• by Tanya Gazdik , December 14, 2018

Nissan North America is hosting a pop-up in a busy urban neighborhood on New York’s Lower East Side.

Prospective participants were invited via Eventbrite to attend the free and public event, which includes a product-expert-guided walk-around and test drive. After the test drive, participants can visit the Leaf Recharge Oasis featuring complimentary organic cold-pressed juice, massage and multiple giveaways. 

Nissan's agency G7 worked with Storefront to arrange and orchestrate the event.

The Dec. 14-16 activation’s main intent is to give participants the chance to experience the Nissan Leaf in a pressure-free environment, says Jean-Philippe Lattes, senior manager, EV sales and marketing, Nissan North America.

“Our visitors can learn about how easy it is to own an electric vehicle, how fun it is to drive and how the tech in the Leaf supports an exciting yet relaxing drive every day,” Lattes tells Marketing Daily.

The main source of participants for the pop-up is the natural traffic.  “That is the advantage of being in the city,” he says.

The automaker is the first brand to mass market an EV nationwide, Lattes says. 

“We have attended many (non-automotive) consumer events and festivals across the country, to have Leaf available for test drives where customers do not expect us,” he says. “We have had tremendous feedback from our visitors who have discovered how cool a Leaf can be for them, while they had not considered a 100% electric vehicle previously.”

Bringing the Leaf to an urban environment is the next step. The automaker aims to learn from the event and host additional pop-ups next year nationwide, he says.

“The whole purpose is to reach an audience that is not following traditional media, and not even traditionally shopping for a vehicle,” Lattes says. ”Driving the 100% electric Leaf is more than driving a car. It embodies values that resonate with a lot of customers” even though they may not be thinking about driving an electric vehicle as of yet. 

The pop-up is not targeting a specific demographic.

“Anyone is welcome, from Gen Z, millennials to all generations who are interested to drive the latest technology,” Lattes says. “There are still lots of myths around electric vehicles even though it is actually easier to own an electric vehicle for most drivers. Once they have experienced it, we see that EV owners do not go back to regular gas-engines-powered cars.”