-road line-up - Verified dCP ratings of key competitor SUVs 5. Developments To Date - ESMA-backed paper under review for global certification of the new unit - Formula, methodology & process review underway

In response to a client brief to increase sales and build brand equity, we worked with engineers, scientists and accreditation experts to innovate in the space of car performance measurement. We didn’t just create a campaign: we rewrote the rules of the game. We created a standardized benchmark for desert performance, where none existed before. In so doing, we leveraged Nissan’s core brand promise to deliver innovation that excites.