With an ambition to become "the most transparent brand in Formula E," Nissan sees "clear synergies between this emerging sport and its commitment to the future of electric mobility," according to Charlotte Rogers of MARKETING WEEK. The Formula E sponsorship, which will launch with the '18-19 season, has been in discussion internally for the past two-and-a-half years. It "plays into Nissan’s interests in intelligent mobility, autonomous driving and green technology." Nissan Global Head of Marketing, Communications & Brand Strategy Roel de Vries explained that "as the company wanted to maintain its presence in racing and promote its overall intelligent mobility strategy, Formula E was the logical next step." He sees Formula E as an "integral part of Nissan’s wider sports sponsorship portfolio." De Vries said, "At football, we try to talk about the connection between Nissan creating excitement through our technologies and vehicles, and football players creating excitement through the way they play the game, but of course a car is not the same as a football game. With Formula E, we can talk far more specifically about our vision for the future when it comes to electrification and autonomous driving. For me, if you look at sponsorship, it’s very important to look at a portfolio. If we only do Formula E, we would not get to the reach we want as a brand; if you only do something like Champions League, I think you don’t build enough of a deep connection with people who know about your cars. I see them on par, but they have different roles to play." De Vries "has picked up on the differences between the fans of Formula E and fans of more traditional racing." Whereas GTR, Le Mans or Formula 1 attract "real die-hard racing fans," Formula E’s city center location and "high level of accessibility" mean it has "opened itself up to a different kind of spectator." De Vries: "The people that come to Formula E are not necessarily the die-hard motorsport fans, they are people that like sports. ... A lot of these young people are into technology, into new, exciting things, and that’s how we want to position ourselves. We don’t want to position Nissan Formula E as pure racing. We want to position it as the place where we talk about the future and show the capabilities of the various technologies we have, beyond the car that’s racing on the track" (MARKETING WEEK, 5/22).
