Commentary
Cool Problem Solving
- by Joe Mandese @mp_joemandese, April 7, 2013
The Critical Mass
team demonstrated an older, but similar Nissan marketing challenge: the introduction of its new Pathfinder model last year, which also came out before the car was actually available. To solve that
problem, the team introduced the new Pathfinder at the Chicago Auto Show via the first ever brand marketing development of Microsoft’s Kinect gaming system.Using
Kinect, the team set up a virtual showroom version of the new Pathfinder that users could virtually interact with and kick the virtual tires on. Based on the footage shown by the team, the
non-existent car generated more attention and interaction than if an actual Pathfinder were on hand. It also generated a tremendous amount of PR and press coverage, which was not an intention of the
campaign, but a nice unintended benefit, according ot Critical Mass’s Amanda Levy, who added that as “cool” as the Kinect execution was, “it’s about doing something that
solves a problem.”
Joe Mandese is the Editor in Chief of MediaPost. You can reach Joe at joe@mediapost.com.
