Dualis sunroof leads to relationship breakup in new Nissan ad
A new ad for the Nissan Dualis sees a boyfriend dumped after a skywriter sabotages his proposal because he takes a fancy to the woman after seeing her through the car’s panoramic sunroof.
The ad – “Sky writing” – was created by Whybin\TBWA and directed by Brendon Gibbons of production house Curious.
The ad is not the first time Dualis has been advertised in an unconventional way. In 2008, eccentric film director Tony Kaye shot a surreal ad for the Dualis which only aired a few times:
Credits
- Executive Creative Director – Paul Reardon
- Creative Director – Damian Royce
- Copywriter – Rob Hibbert
- Art Director – Justine Gallacher
- Agency Producer – Margot Ger, Lauren Pell
- Head of Broadcast – Margot Ger
- Planner – Scott Woodhouse
- Group Account Director – Mike Napolitano
- Account Director – Jack White, Paul Arena
- Account Manager – Leigh Arbon
- Production Company
- Film Company – Curious
- Film Director – Brendon Gibbons
- Film Producer – Tara Riddell
- Post Production – The Butchery/Method
- Editor – Rowan Zerna
- Music score – Nylon
- Sound Design – Front of House
- Nissan Australia
- Executive General Manager Marketing – Peter Clissold
- General Manager Marketing and Cross Car Line – Cameron Cooper
- Cross Car Line Brand Manager – David Montgomery
- Marketing Communication Specialist – Nancy Spadea
- Media Agency Carat
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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I like the idea that some people who consider themselves serious players all looked at this and someone said “yes, I think this is the best way to portray our car, we should spend money on this”.
And then THEIR boss said “yeah, go for it”.
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Funny. But I have no need to buy a plane.
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Nissan continue to miss the mark – who is the new target demo here…. stupid goofy blokes, or jaded young women who punt their boyfriends for skywriting??
It’s not complicated Nissan – show viewers the cars features, make it look cool and entice them with the price – who wrote this ad, the team from the 7Pm Project??
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@ Keithy… isn’t it estimated that 80% of women make the purchasing decision when it comes to car buying? Hence, why it’s got a cute little love story and doesn’t tell you the kilowatts in the engine.
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@ Frank…. depending on your source it ranges from 60%-85%. If you buy into those stats it still doesn’t mean you have to treat women/decision makers like fools with stupid love/break up stories.
Sell the car, or lifestyle, or status etc, just don’t get why Nissan/creative agency would think that would make anyone (male or female) consider a Dualis… similar Nissan creative themes = similar lack of Nissan car sales.
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Dat funny
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Keep trying Monty!
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I have a Dualis TI AWD and it’s hectic as! I don’t miss my turbo coupe or V8 Saloon… AT ALL!!!
Sigh, someone push me down the stairs.
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There is a difference between ‘being involved’ in purchase decisions and ‘making’ purchase decisions. Check the wording of the question posed.
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I’m a female but I was more caught up in the story rather than looking at the car.
I also didn’t get the ‘lose a few kilos’ sky writing. Really he could have been talking to the male or female.
Personally, I’m more interested in an ad that shows off the features of the car and I don’t mean the technical ones like kilowatts (what female cares about that), I’m talking about things like bluetooth, the sound system, internal features and make the car look good!
Just Saying…
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Dear Whybins and Nissan. Please go and get every local ad that VW have done via DDB. And then their international ads.
That is how you make an engaging feature / benefit ad without some clumsy story holding the whole lot together.
If it’s the women bit you’re struggling with, then have a look at Jeep woman and dog executions.
If all you’ve got to say about a Dualis, is that it has a panoramic roof for some pilot to look at your cans through, then maybe have another chat with the product guys.
(Even) Hyundai made a more engaging highlight around the now-pervasive panoramic sunroof in their ads.
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I like it, at least they’re not just driving over Anzac Bridge or that one down near Coledale, as seems to be the default car ad directors treatment.
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I agree, this ad is almost as stupid as the ford high heel compartment ad
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Disappointingly poor commercial, European car commercial like those done for BMW/VW look fantastic, I agree with some writes here, more feature and price!!
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Haters gonna hate.
I like it.
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Very, very good ad on multiple levels.
Psychologically this ad primes mechanisms related to the life stage of ‘intimacy vs isolation’, as well as the independent construal, empathy vs perspective-taking with friends vs foes and about a half dozen others that I don’t go around giving away, and there are conscious things like indifferent appeal (as opposed to the desperate sell), and a ‘touch of daring’ and/or ‘exposure’ that a full moon roof provides whilst maintaining a safe enclosure, which very cleverly addresses issues of embodiment, self-image and locus-of-control.
Once again we see 99% of blog commentary comes from an average investment of 3.5 seconds of thought time (and about the same number of brain cells) from people who clearly no very little about much at all.
The bizarre inability of people in Australia to judge what makes and does not make good creative continues to astound, especially given that this is one of the best automotive ad in a long while.
In this teaser style ad, a considerably attractive vehicle is displayed in its most appealing angles and body colour, with just 45 seconds to engage (both) male and female prospects who may be currently considering going ‘suv’.
On the conscious level, it emphasises something very clear to take away from the ad, ie something different that other vehicles do not have (full-size moon roof), which coupled with the interpersonal dynamic working away in the subconscious that will get them to at least wander in to the showroom before committing to the final decision to buy something else.
Thence in keeping with what appears to be the overall Nissan strategy of recent decades, the (several) added features and quality quite cleverly kept off the radar will kick in to solidify the internalisation of any purchase intent, which means everything with cars.
Right on the mark, this ad is money very well spent, engaging the target without complication, making an effective implantation of purchase consideration, and inviting the customer to take a further look in an appropriately subtle and dignified way for the brand.
A very good car ad made by people clearly well-informed on how to do so. And no I don’t care or have any interest in which agency or people made the ad.
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I mean honestly, if I’m looking to sell someone a car, which is, let’s not forget, a thing to get you from A to B, why wouldn’t I focus on every other thing IN that car which makes journeys good instead of wasting 45 seconds of someone’s life on the sunroof?
Bluetooth? nah no one wants that, GPS? Nope, heated seats? Nup, legroom? who needs that. What people really care about is the sunroof.
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@ AC…”this is one of the best automotive ad in a long while”…really mate, I’d maybe look at a bit of an internal audit of your own brain cells
This sort of creative from Nissan is exactly why (according to FCAI 2012 figures) Nissan are #6 Car Brand and have ZERO cars in the top ten.
All the over the top fluff in this ad does nothing to show the decision makers (male or female) as to why they should buy the car. Case in point is all the (arguably) inferior car brands that are smashing Nissan as they know how to better market and promote their vehicles.
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@ Keithy case in point you appear to be both out-of-date and out-to-lunch quite.
Some Facts for you, Keithy…
1- This quarter is the first time in Australian automotive history the top-three selling car brands were Japanese – Nissan at number 3 (three) … here are the Top Five as at March:
Toyota 15,992
Mazda 8,728
Nissan 8,225* (up 32%)
Holden 7,687 (down 20%)
Hyundai 7,505
*First time in its 79-year history in Australia that Nissan has out-sold or shall we say (to use your term) “smashed” Holden.
2- In fact, it is the Holden Cruze and Commodore which have barely managed to scrape in to the Top Ten, Keithy. Here are the top-selling individual car units as of March…
Mazda3 3,378
Toyota HiLux 3,319
Toyota Corolla 3,158
Nissan Navara 2,639
Mitsubishi Triton 2,336
Hyundai i30 2,055
Ford Ranger 1,739
Holden Commodore 1,733 (down 42%)
Holden Cruze 1,730 (down 39%)
Nissan Dualis 1548 (up 70%)
3- As of April, the Nissan Pulsar narrowly outsold the Commodore, forcing it out of the Top Ten down to 11th position.
4- This time three years ago when it recorded yet another 200%+ increase in unit sales per month in Australia (and on the back of sell-outs across Europe) the point was reached when Nissan sales rose to a 20-year high, largely on the back of Dualis sales – a car that does NOT need desperate, dross-filled goof commercials to get people talking and acting.
With the Dualis Nissan is currently taking on Mazda3 and Corolla and they appear to be winning towards that aim. Unless you have some more insights to provide that would suggest otherwise?
Also just to clarify my assertion (in relation to both creativity and market facts/context) was not that anyone necessarily lacks brain cells, but that people are not using enough of them, there was no intention to single out anyone in particular.
Questions?
@Encyclic: Simply put, they don’t need to waste time plugging such features because people either know or assume that such goodies and perks await them in practically all models/ranges. They are respecting the intelligence and knowledge levels of consumers, and they are advertising in the context of the brand image, the current market and current sales, strategically. And they are being, creative.
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Wonderful numbers there, AC.
But none of them support your assertion that this is a great ad.
None of them even provide a correlation, as this ad has only just played out.
So, yeah. Drawing you back to your assertion. How is this actually triggering “intimacy v isolation”?
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@AC a wonderfully academic case you put, and a wonderful example of completely irrelevant crap as AdGrunt points out so well.
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Hey thanks very much AdGrunt.
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@AC, so thrilled that you’re so clearly happy with your March figures, but every now and then the sun shines on a dogs arse – Are you saying the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries 2012 official numbers are wrong???
When you’re saying I’m “out-of-date and out-to-lunch” you’re saying that FCAI is out-of-date and out-to-lunch… huh
I’m sure everyone really appreciates your figures/word-a-thon’s… but you still don’t prove how your beloved TVC sells Nissans??? You seem to love your March figures so why shouldn’t there be numbers, facts in your Nissan ads….?
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So instead of “wasting time” reinforcing the stuff that the car has in the minds of punters, the ad is saying “want a wife? Buy a stunt plane”.
Even the Ford ad talking about Econo Boost manages to be “creative” but actually engage it’s audience by talking about things that people would “assume are part of the car” – the engine.
That ad succeeded because it manages to get a coherent point across which stayed on message and didn’t hide behind an insipid “story”.
And I’m sorry, but how the hell is this “respecting the intelligence of consumers”?
Unless Nissan are flat out saying “given what you idiots will watch on TV, this is the ad for you”. And they’ve got the Aussie market pegged as the world’s lowest common denominator.
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Not sure why it’s so hard to grasp…
More than just respecting the intelligence, info sources available to, and years of Dualis knowledge already floating around amongst consumers, basically it’s just the fact that Dualis is on a sales roll, it’s in a kind of honeymoon phase where they do not need to flog features in their ads, they are not in damage control like Ford et al, is it obvious enough yet? Want more sales figures?
Again, the model has sold out throughout Europe, Nissan knows they’re on to a winner in this market anyway, so their TVCM can afford the luxury of focusing on creative branding and increase in market share via emotion/psych manipulation, aka “fluff”. But it is very good fluff.
If this isn’t obvious to you then it’s because you’re not looking, and/or you’re certainly not objectively looking.
It is easy and inviting to look concretely and criticise the ad as shallow, but you are misinformed in doing so.
“Keithy” I am not saying the FCAI’s 2012 figures are out of date mate, I am saying that it is not currently 2012, it is 2013. May 2013. And this ad has been brought out in May, 2013. Is it okay with you that a brand advertises based on the present and on the future, or do they have to advertise in line with last year?
The current strong sales and ongoing projected sales spikes and increases mean they do not have to desperately flog features in a solely left-brained dribble ad of factual logic like the other brands that are struggling to make ends meet.
Admittedly there are things like currency and sizeable economy playing into the hands of Asian manufacturers, but all I’m saying is that whether you like it or not this is an entirely, entirely appropriate ad that fits the situation of the model and its burgeoning sales – they were already killing it before this ad came out.
Now have a beer and let’s celebrate some half-decent amusement in branding CMs … here’s to Kia’s recent Cerento ad too with the embarrassing promiscuous bluethooth phone call that whilst also selling 1 (one) feature effectively manipulates some of the same psych insights which AdGrunt is discovering.
Peace lads.
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AC, after your first few posts I thought you were simply a troll. Nothing you say makes any sense.
However, having read your website, this must be a very elaborate troll as the same lunacy continues there.
Could you at least do the rest of us the honour of learning some logical structure and marketing 101 before embarrassing yourself further? Thanks.
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@AC… you can muddy the waters and steer the focus into other directions with as many stats, economic influences and ‘creative agency jargon’ as you can type (which is a lot) – but what the majority of people are saying is that it’s a crap ad!
The end
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Hang on Adgrunt, Groucho et. al. AC may be onto something here.
Let’s call it the ‘lagged ad’. Yes, it’s the new TVC that airs AFTER a sales increase but is responsible for it.
I’d said it a million times (*) – never confuse correlation with causality. Especially when the relationship not in the favour of your argument.
(*) OK maybe not a million times but I’ve said it a lot. See Mum, I did learn something back in my uni days.
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Lad, bad typo there in the 3rd paragraph.
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Sorry Mum. Yes, I meant to type “I’ve said it a million times…”.
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Grono, I wonder if we can get Insights on how Nissan created a TARDIS.
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Just a sec Encyclic … I’ll shovel some more coal into the steam-powered RIG (Reverse Insights Generator) and get back to you. But I have to wash the Delorean first.
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My job sucks but thank god I don’t work in the advertising industry if it means I had to listen to people as monumentally imbecilic as AC. I would have taken my own life by now surely.
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How right you are Dudley. I’ve just visted AC’s website and my brain has exploded.
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Hello world…..please take a Bex and lie down….it is only a goddamn Nissan! If people are talking about the ad, isn’t that what it’s all about?
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Every time I see this ad, I’m left with a vague desire to buy an aeroplane.
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