Rip Tiida

I was discussing in the last few weeks the recently reported lower-than-expected sales of the Nissan Tiida with a Nissan dealership owner. The Sydney Morning Herald's Drive section also recently reported that that Australian Nissan dealers had ( unsuccessfully ) petitioned the factory to retain the name 'Pulsar' for the new car. It would have given the new car a substantial existing client base to launch to. It appears that Tiida has done for Nissan's small car sales what 'New Coke' did for Coke sales.

The Tiida ads have generated a buzz, but not sales it seems. The guys I ask about the ads say that the car is clearly defined as a woman's car so they wouldn't even consider buying one. My women friends, many of whom are in their thirties ( the Tiida target market ), like Kim Cattrall and her Sex and the City character, but they don't want to be seen to be either of those women and so don't even consider the car. It seemes to reinforce the observations on 'celebrity advertising' made by David Ogilvy, 'the most successful adman of all time': "Viewers have a way of remembering the celebrity while forgetting the product" and "Viewers guess that the celebrity has been bought and they are right."

Like more ideas on advertising? Want to avoid the pitfalls? Visit our advertising page, then contact us.