Two years ago, Nissan asked the creatives at TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles, for something very important: an identity. "The situation at Nissan was, there were eight different [automobiles] that were doing fine on their own, but no one knew what made them Nissan," explains Chris Graves, a creative director at the agency. "People would say, ‘Oh yeah. They’re the ‘Driven’ car.’ But no one really knew what that meant."
Steve Wilhite, the then-new VP of marketing at Nissan North America, "was insistent that we wrap all the models together with a brand thought," recalls Graves. "It was even more difficult because they wanted a global approach. So, a year and a half’s worth of process later, we finally came across this notion that seemed to work on a global level."
Out of that notion sprung "Shift," an ambitious, international campaign designed to position Nissan as a car company for true individualists. "In Europe, we’re using ‘Shift Expectations’," explains Graves. "In Japan, it’s ‘Shift the Future’ and, in the United States, it’s ‘Shift,’ with a variety of complement lines."
Several new, striking TV spots—four of which focus on the new 350Z sports car—broke earlier this month. Directed by Ralf Schmerberg of bicoastal/international @radical.media, the brand-wide "Shift" commercials—"Shift/Dandy," "Shift/Eno" and "Shift/Jimmy"—are montages that depict moments of individual triumph—from historic (a man hammering away at the Berlin wall) to personal (a baby’s first steps) to inspirational (a woman climbing a mountain with two prosthetic legs). Each moment is accompanied by a variation on the "Shift" tag. "Shift Borders," for instance, appears onscreen during the Berlin Wall footage, while "Shift Achievement" captions the baby’s steps.
Agency credits for the branding spots include executive creative director Rob Schwartz, art director Jason Stinsmuehlen; copywriters Neal Hughlett and Don McKinney; and producer Mila Davis. Each of the brand spots ends with images of the new Nissan models and incorporate the voiceover, "A shift can change a person, a life, the world, or it can simply change the way you move through it."
"The ‘Shift’ line gives us the opportunity to have a common viewpoint, which is that we look at making cars a little bit differently," Graves observes. "It’s not a reinvention of the brand, but more like a rebirth of an old sensibility. The idea is as true of Nissan today as it was ten or fifteen years ago."
It’s illustrated in a new way, however. While the "Driven" ads featured classic rock and traditional automotive footage, the "Shift" spots sport original, instrumental music and shots which are distinctly non-traditional. Although some memorable images are of Nissan cars (A classic, 280-Z is doused with paint as the screen reads, "Shift Canvas."), the emphasis is on human interaction.
That’s one reason why Schmerberg was called upon to direct the four spots. "We weren’t looking for a car shooter," notes Graves. "We were looking for someone who could bring humanity to the world of automotive. If you look at the stuff that Ralf has done for the bigger brands—he’s shot some beautiful stuff for Nike—you see how talented he is at putting things into a human context."
Though the ads have gotten a lot of attention since their Sept. 4 debut, some in the industry press have taken issue with their use of emotionally packed images. "A lot of people in the trades have approached it as if we’re comparing ourselves to the fall of the Berlin Wall," Graves says. "But if you look at the spot, it says a shift can change the world—or it can simply change the way you move through it. The humbler aspect of that phrase is what the spots are about. The last thing we wanted to say was, ‘Look at us. We’re building a Sentra. We’re changing the world.’ "
Picture Perfect
The ‘Shift’ tag appears at the end of the unique new spots for the redesigned Nissan Z. Comprised of black-and-white, still photographs, the Z ads are the first to use "Shift" to spotlight a specific Nissan automobile. "If there was any model that was perfect to attach to the new [Shift] thought, it was the Z," Graves states. "The Z is sort of an icon—a lot of people don’t know why [Nissan] got rid of it. We knew it was going to be a great car, and was going to be the biggest news that Nissan had had in a while, so it seemed like a good opportunity, to throw the Z into the ‘Shift’ world."
In devising the Z spots, the creatives opted not to go for a hard sell. "We had eight-thousand orders before that car even landed," he explains. "So, we knew [the campaign] wasn’t going to be about selling all kinds of Zs. It was about making the brand benefit from the Z launch."
Nissan’s head designer, Jerry Hirschberg, first suggested "showing the Z, idling," Graves recalls. "He said, ‘Everybody wants to show their sports cars driving down winding roads and going real fast. But you guys should just show this thing sitting still.’ "
Graves didn’t take him up on it immediately. "We went through round and round of work," he says. "Then a team here—[copywriter] Mike Yagi and [art director] Chris Lynch—came up with the idea of doing black and white stills. We liked it because it was different, and it seemed like something only the Z could pull off."
Instead of hiring automotive photographers, Graves and his team "went through coffee table books by the dozen," to find their shooters. "We didn’t want them to feel like car ads," he explains. "We wanted them to feel like beautiful pieces of art."
Sports photographer Neil Leifer was hired to shoot "Words Fail," a series of pictures of a silver Z in motion. "There was something evil and menacing about the car that we wanted to capture, and I think the black and white film really added to that," Graves remarks. "I also liked the suspended dynamics. I think it’s very powerful."
Art photographer Michael Kenna shot "Déjà Vu," a humorous spot that plays on Z owners’ penchant for personalized license plates. "We told him, ‘We want to show a litany of vanity plates on the cars. Shoot them as dramatic as you can, and end with a final shot of a Z,’" Graves recalls of the spot, which boasts such finds as "ZMYDUST" and "ZGONE."
Documentarian/portraitist Mary Ellen Mark received a different assignment for "Cops." "We just basically gave her the idea of a series of cops, eyeballing you driving the Z," Graves remembers. "She had fun with it, going to all these states and finding different cops here and there." Mark’s ultra-intense traffic cop portraits end with the humorous tag: "Let’s be careful out there."
For "Looks," art photographer Elliot Erwitt drove a Z around Manhattan and shot bystanders’ reactions. "It came from the idea of that feeling you get when you drive a sports car like that," Graves says. "Some people give you that look, like, ‘Asshole.’ And other people give you that look like, ‘Why him and not me?’ " Though some were staged, Graves reports, "most of the stuff we wound up choosing were random shots of real people."
Using still photography in TV spots has, "added to the whole depth of the campaign," because the pictures can be reused in a variety of ways, Graves observes. "It’s in a lot of the online and promotional work we’re doing. We’re also using the stills for print and outdoor."
What’s more, Graves says the agency is contemplating "a possible gallery showing" of the Z photos. "We’re still working out the details, but it’s definitely something we want to do."
