Inspired by the Nissan Hypercube

It’s not often that you come across a new and innovative marketing campaign but here’s one I really like. Nissan is launching their new vehicle, the Hypercube, and to do this they are giving away 50 Hypercubes to 50 very lucky Canadians. The winners will be chosen based on their answer to what makes them unique. See contest description here. Contest participants are asked to fill out a profile pertaining to their likes, interests, and the ways they connect online.

Here’s what I love about this campaign. The contest form is quite lengthy, however, this is almost a screening test to see how truly keen people are on winning. The form asks many different questions that go beyond basic demographic questions (age, sex, city, etc.) but goes into how each participants spends their free time and how much they use the internet to connect and spread information. Basically, the campaign is looking for influencers. Influencers adopt new ideas, products, and brands and other people take notice. I love the thrust behind this marketing effort. Instead of just giving away a car in a raffle (on or offline), Nissan has said if we are going to give away 50 brand new cars let’s have people really work for it.  When I say “work” for it, I mean more to say that Nissan is asking people to really engage with them and their respective social networks in order to stand out and be chosen. With the economy the way it is, I think this is fantastic. Why not in this hard time have people disseminate news about your product before you just give them a prize for simply entering a draw? In addition, the demographic information Nissan will have obtained through this campaign will assist them with their future strategies. The use of the Nissan Hypercube Twitter site will also have worked to develop a real time interactive component between Nissan and contest hopefuls, which will undoubtably have lasting affects. Count me in for being a Hypercube contest participant (Pick me, pick me, I’ve entered and would love to cruise in this very cool cube ;).