Media Plan: Nissan
Group Fantastic
Max Dempster, Diana Aguilar-Flores, Ashley Thomas, Brittany Boylan, Alyssa Case,
Lloret Pelayo
Table of Contents
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................3
Background .................................................................................................................................................................3
Target ............................................................................................................................................................................3
Media Plan ...................................................................................................................................................................3
Marketing Situation Analysis.......................................................................................4
Industry Review ........................................................................................................................................................4
Marketing Mix ............................................................................................................................................................5
Product ............................................................................................................................................................................. 5
Previous Campaigns ................................................................................................................................................... 6
Competitive Analysis .................................................................................................................................................. 6
Problems and Opportunities ................................................................................................................................... 7
Marketing Objectives ..................................................................................................8
Advertising Objectives ................................................................................................9
Target Audience........................................................................................................ 10
Demographics ......................................................................................................................................................... 10
Psychographics ....................................................................................................................................................... 10
Lifestyle...................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Geographic Distribution ..................................................................................................................................... 11
Media Usage ............................................................................................................................................................. 11
Media Objectives ...................................................................................................... 11
Reach........................................................................................................................................................................... 11
Frequency ................................................................................................................................................................. 11
Continuity Pattern: Pulsing Schedule ............................................................................................................ 12
Media Strategy ......................................................................................................... 14
Print............................................................................................................................................................................. 14
Network ..........................................................................................................................................................................16
Cable.................................................................................................................................................................................17
Media Weighting .................................................................................................................................................... 18
Flow Chart ................................................................................................................ 19
Budget Allocation ..................................................................................................... 20
Rationale ........................................................................................................................................................................21
Works Cited .............................................................................................................. 23
Executive Summary
Background
Nissan’s ad campaign will run from April 2013 to March 2014. The purpose of this
campaign is to increase awareness within the millennial multicultural market,
specifically African American, Hispanic and Chinese consumers. Nissan wants to
increase their overall market share within this community. We were given a budget
of 100 million dollars, 76 million will be used for the campaign while 4 million will
be set aside for contingency.
Target
The target consumers are African American, Hispanic and Chinese individuals
between the ages of 18 and 29. The target market strives to achieve a higher status
through their career and overall life plan. When it comes to automotive purchase
decisions, this market is attracted to style, quality and environmental impact.
Media Plan
The 76 million dollars will be allocated to a variety of different media. We plan to
focus on television, magazines, internet and out of home advertisements. The
majority of the budget will be used in the digital space because we have
overwhelming data and research that states our target market spends a lot of time
online. Also, the media plan utilized a pulsing schedule with the high months during
April, May, March, August and September.
Marketing Situation Analysis
Industry Review
Nissan is one of the top multicultural marketing companies in the automobile
industry, coming in at number 3, after Toyota and Honda. This represents not a
shortcoming on Nissan’s part, but an opportunity to seize a larger share of the
multicultural market.
Nissan holds 13.4% of multicultural market share. Chinese American market
share is the weakest at 8.39%. Total multicultural sales for Nissan have risen 29%
from the year before.
Millward-Brown’s 2011 6th annual release highlighted key points that
occurred in the car industry over the past year.
The category highlights were as follows:

The car industry made cars people wanted. Automakers listened to their
consumers and the cars sold.

Consumers spent more time researching online and relying on third-party
comments as car marketing adjusted to the digital age.

Fuel efficiency became a necessity.
o Fuel efficient cars have become so important because gasoline prices
have rose to over $4 in some markets.
Marketing Mix
Product
Automobiles. In order to most effectively reach the millennial target group,
Nissan should make a point to present its most stylish and forward-thinking
vehicles. The Leaf is an essential product to present, as it is in like with the target’s
green-life sensibilities.
Price
Nissan products will be competing in price with brands like Honda and
Toyota. These have mid-range, affordable pricing with new cars starting as low as
$10,000.
Place
Nissan takes advantage of both direct and indirect distribution channels.
These take the form of dedicated Nissan distribution locations as well as more
generalized auto-sale lots. This facilitates auto-sales to people who do not know if
they want a Nissan and browse in general auto-lots as well as brand-loyalists who
want to go to a Nissan specialist.
Promotion
Nissan relies on Television ads as their primary promotion vehicle. It also
includes newspaper and magazine ads. All of these have a visual component to
them, which allows Nissan to show off the innovative design of the vehicles.
Personal sales at car dealerships are also a large part of the Nissan promotion
strategy.
Previous Campaigns
Nissan and its primary agency, TBWA/Chiat Day, introduced the “Shift_”
campaign in 2006. The campaign, features variations on the phrase and continues
to define the Nissan brand and differentiate its models from the competitions.
Nissan spent more than $510 million on advertising efforts in 2007(TNS
Media Intelligence, 2008). This figure includes B2B efforts, Hispanic advertising and
outdoor and Internet expenditure (TNS Media Intelligence).
Competitive Analysis
Our biggest competitor is Toyota. According to Millward Brown’s Annual
Survey, 2011 it is ranked 1st for Brandz Top 100 Most Valuable Brand and ranked
11th for Interbrand’s 2011 100 Best Global Brands.
Their strengths include great resiliency after facing two major crises’ since
2010. They have increased their brand value 6% since 2010. Toyota led all
automotive brands among new vehicle purchases by African-Americans in 2010,
according to Polk. (“Toyota Top,” 2010). The company recovered after publicized
safety concerns in 2010 by focusing on safety and quality. Toyota modified its
leadership structure after 2010 problems.
They have capitalized on its world-renown green efforts relying heavily on
its family of Prius models and Hybrid Synergy Technology. It is ranked #1 in
Interbrand's Best Global Green Brands and matches the current consumer values
and priorities of low-consumption and sustainability.
Toyota does a poor job at incorporating customer feedback into their cars
according to a panel Toyota set up in 2010 after a long string of safety recalls.
Problems and Opportunities
Nissan was able to restock inventories faster than its competitors
immediately following the earthquake that devastated Japan in March 2011. Nissan
proved its resilience during a difficult time and managed to increase brand value as
a result.
When the Cube launched back in 2009, Nissan was one of the first
automakers to introduce an iPhone application. Presently, have a committed mobile
site that’s product-focused and easy to navigate.
Nissan’s internal communications team maintains a YouTube channel, which
features videos on new Nissan products as well as brand event footage.
Nissan’s electric car, LEAF, was named World Car of the Year in 2011 (Nissan
Leaf Wins, 2011).
Nissan produced a reality show giving Gran Turismo 5 gamers the
opportunity to become a professional racecar driver (Nissan Brings, 2010). The
show brings together America's fastest 16 out of nearly 54,000 Gran Turismo 5
gamers who participated in a National tournament (Nissan Brings, 2010). The
program will be featured as a five-part reality series on SPEED TV
beginning September 20 (Nissan Brings, 2010).
Nissan will use a number of interactive social promotions like the 2012
Nissan Versa Kick-Off, which included an innovative way to take fans on the road
with the new Versa Sedan.
“Facebook users can create their own trips by selecting their routes
and inviting their Facebook friends to come along. They can then
submit their trip, tell Nissan why their online journey should be made
into a real one, and share it with their social networks” (Marketing
Campaign, 2011).
Nissan is launching the multi-platform “Most _____ per dollar” marketing
campaign as the new Versa arrives at dealerships. The campaign will focus on how
the Nissan Versa outperforms the competition in many ways.
Marketing Objectives

To increase the share of Hispanic, African American and Chinese American
adult male and female millenials
Rationale
This target audience has been chosen because Nissan is one of the top
automobile brands in regards to multicultural consumers. If we can increase the
brand loyalty and brand perception of young multicultural individuals we will
increase the future usage of Nissan vehicles. Nissan is sitting at the number three
position, while Honda and Toyota enjoy first and second. The Hispanic American
demographic is also the largest minority in the United States; potentially creating a
very large number of Nissan buyers. Nissan is already relatively popular with
African Americans, but can certainly grow within that demographic. Although
Chinese Americans are not among the top Nissan buyers, perhaps due to the
significant number of other Asian car brands. Attracting Chinese American buyers
can increase market share for Nissan, while decreasing market share for other
automobile brands (specifically Honda and Toyota).
Advertising Objectives
The advertising objectives for this campaign will focus on the cognitive,
affective, and conative aspects of the consumer. The cognitive objectives to increase
awareness of brand attributes and benefits (such as affordability, style and
innovation) and creating association with the millennial lifestyle and values: new
technology, green technology, and connectedness. We also want to address affective
objectives. We want the target audience to develop desirability and preference for
Nissan over other automobile makers, to associate feelings of concern for the
environment and a need to be connected to society with Nissan. The conative
objectives are to induce trial use (in the form of test drives) and purchase of Nissan
automobiles, achieving loyalty with the target audience, as well as information
inquiry, by visiting our site, and increasing sales leads.
Through the use of these advertising objectives we will lead consumers to
have higher positive associations with Nissan; the objectives will also increase
interest in the brand from a purchasing standpoint and ultimately help to increase
sales.
Target Audience
Demographics

Males and females 20 – 29 years old

African, Chinese and Hispanic Americans

Single or married

Well educated – high school graduate, bachelors and above seeking
individuals
Psychographics

Confident, adventurous and with a deep value of authenticity

Interested in environmentally friendly technology

Highly connected to new technology and the internet

Follow brands that have a cause or incentive behind them

Surveys have indicated that there is a strong brand loyalty among younger
Hispanic buyers

Understand that brands are part of their lives, but preferred not to be defined
by them
Lifestyle

Millenials tend to fall into the “reformer” and “explorer” psychographics
o Reformer – personal growth focus, social awareness, curious, likes
new categories
o Explorer – energy, experience acquisition, open-mindedness, first to
try new brands
Geographic Distribution

The highest concentration of Hispanics in the U.S. is in California and Texas

African American population has been increasing in southern states, most
notably: Florida, Texas and Georgia

Chinese is the largest Asian segment in the U.S., with California having the
largest Chinese population, followed by New York and New Jersey
Media Usage

The Hispanic segment consumes more media per week than the general
market, with over 75% of their media consumption spent on TV and radio

African Americans are more than twice as likely to follow and trust Black
media than mainstream media and overall consume more traditional media
than Caucasians

For the Asian segment that are English-proficient, their consumptions of
Asian media is about choice, not necessity
Media Objectives
Reach

The reach objective is to achieve a minimum of 75% amongst the targets
over the course of the campaign.
Frequency

The frequency objective is to achieve a frequency of 6 – 8 against the targets
over each 4-week period over the course of the campaign.
Continuity Pattern: Pulsing Schedule
After research, we discovered that in 2010, Nissan’s highest unit sales were in
March, April, May, August, September. The same is true for their sales up to
November of 2011, thus our continuity pattern will mirror the months in which
their unit sales are highest. We plan to pulse heavily in spring and fall, especially in
the months listed below.
High Months: March, April, May, August, and September
Low Months: January, February, June, July, October, November and December
A pulsing schedule will allocate more funds during the peak seasons, while
still staying in the minds of the consumers throughout the other seasons.
Geographic Coverage
Delivery of the advertising message will be higher in these areas in order to
expose advertising to the highest percentage of the target audience:
California
Los Angeles
San Diego
San Francisco
Texas
Austin
San Antonio
Dallas
Houston
New York
New York
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
Rationale
The case study states that the MC target market has a large presence and affinity for
the digital space. Thus, we would like to focus a large portion of our media attention
and budget on having a strong online presence. We plan on heavily utilizing social
media, with a lesser focus on blogs, video sites and in/out of language news sites.
As the case study also points out, each separate cultural target spends varying
amounts of time on different medias. Since Hispanics split their time between
digital and television space, we plan to target them through commercials on inlanguage stations. The same will apply with African Americans. However, when it
comes to Chinese-Americans, we will also focus on establishing a print presence
both in and out of language.
Promotion of Nissan social contributions and programs will also play a part
in our campaign, as the millenial target resonates with cause marketing, green-living
and community building.
Media Strategy
Print
We plan to advertise heavily in magazines for a variety of reasons. The most
important is that magazines will allow us as a brand to target specialized audiences.
Another reason we chose magazines as a media type is because research has shown
that consumers see magazine ads as more trustworthy. They are receiving
information from a source they read monthly, perhaps even daily. We would like to
note that although we did have Cosmopolitan en Espanol as one of our primary print
choices, we researched and discovered that it is 7th in reach to the Hispanic market.
We changed from Cosmo en Espanol to magazines that are in the to 5: People en
Espanol, which is the number 1 magazine and Vanidades, which is the 3rd selected
choice. People en Espanol lists Latina as one of it’s main competitors thus we
focused on Latina as our third choice.
We chose the magazines listed below based on their demographic and
readership information that was available.

Vibe
o Demographics
 Sex
 Men: 55%
 Women: 45%
 Age
 18-34: 67%
 Race/Ethnicity
 Black: 75%
 White 15.9%
 Hispanic 12.4%
 Asian 1%
 Other 11.3%

Essence
o Demographics




Race
 Reaching 70% of Black women on an annual basis
Age
 18-34: 33%
Education
60% of readers are college educated

Ebony

ALMA Magazine
o Demographics
 Sex
 Male: 53%
 Female 47%
 Age
 21-25: 8%
 26-30: 21%

People en Espanol
o Reaches 1 in 5 Hispanics
o Demographics
 Sex
 Female: 57%
 Male: 43%
 Age
 18-24: 21%
 25-34: 27%

Vanidades
Magazine Information
NCS/NHCS: FALL 2009 ADULT FULL YEAR (NOV 08 - DEC 09)
Copyright Experian Simmons 2010
Total Sample
EBONY
ESSENCE
COSMOPOLITAN
Elements
(000)
Vertical
Horizontal
Index
(000)
Vertical
Horizontal
Index
(000)
Vertical
Horizontal
Index
(000)
Vertical
Horizontal
222,896
100%
100%
100
6,674
2.99%
100%
100
3,890
1.75%
100%
100
8,771
3.93%
100%
African Americans 18-29
5,413
100%
2.43%
100
937
17%
14%
578
719
13%
18%
761
249
4.59%
2.83%
Asians
18-29
0
0.00%
0.00%
0
0
0.00%
0.00%
0
0
0.00%
0.00%
0
0
0.00%
0.00%
Hispanics
18-29
9,426
100%
4.23%
100
105
1.11%
1.57%
37
47
0.50%
1.21%
29
897
9.52%
10%
LATINA STYLE
LATINA STYLE
Index
(000)
Vertical
Horizontal
Index
(000)
Vertical
Horizontal
Index
100
861
0.39%
100%
100
861
0.39%
100%
100
117
55
1.01%
6.33%
261
55
1.01%
6.33%
261
0
0
0.00%
0.00%
0
0
0.00%
0.00%
0
242
127
1.34%
15%
348
127
1.34%
15%
348
Television
Research has shown that the prime-time network TV viewing was highest
amongst African Americans (38.9%), and lowest amongst Asian Americans (22.7%),
with Hispanics falling between the two (33.1%). For this reason, we find it
necessary to try to communicate our message through television, especially during
prime time.
Network
Among African Americans, the top-rated show was a Fox NFL Sunday night
game. Hispanic TV viewers flocked to Univision's "Latin Grammys" as the best-rated
broadcast show.
NCS/NHCS: FALL 2009 ADULT FULL YEAR (NOV 08 - DEC 09)
Copyright Experian Simmons 2010
Total Sample
African American Asian
Hispanics
elements
18-29
18-29
18-29
Total Sample
(000)
222,896
5,413
2,453
9,426
Vertical
100%
100%
100%
100%
Horizontal
100%
2.43%
1.10%
4.23%
Index
100
100
100
100
DAYTIME DRAMA
(000)
26,732
1,351
160
738
Vertical
12%
25%
6.51%
7.83%
Horizontal
100%
5.05%
0.60%
2.76%
Index
100
208
54
65
10AM-4:30PM
(000)
39,009
1,526
424
923
Vertical
18%
28%
17%
9.79%
Horizontal
100%
3.91%
1.09%
2.37%
Index
100
161
99
56
Cable
The best rated cable shows were ESPN "Monday Night Football” followed by
BET's "Soul Train Awards." Hispanic viewers rated Galavision's "Futbol Liga
Mexico” very highly. Asian homes also had football--a Fox NFL Thursday game-rated as their highest rated show.
Digital/Internet
Research and the case study has shown that the target audiences have strong
online presences. Using the Internet will allow Nissan to increase brand awareness,
encourage brand loyalty by increasing consumers’ interaction with the brand, and
provide in-depth information about the brand to the target demographic.
In our high months, we will focus mainly on social networking and national
news websites. This will include:




Facebook.com
AOL.com
CNN.com
In-language news sources
Out-of-Home
Out-of-home media provides very high frequency and coverage for local
areas. Billboards and posters will be an ideal choice for Hispanic, Asian, and African
American communities. These will primarily be placed in the target’s geographic
areas.
 Billboards
 Posters
 Signage
 Car artwork
Media Weighting
During the high months, we will focus more on increasing Nissan’s Internet
presence with click-throughs, banners, and Facebook flyers. During this time,
network and spot television will also be increased in our specific DMAs.
During the low months network television and online media will still be
active, but at a lower rate than in the high months. However, online media will be
used more heavily than the other media types, in order to reach a high percentage of
the target audience.
Flow Chart
Budget Allocation
This budget adds up to 76 million, which means we left aside 4 million for
contingency. We planned that 2,500,000 can go into National Contingency and
1,500,000 can go into spot contingency.

High months (7) – 5.3% = 37.1%

Low months (5) – 12.58% = 62.9%
Media
Percent of Budget
Amount
Magazines
15%
12 million
Television
45%
36 million
- Network
14.4 million
- Cable
10.8 million
- Spot
10.8 million
Digital/Internet
20%
16 million
- News
6.4 million
- Social Media
4.8 million
- Search Engines
4.8 million
Out-of-home
15%
12 million
Budget Allocation - High Months
151.9
Net TV - Prime
58.1 467.6
737.1
Net TV - Sports
1839.7
709.5
404.8
709.5
1248
235.9
515
Net Cable - Daytime
Net Cable - Prime
Magazine - Mens
1455.1
616.7
Magazine - Women
Budget Allocation - Low Months
Net TV - Prime
737.1
689.9
Net TV - Sports
151.9
Net Cable - Daytime
389.6
607.2
Net Cable - Prime
0
118.3
236.5
98.3
117 140.2 285.3
599
Magazine - Mens
Magazine - Women
Rationale
Magazines will prove to be an effective media type in that it reaches our
specialized target audiences. According to Dynamic Logic, magazines outperform
other media in positively influencing purchasing behavior. Magazines are also
popular with young adults, aged 18-29 (our target age), according to MRI.
Television is granted the largest portion of the budget because it is certainly
the most expensive media vehicle. Prime-time television requires a large amount of
money, but it reaches a significant portion of the target audiences.
Digital media is certainly one of the most important media types. It has an
astounding reach for our target audiences and is relevant to their daily lives. Digital
is also a cost-effective medium and will not need as much of an allotment of the
budget.
Out-of-Home media in the form of billboards and posters are affective for
local markets, providing wide coverage and high frequency. However, this is a highcost medium and so will be only a small faction of the strategy.
Works Cited
Nissan in the News. (2011, August 29).Marketing Campaign For the 2012 Nissan
Versa Kicks Off [Press release].Retrieved from
http://www.nissaninthenews.com/marketing-campaign-for-the-2012-nissanversa-kicks-off/.
PRNewswire. (2010). Nissan Brings the Next Level of Innovative Marketing by
Producing a Reality TV Show Launching September 20 on SPEED [Press release].
Retrieved from http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nissan-brings-thenext-level-of-innovative-marketing-by-producing-a-reality-tv-show-launchingseptember-20-on-speed-129892288.html.
PRNewswire. (2011, April 26). Toyota Top Choice Among African-American Car
Buyers in 2010, According to Polk.[Press release]. Retrieved from
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Toyota+Top+Choice+Among+AfricanAmerican+Car+Buyers+in+2010,...-a0254751304.
Richardson, Aaron. (2011, October 10). Automakers show resilience in 2011 Best Global
Brands report. Retrieved from
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/10/10/automakers-show-resilience-in2011-best-global-brands-report/.
Zero Emission Motoring. (2011, April 21). Nissan Leaf Wins 2011 World Car of the
Year. [Press release].Retrieved from
http://www.zemotoring.com/news/2011/04/nissan-leaf-named-world-car-of-theyear.