Globe and Mail helps drive Nissan’s sales

Automaker’s strategic takeover of print + digital platforms draws readers, attention — and sells cars.

During one of the biggest news weeks of the year – that of the U.S. presidential election in November 2012 – Nissan and The Globe and Mail teamed up for an innovative campaign to launch three new vehicles while bringing the news media company’s insight to a new audience.

The campaign captured large audiences in major Canadian markets and leveraged multiple media platforms, including print, digital, social, experiential, and a media relations strategy.

As the U.S. election plays a big part in shaping Canadians’ lives, by leveraging The Globe and Mail’s coverage of the elections, Nissan associated itself with something innovative, credible, and essential to Canadians.

Along with Nissan branded content, the campaign included election-focused articles and opinion pieces. Nissan was the first to leverage a highly followed news event and create an ideal platform to launch the Sentra, Pathfinder, and Altima cars.

The weeklong campaign included:

• The Globe and Mail special edition tabloid, distributed on November 5): As the election picture changes by the minute, the news media company and Nissan worked together to create a second edition of newspaper that was timely and newsworthy – and had national distribution. The tabloids were distributed through street hawking in high-traffic areas, such as the VIA and Porter train stations, as well as through placement in Nissan dealerships.
  
  
• The Globe and Mail digital tabloid, also distributed November 5: Subscribers to The Globe and Mail’s ePaper, Globe2Go, were given access to a digital copy of the Special Edition Tabloid.
  
  
• Press release: Nissan partnered with The Globe and Mail’s public relations team on a press release that was sent to the marketing/trade media world on November 5.
  
  
• The Globe and Mail Web site: The day following the election (November 5), Nissan conducted a homepage takeover of The Globe and Mail Web site, allowing Nissan to leverage all of the Web site’s advertising spots, along with implementing Rising Star ad units off article pages.
  
  
• The Globe and Mail newspaper: Nissan extended its Globe and Mail domination by appearing in the News and Sports Section the day after the U.S. election (on November 7), with Nissan-branded ad banners.
  
  
• The campaign results surpassed all expectations, receiving a total of 7,469,121 impressions.

Over the span of a week, the multi-platform domination with The Globe and Mail helped Nissan launch a successful campaign with great results. Each of the leveraged media platforms accumulated a high amount of impressions, with one case reporting the sale of a Sentra at a Nissan dealership solely based of the special edition tabloid.