Nissan Sales Boss Says Past Ads Conveyed Vague Brand Identity

Back in January, Christian Meunier took over as Nissan’s U.S. chief of sales and marketing, and a week into the position he challenged the company’s ad agencies to come up with better advertising. What was wrong with the brand’s ad campaigns? To use Meunier’s language, they were “shit.”

Currently, Nissan’s main advertising agency is TBWA/Chiat/Day, with Zimmerman Advertising as the company’s Tier 2 dealer agency. In an interview with Automotive News, Meunier said, “I was really upset with the agency in the beginning. I challenged them. I locked them in a room for a week in New York, and came back after a week and it was still shit.”

“I came back after two weeks and it was still shit,” he continued. “I said, ‘You guys better deliver something. You’d better come to Nashville next week with a plan that works.’ And they came back with a very good plan.”

Meunier’s main issue with Nissan’s past advertising campaigns was that they relayed an unclear brand image. “Guys, I’m sorry to say it but we’ve spent billions of dollars on advertising in the past few years … and our brand is very vague,” he told the ad firms. “People don’t really know what Nissan is about. And that’s a problem.”

After weeks of back and forth between Meunier and the agencies, a new strategy has finally been devised that will go live this May. The automaker is currently testing the new campaign on consumers, and dealers are giving their input as well. Specific changes were kept under wraps, but Meunier told Automotive News that the Sentra, Altima, and Rogue would be part of one the new advertising campaigns, while the Maxima, Pathfinder, and Murano would be featured in another.

While the majority of Nissan’s past advertising may have come up short in Meunier’s eye, we think the ad for the 2016 Nissan Titan XD was on the right path. Check it out in the video below.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription required)

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