After I blogged about a great campaign to advertise the
Honda Element, I saw another car campaign by Nissan that had a good idea but will probably fail miserably. It's called "
7 Days in a Sentra" and the idea is that comedian Marc Horowitz will actually be living in this Sentra for 7 days under some really strict rules. They have a film crew that is filming his day to day activities of what real life is all about living in a Sentra. What a load of crap!
7 Days of BS
There are a few things that I didn't like about this campaign:
- They're trying too hard - Reality TV should have some resemblance of being real. This had none of that. It was pure fake drivel. If you're trying to go the route of "keeping things real" then it should actually be real. His date, card game and other adventures were all staged.
- They spent too much $$ - I think this will be a big waste of 40-50 million dollars.
- It wasn't even funny! - I saw the video and didn't laugh and I am the target audience!
- Live like a homeless person - Is it just me or does it seem like a commercial depicting the life of a homeless person with a car? This is not the kind of car that I would want or life I would strive for. What was the point of this campaign? To be funny!? See my last point.
- 7 Days in a Crapbox - I didn't really think much of this car before I saw the commercial and didn't think much of it after I saw the commercial. Still seems like a small crapbox.
This is also supposed to be an integrated marketing campaign but we'll see how long it lasts before Nissan gets smart and pulls it. For example, I would have recommended creating a campaign site rather then just advertising on the main Nissan website and would have created an easier way to send the video to a friend. All they've done is placed a
"mailto" link on the page with detailed instructions on how to send this to friends. This is basically saying we want to spend the least amount of money possible as we're already way too much on a crappy campaign. Well, good luck Nissan!
What do you think?Chad H.
5 comments:
hmm. i think the blog is at 7daysinasentra.blogs.com and not on nissan's website. you should take a look. from what i can tell it looks like they actually did this craziness.
Wow! Thanks "anonymous" for commenting on my blog! Thanks for pointing out the Nissan Sentra "blog" that just happens to be the URL that you provided! It's funny how its called a blog and yet I can't comment on the blog. Great way to "start a conversation". Yeah, I'm sure those venets actually "happened". It's called acting. Please comment on my blog again "anonymous". It was really great to hear from you. At least Nissan has its ear to the blogosphere ground.
Typical Canadian jealousy of the US. Let's see what you have created recently you hoser. Have a great winter :)
Very insightful comment "Anonymous". I'm proud to be from Canada and my criticism is of a crappy car (that is Japanese PS) and an even crappier marketing campaign. This has nothing to do with being from Canada. In fact I liked your Nissan Canada campiagn a lot better for the Versa.
I mean seriously, there is nothing cool about a Sentra. It's fitting that the campaign is a comedy because the car is a joke. Try targetting the 40+ crowd and you may do better. The Versa on the other hand is a car I may consider.
I will have a great winter - I'm getting ready to hunt some whales as I type. :)
such hate. I think the campaign is good. It's not like your tradiational run of the mill boring ass shit you always see.
good luck changing the rules on reality television.
Do you work in advertising?
Post a Comment