Nissan sent 3,000 of its iconic Cube cars to Europe in early 2010. The client’s directive was that no media be used to market the car, only word of mouth. A closed circle of highly influential Cube ambassadors would generate buzz by driving the car, raving about it, and attending innovative digital and live performances open only to CubeList members.

Naive like a child’s drawing, arrogant like a bulldog, the Nissan Cube demanded an interactive online experience unlike anything car buyers had experienced before. Rather than deliver rote instructions, the site gives the user clues they can use to decipher the User’s Manual.More than a car, the Cube is a gateway to a next-generation mind-set and lifestyle. With faint grey outlines, the site’s monochromatic diagrams remind the user that the Cube was conceived as an “everyday UFO.” An archetype of contemporary Japanese design, light and supple like rice paper, cubelist.com’s “Cubed” exploration module, co-developed with Carlos Ulloa, the inventor of 3D in Flash, opens and closes like a Pandora’s box with six interactive panels, six elementary colours, and six sensory experiences.

The results from only six weeks of media-free campaigning were off the charts. From November 17 through December 29, 2009, the site had:150,000 individual visitors 24,000 member sign-ups850 initiated test-drivesThe Design Industry also took notice. CubeList was awarded “Site of the Day” by the FWA (www.thefwa.com) and ranked 16th in the Design Charts (http://designcharts.com/ ) in January 2010.