Campaign : Drive simpler, live better

Brand : Micra

Company : Nissan

Agency : TBWA India

The Campaign

These two ads comprise the launch campaign of the Micra in India, and accordingly, the basic aim of the ads are to introduce the Indian customer to the various features of the car.

The first TV spot shows a man at a parking area looking hassled as he frantically searches for the keys in his pocket. Just then, Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor walks past him and stands near a Micra. Kapoor asks the man what is he looking for. In the next shot, Kapoor shows his empty hands to the person.

He then points at the door of Micra to show the power of ?I-Key??one can start the engine with the push of a button and lock or unlock the doors with the key-fob in your pocket. The voice-over follows: ?When the key to life is no key.?

Kapoor then asks the man to join him in the car. He then looks at the start button, and asks him to go ahead and push the button. The voice-over: ?Why do you not know the power of human touch??

As Kapoor drives, the man looks in the rear-view mirror, and sees two girls and a boy seated comfortably on the back seat highlighting the spacious interiors. After a while, the car stops. Now, it is the man?s turn to try the door trick as Kapoor winks at him. The commercial ends with the voiceover: ?The new Nissan Micra: Drive simpler, live better.?

In the second ad, the focus is on the maneuverability of the Micra as its turning radius is 4.65 metres. This commercial too begins in a parking lot where a middle-aged executive notices the Micra sandwiched between two cars. He indicates that there is little space left to take the car out. The next shot zooms into the car?s mirror and Kapoor is seen sitting inside the Micra with the voiceover: ?Why worry about space?? in the circle of life?. The man then gets into the Micra and challenges Kapoor to get the car out. Accepting the challenge, Kapoor starts the car with the push-button. He reverses the car, and swerves the four-wheeler out of the narrow space.

Our Take

Nissan had initially entered the Indian market with limited products of high-end cars. However, when the company realised that the small car segment was where the volumes were, Nissan came up with Micra to cash in on the segment.

Now, in a bid to get a share of the small car segment, the company is promoting the Nissan Micra, first with a teaser ad and then with two TVCs both riding on brand ambassador Ranbir Kapoor?s popularity. The first commercial talks about the new feature ?I-Key? and spacious interiors while the second one focuses on the superior turning radius of the Micra which makes it easy to drive and on fuel consumption. The theme of the campaign conceptualised by TBWA is the ?art of city living?, made simple thanks to Micra. The communication conveys that the company is positioning the car as a small-sized city car with features that make it easy and stress-free to drive.

However, where the ad fails is in explaining how the I-Key functions. The ad raises more questions than it answers and the viewer will have to visit the showroom to understand the whole concept.

Nissan Micra has tried to use brand ambassador Ranbir Kapoor as much as possible in the ads assuming that the youth will be able to relate easily with the brand. But, in the TVCs, apart from the features, Ranbir Kapoor has been given space in every frame. However, he is merely used as a poster boy rather than a value addition in both the campaigns. The only two things that are a constant in both the TVCs are an expressionless Kapoor and the parking lot.

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