Marketing Handy

The Nissan leaf is an interesting concept, an all electric compact car built for the city. I am not sure that interesting concept will sell a 20k dollar car with limited range and functionality. This ad however does a great job at telling a simple story, and probably goes a long way to bridge the sales gap. This video should have been the big announcement  on prime time TV.  Nissan missed an opportunity to launch this car with a relatable story. No doubt a few extra smart cars were sold as a result of this.

Story’s are currency for sharing in Social media and in making messages stick. When brands fail to tell compelling stories they fail to get traction. Funny how that works, branding that doesn’t tell stories worth sharing have neither massages that stick or get retold. Great stories let the consumer relate to a product while saying, “I am people like that!”  In general businesses are too concerned with “brand position” (whatever that means) and not concerned enough about what is actually being said. Most brands want to position themselves as cool, creative, innovative, or green but settle for cheap tricks instead (ie hamsters that rap). This results in a execution that is quickly forgotten and largely ignored. Consumers are likely to remember this ad for a little longer than the next blog post, or youtube video. 

Stories leave an impression! 

Nissan should hire their Youtube team to make the ads for TV.