Nissan's Marketing Arm Failure

[SFBayQ45]

Hands down, the Scion image is another successful Toyota marketing strategy much like that of...sound familiar?...Lexus. It's been widely acknowledged that Lexus is the only automotive make (under the Toyota marketing arm) that became an instant success overnight...it earned the prestige that took other luxury manufacturers decades to build (i.e. Mercedez, BMW, Jag, etc.) This always makes me question what the h*ll is wrong with those Nissan marketing execs? Has anyone really catch on to the SHIFT_crap? I find it's more entertaining to watch the ZOOM, ZOOM, ZOOM (Mazda) commercials with the catchy tune.

Based off another discussion on the Nissan Cube introduction in the near future, I'll have to give credit that Nissan is making the right move to go after the Scion market share since the demand for econo cars (regardless of consumer age) is always there. The xAs and xBs are catching on like hotcakes for a good reason. xBs are more prevalent on Northern Cali roads than xAs, and there's no stopping it since their return on investment is fruitful enough to introduce the tC in the near future. When you put things into perspective, especially in terms of pricing, investing into a fully loaded Scion xA or XB econo-box makes better sense than starting off with a BASIC Civic hatchback or even our beloved Sentra. It's ashame we don't have an entry level Nissan right now that's below the Sentra in terms of price, and that's why Nissan is always loosing market share in that sector. Toyota has their Tercels in the past and Echos (granted, rides stinks) to undercut Sentra prices, and Honda has Civic hatchbacks to undercut Sentra pricing as well. Yet Nissan is still sticking to their "three sedan" marketing approach than doesn't offer any sporting alternatives to Civic coupes or Toyota Celica(soon to be axed)/Echo/Matrix(4-door nonetheless).

It's disappointing that even after two generations of RAV4s and CRVs, Nissan still can't/won't bring over the Patrol to compete directly in the mini-sportute market. I know what you all are thinking, but Xterra doesn't compete directly in the mini-SUV sector so basically Nissan is an absent competitor in this race.

How about the ultimate performance flagship image? Honda has their NSX image (under the Acura marketing arm). Where's Nissan's? Oh that's right. Nissan feared in the '90s that the Skyline would unfairly compete directly with the 300Zs, and thus dismiss the thought of bringing the legendary car to the states. Granted you can still get a Skyline from some limited exotic retailers, but where's the mass appeal? Unfortunately, NONE. Didn't entertain the thought of bringing over the Skyline as an Infiniti performance flagship either...why am I not surprise.

Maybe the answer is to hire some Toyota marketing heads in order to offer some bright ideas into this proven Nissan company. Nissan still hasn't recovered from the initial failed marketing strategy of the Infiniti Q45 in the early '90s; now even more than a decade later the Q's image still isn't credible, in fact it's even worse especially with that "0-60mph in 5.9 sec" claim that never lived up to its marketing hype. Q sales are down. M sales are even worse; this is not surprising since the automotive authorities brought to light that there isn't one M45 commercial broadcasted nationwide...only printed adds. Which brings me back to my original question...what the heck are those marketing heads sitting up there doing?

[Jesda]

Yeah. Shift_, driven, and built for the human race werent all that interesting. I -LOVE- the Zoom Zoom ads.

The M was brought over as a stopgap, until the new M comes around next year. The Q does meet the 5.9 promise, with software updates, differential changes, and ideal conditions. These issues were addressed in 2003.

The Q's image was very credible, in the past when it was considered one of the best cars on earth. Even big-name rappers mentioned them in their songs. So there's some street cred. Finances forced the Q to take a step down as a 4.1 liter Nissan Cima.

The Skyline is here. Its called the G35. And the NSX died years ago, regardless of whether its being manufactured and sold. Honda recently killed the NSX entirely, ending development of the next-generation concept in favor of building a premium V6 roadster.

The new Maxima is nice, but torque steer is ridiculous. The latest Altima is hot, and the interior finally got the upgrades it deserved. Still waiting on these new developments to finally trickle down to the Sentra.

Nissan's doing MUCH better now than it was in 1998.

Thankfully it will be a cold day in hell before Scions take over midwestern roads here. I hate reading, seeing, or hearing about those ridiculous contraptions.

-Jesda

[SFBayQ45]

Hmm. That "reactive" fix to address the Q's marketing-hype mistake sounds familiar. Oh, I remember now...that sounds like Microsoft.

Here's MS's approach: We'll [MS] provide you the product, but you [CONSUMERS] must provide us with the feedback on all the things we've done wrong, and we'll reactively (not proactively) fix it by issuing a Service Pack Release. Deal? Good! If not, deal with it because you trully have no other choice anyway.

Have you ever recall a luxury mark making that big of a mistake? I differ with your opinion because surely Infiniti lost it's credibility. As much as I love the Q, their marketing campaign stinks. First it was the unforgettable commercials in the early '90s that has no reference to the car, then the downgrade in engine displacement (4.5 to 4.1) that contradict traditional thinking of automotive evolution in terms of newer is better (and better does mean better performance), and then the latest flop of "0-60" times that brought controvesy at no better timing than at the launch of a flagship.

G35 is not a Skyline by any stretch of the imagination. The underpinning structure was used but the legendary characteristic is not present. Where's the 4wd Twin Turbo R32? I know, I know. You can't bring everything from Japan to the US. But if Infiniti is trully marketing themselves as the BMW of Japan, they better getting those marketing gears moving...and fast. The engineering was/is always there, but somehow Nissan is always misses the target.

[rydwhite]

G35 is not a Skyline by any stretch of the imagination. The underpinning structure was used but the legendary characteristic is not present. Where's the 4wd Twin Turbo R32? I know, I know. You can't bring everything from Japan to the US. But if Infiniti is trully marketing themselves as the BMW of Japan, they better getting those marketing gears moving...and fast. The engineering was/is always there, but somehow Nissan is always misses the target.

Well the Skyline is no longer the Skyline of old. The Skyline is now the G35. The GTR will become what the Skyline was. At least this is the understanding that I have.

[BadQ45t]

It is not fair to compare software to cars, they are totally different. Software products are made to have a 2-4 year shelf life and software is totally built off the feedback from people, just like they did with cars in the 20s-60s as most of the base features were put in.

Just sticking up for my employer, Microsoft. Oh, and I think that MS has a higher market cap than any car company anyways so we must be doing something right.

[Jesda]

LOL, I worked for an MS outsource in Washington. I must say that they -are- quite responsive to their customers and good about collecting feedback and formulating a response. Sometimes theyre slow, but theyre thorough.

But yes, they do seem to release products missing glaring features, then wait for feedback to gauge demand.

But thumbs up to MS overall.

-Jesda

[Falkdesigns]

All I can say is this: I'm not sure who does their ads, but they better hire either Chiat Day or The Designory. Those two handle almost every luxury brand and are the top two design firms in the country.

Never mind, just checked, the Designory handles Nissan, and they are probably the best auto marketing company on earth. Maybe it's the folks at Nissan who ixnay the Designory's ads? I know Carlos Gohn is credited for Nissan's turn around, maybe Infiniti is almost there?

[SFBayQ45]

Just sticking up for my employer, Microsoft. Oh, and I think that MS has a higher market cap than any car company anyways so we must be doing something right.

I'm with you 100%. Although I have reservations when it comes to Microsoft, in contrast where would we be without Gates these days? MS is trully the undisputed leader.

[BadQ45t]

Well thankfully they finally stopped running those .Net commericals (remember the ones last NBA playoffs where they lady wants to buy one light bulb?) The ads on the TV now are all to give you a warm fuzzy about the company, they are only spending like 250M on that campaign, when you made 20B last year and banked 10B of that as profit that is like loose change in Mr. Gates pocket.

[Mr1der]

I think Nissan needs to go with a "like a kick in the balls" add campaign.

I feel I could make it work. Just show a montage of action shots and talk/display the car/truck's features and specs then end it with the "it's like a kick in the balls" and have me get kicked in the sac upon exiting the vehicle and I can choke out "yeah, that's about right" while holding said balls and coughing.

that's how you sell a ****in' car.

oh, that Apple commercial with Mohammed Ali kicked like more *** then Baskin Robbins has flavors though.