Nissan Canada Creates a Viral Hit with the Sentra SE-R

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2010/04/08 – Toronto, ON , Thu Apr 08 00:00:00 -0500 2010

Nissan Canada Inc., in partnership with TBWA\TORONTO, has created a unique video designed to highlight the joy and excitement of driving a Sentra. The SE-R Project, which can be viewed at SERProject.ca, is a fast-paced ride conceived to get people to view, comment and share the spot.

The creative strategy was to produce entertaining, branded content that would captivate viewers while driving passion for Nissan in Canada. The SE-R Project achieved this by using a radio-controlled (RC) car as the hero of this action-packed video. The video, which was seeded on April 5th, has garnered more than 180,000 views and appears on nearly 190 blogs.

“We were looking for a compelling way to show off the Sentra SE-R,” said Mark McDade, Director, Marketing, Nissan Canada. “ We also knew that the typical car ad wouldn’t be entertaining enough to get people interested and make this spot go viral.”

The RC concept allowed TBWA\TORONTO to take a much different approach to expressing the joy of driving a Nissan. This approach stemmed from the challenge of showing speed in a safe way.

“Sentra SE-R drivers will tell you that this car is great to drive,” said Trevor Byrne, Account Supervisor, TBWA\TORONTO. “We wanted to capture this feeling while gently pushing limits, all in the name of entertainment. We’ve disrupted the traditional car ad and also bridged the gap between earned and paid media.”

Prior to the video’s viral pickup, the SE-R Project existed only on the Nissan Canada branded YouTube channel at SERProject.ca and on Sympatico.ca via a Top Gear sponsorship. 10-second TV teasers linking to SERProject.ca will begin on April 12.

The Nissan Sentra SE-R is based on the Sentra sedan, but adds a healthy does of performance generated by a 177 horsepower 2.5-liter engine mated to a CVT transmission. The SE-R also comes complete with steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters, a sport tuned suspension, 17-inch wheels, oil and G-meter gauges, four-wheel disc brakes and sport bucket seats.

The Spec V increases the SE-R's performance by adding a 2.5-litre DOHC engine with 200 HP and 180 lb-ft of torque (Spec V). It also features a sport-tuned Xtronic CVT® with paddle shifters (SE-R) or 6-speed close-ratio manual transmission (Spec V).

SERProject.ca - www.youtubeSER/nissancanadaOpens in a new tab.
The Making of SE-R Drift - http://www.youtube.com/nissancanada#p/a/u/1/Yz7rBuXJG58Opens in a new tab.

About Nissan Canada Inc.

Nissan Canada Inc. (NCI) is the Canadian sales, marketing and distribution subsidiary of Nissan Motor Limited and Nissan North America, Inc. With offices in Vancouver (BC), Mississauga (ON), and Kirkland (QC), NCI directly employs 250 full-time staff. There are 150 independent Nissan dealerships and 29 Infiniti retailers across Canada. Nissan is dedicated to improving the environment under the Nissan Green Program 2010, whose key priorities are reducing CO(2) emissions, cutting other emissions and increasing recycling. More information about Nissan in Canada and the complete line of Nissan and Infiniti vehicles can be found online at www.nissan.ca and www.infiniti.ca.

About TBWA\TORONTO

TBWA\ Toronto (www.tbwa-toronto.com) creates Disruptive ideas that help drive growth by making brands famous for clients, including ABSOLUT, Apple, Infiniti, Mars, Nissan, Petro-Canada and Visa. As a top-ten, worldwide marketing communications firm, TBWA\ Toronto’s industry-leading Media Arts talent covers paid, earned, owned and created media. Recent awards include "Best International Network of the Decade" from Advertising Age in 2010. Fast Company magazine placed TBWA 24th on its 2009 list of “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies" and as an Innovation All-Star in 2010.