As cats have the tendency to hide into parts of a car undetectable just by looking, we encouraged the drivers to knock on the car hood before starting their cars. We named this action “Knock Knock Cats.” It’s the most simple and thoughtful action, no need for technology or special skills. Absolutely anyone can take part in the “Knock Knock Cats.” Surprisingly, no other car manufacturer had ever thought of the power of such a simple action.

Simple action with catchy name to create new behavior.

We came up with a simple action and named it “Knock Knock Cats,” which is very ‘catchy’ to Japanese ears.

Expand Awareness through Social Media.

We started off by posting the announcement of this project with a hash tag #KnockKnockCats though Nissan’s social media account (Facebook/twitter). The catchy-ness of the name and great insight soon went viral through social media. We also co-created an online movie with cat lovers for promotional purposes.

Created free download materials for co-creation

In response to demand from cat lovers, we created a special icon, a sticker and a poster for free. This encouraged people to share #KnockKnockCats even more.

Additional Driver Specific Placement

The project was also promoted on car navigation and radio which are known to be the ideal means to give reminders to drivers.

The “Knock Knock Cats” action instantly spread across Japan and on social media. Its hash tag soon became the No.1 trend word on twitter. Media such as TV, online and newspaper were also quick to pick up this project. The sensation even resulted in user-generated output, such as stickers, illustrations and game apps. They were all proactively shared on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Nissan responded by providing free download materials. Most importantly, however, the new behavior this project created saved the lives of many cats.

Twitter Engagement: 5600% UP

Impression: 148,141,839 - reached to half of population in Japan

Free Publicity: 660,000,000yen - x100 more than estimated amount

1 in 7 people saved the lives of cats

(Result from 1 day research done by Nissan’s twitter account)

8 competitors have supported this initiative.

Logo/Poster Download: 21,960

Instagram likes: 102,611

Sticker requests: 39,717 (only 1000 was available)