Commentary

Nissan United Seems to Think It Can Control Car Dealers

We wish Nissan's newly formed ad shop, Nissan United, well. Why? Because they are charged with not only overseeing the worldwide cohesion of the brand's marketing but also insuring individual car dealer commercials are consistent. Having, regrettably, handled several car dealer accounts, we can pretty much guarantee dealers are going to stick their middle finger up at Nissan United and do whatever the hell they want. Though it seems this forgone conclusion may come as a bit of a surprise to Nissan United President Jon Castle who, as if giving an Internet 101 presentation in 1995, said, "The strongest brands are the ones that have a significant amount of consistency wherever you go. The Internet means that when you create an ad or a press release or a public event in one part of the world, the rest of the world is also going to know about it. So if Nissan is doing something different in every part of the world, then what does the Nissan brand really stand for? What is Nissan's voice?"

On January 3 at 10 a.m. at the Carpenter Theater in Richmond, The Martin Agency will hold a public celebration and remembrance of Mike Hughes who passed away December 15. The hour-long ceremony will remember the man who joined The Martin Agency in 1978 and led it to national prominence. 

Earlier this week, Kansas City-based VML received a nice Christmas present in the form of a new account: NAPA Auto Parts. The auto parts retailer named VML agency of record after a formal review. Kaplan Thaler handled the account previously. Of the win, VML CEO Jon Cook said, "VML's focus has always been about challenging conventional thinking and delivering more relevant, innovative and category-changing ideas. These were some of the priority ingredients that NAPA wanted in an agency partner, and we can't wait to get started."

advertisement

advertisement

>
Next story loading loading..