Innovation that Excites: How Nissan’s Customers Drive Development

by Fred Diaz, Senior Vice President, Nissan Sales & Marketing and Operations, U.S.

“Innovation that excites.” You hear it in our commercials, you see it in our ads and it sits at the top of NissanUSA.com. It’s even posted in every Nissan office building and manufacturing facility around the world. To consumers, it’s a tagline that calls attention to our vehicles’ “cool factor.” But for us, it’s a reminder of our commitment to focus the customer in everything that we do.

In the automotive world, innovation can mean anything from sleek design to premium amenities and high-tech features. As we go through the development process for each of our vehicles, we know that we must listen to our customers in order to build the products they want and need.

Nissan has the most diverse consumer base of any full-line automotive manufacturer with a third of the top 12 vehicles sold to U.S. Hispanics being Nissans. We know we need to go beyond just looking at the market as a whole, but also explore the different segments to identify the product qualities that resonate with each group. One way we do this is through focus groups.

Take the Nissan Rogue, for example. During the planning phase, we conducted several focus group studies and found that consumers are looking for ample interior space and plenty of storage capacity. With this in mind, we designed the Rogue to have a spacious interior with an optional third row, allowing comfortable seating for up to seven passengers.

Rogue also has the flexibility to divide the rear cargo area in 18 different ways including out-of-sight storage and a lower deck to house taller items. Since we rolled out these features in the redesigned model last year, Nissan Rogue sales have steadily increased—August 2014 was its best sales month ever—and it is one of the most popular models among Hispanic buyers in the U.S.

Safety and fuel economy also are main factors when considering a new car, and the Nissan Altima—our bestselling vehicle and a top performer among U.S. Hispanics—is an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Top Safety Pick and offers class-leading fuel economy at 38 miles per gallon highway.

With products that meet our customers’ needs, the next step is to develop a targeted marketing strategy. Multicultural marketing is something my team and I are extremely passionate about, and we know that in order to stay relevant we must immerse ourselves into the culture and truly understand what makes each group unique.

U.S. Hispanics are very tech savvy and consume media in both English and Spanish, so in addition to our English-language platforms, in 2003 we were one of the first automakers to launch a Spanish-language website (www.nissanusa.com/espanol). We also have Spanish-language Twitter and Facebook pages (www.twitter.com/NissanEspanol) (www.Facebook.com/NissanEspanol) which continue to be among the most engaging Hispanic-targeted social channels in the automotive industry.

While our focused marketing efforts have proved effective, we also value our strong, longstanding relationships with community organizations that share our passion for education such as the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), National Council of La Raza and Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting. As a company built on a foundation of great engineering, we want to inspire the next generation of Hispanic youth to consider a career in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). By supporting events such as LULAC’s Washington Youth Leadership Seminar and our own annual Summer Engineering Program at the Nissan Smyrna Vehicle Assembly Plant in Tennessee, we build awareness of the endless possibilities for those with a STEM education.

A lot of thought goes into each and every touchpoint we have with consumers from product development and marketing to community relations, but at the end of the day our commitment to our customers is simple: Give them the innovation they desire and the excitement they can thrive on.