 |
Nissan is "shifting gears to balance more fan involvement in its activations with a sharper focus on the technology powering its cars," according to Seb Joseph of THE DRUM. How it does this "comes down to how well it can attach itself to the emotion around the rights it owns." It "sounds straightforward" and yet it is "hard to see a clear role for a car brand in Europe’s top club competition in the same it is for a beer brand like Heineken." People drink beer when they watch football, they are "not going to be naturally thinking about a car while they do it." That is the "conundrum" facing Nissan CMO Roel de Vries. He said, "When people tune in to watch a Champions League they want to be entertained, so we need to be interesting to be part of that. You’ll never see us use the sponsorship to say, ‘Come buy your Qashqai.’ We need to be part of the entertainment and try not to get too specific with customers." Nissan Europe Marketing VP Jean-Pierre Diernaz said, "This notion of 'Together the journey is more exciting' centers around the ambassadors and fans. What we will try to do is make those moments leading up to the game and after the game more exciting." It is not a "wholly original hypothesis." Heineken has been "pushing to dominate the social chatter in the run up to and after Champions League matches to capitalise on that short window." However, Nissan believes its own take "gives it time to find its position around the league and more importantly keeps it in the view of football fans." The rationale is that the more it can "tap into these moments then the more likely it is people will come to associate Nissan with the league," something de Vries admitted will "materialise over the long-term" (
THE DRUM, 11/2).
