The Nissan LEAF is the icon of Nissan’s technology platform – Nissan Intelligent Mobility – and offers 100 percent electric mobility with zero noise and zero CO2 emissions.

For their earned media campaign, Nissan needed us to highlight the vehicle’s connected capabilities, but in a way that would appeal to audiences emotionally and not just focus on the cold, technological details.

The objectives of the campaign were to:

- Position the Nissan LEAF as a ‘better choice’ for parents

- Maintain model share of voice and reinforce LEAF’s leadership in the EV market

- Drive European media coverage and retain consumer interest in the product and the brand (across national news, lifestyle, parenting and tech and music media verticals, an addition to automotive)

- Leverage external research and expert commentary to drive a deeper narrative and credibility

We created ‘Nissan LEAF Dream Drive’ – a five-track album of bespoke music tracks, replicating the melodic sounds of combustion engines, so that tired parents would be able to ‘dream drive’ their children off to sleep in the silent-running Nissan LEAF, as successfully as they can in an environment-busting ICE vehicle.

Five, three-minute tracks, featuring artists such as ‘car reversing’, ‘indicator clicks’, ‘white, pink & brown noise’, ‘proximity sensors’ and ‘windscreen wipers’ were made available on all platforms (Apple Music, Deezer, Spotify, Google Play and SoundCloud), so they could be played through the Nissan LEAF’s advanced stereo-system technology, or anywhere else!

It’s the first time a car had ever been an artist on Spotify.

Target Audience:

Young families aged 25-45

Approach:

An idea which would appeal to a large demographic, but naturally pique interest with parents was key to earning the attention of the end consumer and generating coverage.

We zeroed in on a human truth shared by parents globally: most parents have resorted to putting a grouching little one in the car and setting off on a drive around the neighbourhood to get them off to sleep. Consumer research showed that parents and families ‘dream drive’ to get their children to sleep but are concerned about the environmental impacts.

Relevance:

This truth could be used to highlight both the silent-running of the Nissan LEAF EV and its zero-emissions, while at the same time giving way to a creative idea which would be sure to gain media attention and coverage.

Five, tracks were created. The tracks were designed to work in harmony with the advanced in-car technology of the Nissan LEAF's infotainment system. The album was made available on all platforms, starting with Apple Music, Deezer, Spotify, Google Play & SoundCloud.

Nissan LEAF Dream Drive was released across priority European markets, including; Italy, Spain, UK, Germany, France and Netherlands (though coverage was seen in 22 countries).

Elevated pitches were crafted to gain cut-through with news, parenting, consumer lifestyle and tech/music media.

Media were sent a press release, a fact sheet citing the science behind the lullaby, a hyperlink that aggregated the 14 streaming platforms the lullaby was available to stream on, album artwork and 3 x frequency visualisation maps. Media were also given commentary from, and access to, sound and parenting experts.

The album artwork was optimised for use across Nissan owned social channels (including European dealerships).

Nissan LEAF Dream Drive was an extremely successful earned campaign, which delivered or over-delivered on all our client’s objectives.

Placement:

- The album appeared on Spotify, SoundCloud, Apple Music, Google Play and Deezer (achieved via earned pitching – i.e. no fee)

Track engagement:

- To date, the dream drive album has been downloaded more than 150K times

Earned media coverage:

- The story was picked up across 22 countries (13 in Europe)

- 200 pieces of coverage were generated

- Total online readership of 1.2 billion

- 2.5 million estimated coverage views

- Coverage was split across the predicted media vertical – with weight seen in news and parenting – reaching the intended audience

Share of voice and positioning:

- During the campaign period, Nissan saw:

o 27% SOV increase in headlines against its competitors and 7% SOV increase (overall) against its competitors

- Coverage key words Included:

o ProPILOT, pedal, Android and CarPlay – Indicated strong product interest from media

o Combustion sound and sleep – Indicated effective key message pull through

o Andrews and Middleton – Indicated acknowledgment of experts’ authority

o Spotify, Apple and Deezer – Demonstrated primary call-to-action was successfully communicated