NSAC Nissan Campaign 2012

Dealer’s Manual

Kim Amedro, Bethany Cook, Raquel Harrah, Katie Heitz, Kayla Vaughn Journalism 340– Advertising Strategies

Background:

Our study explores the way Nissan dealerships have the power to influence millennials (ages 18 to 29) to purchase a car. The dealer is the connection between the buyer and the car. They can make or break a sale. The dealer is the person who the buys looks to for confidence in their possible purchase. We wanted to find out how dealerships are treating millennials and how they are representing Nissan. We thought the best way to perform our research would be to experience it firsthand. Our team went to different dealerships and pretended to be interested in buying a car. Each one of us went to a different location so our information would more accurately portray dealers in general. We went to dealerships in the following locations; Athens, Lancaster, Parkersburg, Cleveland and Cincinnati. Our goal was to understand how dealerships are communicating with millennials. Nissan has this saying on its website; ―Nissan believes that cars should change the world and the way we move through it. As we embark on a new decade, Nissan's manifesto is to build vehicles that are more effi-cient, more beautiful, more inspiring and more human than ever before. That is our commitment to you.‖ We wanted to see if the dealerships represented Nissan with the same respect. We chose to do this study so that we could experience what millennials are experiencing when they are

looking to buy a new car. We are focusing on how dealerships interact with millennials and how dealer-

ships’ communicate the Nissan brand to the millennials.

Kim Amedro Car Dealership Experience: Saturday, October 22, 2011 Dealership: Buick, Chevrolet, Chrysler Taylor Dealership in Lancaster, OH Salesman: Jerry Flood Scenario: My boyfriend and I were looking at getting a new car as we graduate, he goes on to law school and we will possibly move possibly out of state. He cur-rently has a 1999 Tahoe, but wants a smaller, sportier and more gas efficient car.

The dealer, Jerry Flood was very laidback and wasn’t aggressive in showing us any particular car. We, the buyer, led the sales. I think based on our age and appearance—jeans and a nice sweater for me, jeans and a nice leather jacket for Ken-- no one was eager to help us. We had been on the lot for about 15 minutes before two men came out, via golf cart to ask if we had been helped. When Ken had originally said he wanted to swap up a car, the immediate question Rush asked was what our price range was. We gave the dealer a limit of $30,000 with a little leeway to $32,000 range. The first car he showed us was a Nissan Maxima. He liked the price and the gadgets included. But mostly Jerry emphasized the sleek look. The leather seats, GPS screen and navigation, and the trunk space were also mentioned. Jerry said it had the ―speed to get you where you wanted to go.‖ No test drive offered. It was a Chevy Equinox priced around $24,000. But he wasn’t too keen on the car. I emphasized I liked the size and space—as we already had my tiny Scion. Jerry briefly laughed and asked me how I like my car, but was really reliant on Ken to give his opinion. He wasn’t too keen on the pitching the eco-friendliness of the car, which I had pointed out that all the showcased crossovers were. I was hoping he would hint at ver-

satility or cars that were good for our age range, but he didn’t take the lead. We asked him which car he would recommend to us in our situation with us not knowing what city we’d end up in. He went back to the Nissan and said that it is smaller, nice and fairly inexpensive with all the ―bells and whistles‖ you pay for other cars. At the very end, he simply said ―when you know more what kind of car you want, come back and see me.‖ He gave us a card and a handshake.

Insights:

It appeared as though the dealers didn’t really want to invest much time in our sale, because from our age or looks it didn’t seem ―worth it‖: a lucrative deal. Even though Jerry was personable, he wasn’t full on

When confronted with questions about which car would be better for a city or a ―starter car‖ to match the ―starter apartment‖ the dealer seemed unsure how to direct us to a specific car. He re-sponded with questions and no real answer.

He didn’t prepared to direct a sales pitch or a customer. He needed you to give him more to work with. Unless you directly asked him something, he didn’t utilize the conversation hints as to ―what we were looking for.‖

Price range was the very first question Jerry seemed interested in and that acted as the main gage for the sale.

Sales were directed towards smaller cars and mostly sedans.

Bethany Cook Car Dealership Experience: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 Dealership: Wharton Nissan Dealership, Parkersburg, West Virginia Salesman: N/A Scenario: I went to the dealership in the company of a female friend who is also a student. I told the salesman I would not be purchasing a car that day, but that I was gathering information for a new vehicle purchase post-graduation. During my

visit, I walked around the showroom and the outdoor lot with the salesman.

Throughout the duration of my shopping trip, the salesman, although very personable, acted little a like a salesman and more like a fatherly figure. He told me that he would put his own daughter in a mid-size vehi-cle like the Versa hatchback. However, he instructed me to go online if I was interested in looking at the safety ratings of the vehicles. There was no verbal promotion of the Nissan brand, nor was there any dis-cussion of vehicle features beyond gas mileage, interior space and engine size.

At one point, the salesman showed us a Juke, a small crossover style SUV that clearly had many techno-logical features included with the on-board computer system, but the salesman was unable to explain them.

As we meandered throughout the outdoor lot, the salesman pointed out the QR Codes attached to the win-dow stickers of most 2012 models. On the next page is the site connected to the QR Code for the Sentra model. Other models bring up similar pages that have information about the vehicle as well as its options and availability in your area.

Insights: The innovation that Nissan bases its current advertising on is not

being well-represented in the Nissan Showrooms

Salesmen have a hard time relating to millennials, and as a result they struggle to effectively communicate with them

The vehicle/brand attributes that are featured most by salesmen are not congruent with the interests of millennials

Salesmen do not view millennial shoppers as potential buyers

Millennial shoppers are forced to take advantage of their own shopping experience

Top: Page opened when QR Code for Nissan Sentra is scanned on smart phone and loading. Bottom: Fully loaded page for Nissan Sentra QR Code page

Raquel Harrah Car Dealership Experience: Monday, October 31, 2011 Dealership: Ganley Nissan, Mayfield Heights, Ohio Salesman: Sal Scenario: I went to the dealership with my father, Glenn Harrah. The story we told Sal was that I was soon graduating from college and looking for an appealing car that could carry over into my post grad life and career. We didn’t limit the dealer by nam-ing a specific brand or model in order to get a full unbiased opinion. However, we did mention that I was interested in a Nissan but slightly unfamiliar. During my visit, we

walked through the showroom with the salesman, Sal, and did not partake in a test drive. The salesman, who had only been working there for three weeks, was very unfamiliar with the Nissan brand in which he was employed. As a concerned parent, my father tried to probe him for details, but he was very reluctant to say anything. It was a great effort to get him to speak on Nissan’s behalf to try to sell the car. We would ask open-ended questions to garner lengthy responses in which we could acquire more information about Nissan with which we already told the salesman we were unfamiliar, but he would answer with short and ambiguous responses such as ―Yeah, sort of.‖ The showroom was as plain and unhelpful as the dealer. There were no promotion posters and any information about Nissan was hidden from easy ac-cess from the potential buyers. It didn’t represent the Nissan brand accurately as new or ―innovative‖ and represented more of a plain, quasi-reliable, older brand that only provides functionality.

The only allusions to being ―innovative‖ was when Sal proceeded to direct me back to the interior compart-ment and point out the touch technology and mentioned ―Intelligent Key‖ that allows a person to unlock the door as long as the key is somewhere within 18 inches of the door. Sal also mentioned Bluetooth technol-ogy for cell phones. The touch screen technology, keyless entry, keyless start and Bluetooth are all fea-

tures readily available on most makes of cars, none of which I would consider innovative. Sal proceeded to explain a component on all Nissans called CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission). When pressed, he indicated that this trademark product was exclusive to Nissan and helped transfer power to different wheels in the winter for better traction. I asked him if it was like a slip differential and he said, ―yeah, sort of.‖ My father then told him our 2002 Trailblazer has this feature. Clearly some more education about cars and Nis-san’s features need to take place.

Ending on a sour note, he began to try to sell the Nissan by saying it was a foreign car. Sal made a com-ment that times are different and that you shouldn’t listen to what you hear about foreign cars and that for-eign cars today are better than American cars. This remark didn’t sit well considering I come from a family who made their living working in the steel mills and auto industry in the Cleveland area. I’m not a big be-liever that you have to knock another product to make yours looks better.

Insights:

Nobody likes salesmen, and this salesman fed into every stereotype. He gave into the ―foreign cars are

more poorly made than American cars‖ stereotype

Salesmen have a hard time relating to the 18-29 year-old millennials

The brand of innovation is not conducive with the atmosphere, brand, or selling techniques

The salesman did not provide enough information or attempt to sell the car. He was not providing me

with the information for me to make a confident decision in the car

His likeable and lack of knowledge caused me to not trust the dealer, and in turn the brand

Katie Heitz Car Dealership Experience: Friday, October 7 2011 Dealership: Taylor Nissan Dealership in Athens, Ohio Salesman: N/A Scenario: I told the salesman at Taylor Nissan that my parents had promised me a car as a graduation present and I was there to narrow down my choices. I was interested in a Nis-san, Toyota, and a Honda but Nissan was my top choice. My boyfriend accompanied me to the dealership.

When I told the salesman the brands I was interested, he immediately said that Toyotas were a bad choice because they have had a lot of technical problems in recent years. He went on to tell me that Honda was his favorite brand. He currently owned a Honda Civic and had two Honda Civics before that one. He was very brand loyal and it showed that he had much more information about Honda than Nissan. I asked him what he thought about Nissan he said they were also good cars but didn’t know a lot about the brand or their features. He thought the Juke had a sportier, young adult look than the Altima and the Maxima. He pointed out the gas mileage and the stereo features of all of the cars but he didn’t know a lot of other infor-mation on Nissan.

When he showed us some cars around the lot, he took about twenty minutes explaining to us all of the fea-tures of the Honda Civic, and only about 15 to explain the features of the Altima, the Maxima, and the Juke all together.

He was also unaware of the incentives that were offered from Nissan and Honda. He told me that the deal-ership didn’t offer any extra incentives but I could find out the incentives offered on their website. I could also compare features of the cars online as well.

Insights

Millenials enter a dealership expecting for the salesman to give them their best sales pitch.

A salesman’s attitude towards a customer can make or break a sale.

By showing confidence in a brand, the salesman will make the millennial feel confident as well.

Kayla Vaughn Car Dealership Experience: Saturday, November 5, 2011 Dealership: Jeff Wyler of Eastgate Automall in Cincinnati, Ohio Salesman: Jeff Anna Scenario: I went to Jeff Wyler of Eastgate Automall on my own. I told the sales-man, Jeff Anna, that I was looking for a new car to purchase but would not be purchasing that day. I also told him that I would be graduating in the next year

and moving on to a career that was heavy in driving and needed something that would be fuel effi-cient and reliable for many years to come. The dealer began to point out that a used car might be a financially safer option to someone who is close to graduation and about to start a career. I told him that I was only interested in new cars. He asked if my par-ents were helping me look for and pay for a new car; I replied that they would help me pay for it but were not interested in helping me pick one out. This Jeff Wyler dealer sold Chevrolet, Chrystler, Dodge, Jeep, Mazda, Ram, Kia and Nissan cars, however the ones that he pointed me to the most were Mazda and Chevrolet. When asked about Nissan, Jeff Anna became less enthused to talk about the stock of Nissan cars on his lot but guided me around and showed me my different options. During the visit, the dealer would answer questions for other people that were also on the lot, taking atten-

tion away from my needs. He also never offered a test drive and generally seemed uninterested to be help-

ing me.

When I asked about the different safety features and other technological features, Jeff Anna was reluctant to go into too much detail on any particular car and spoke is generalities, saying that ―most‖ cars have higher safety ratings compare to my 1999 Hyundai Elantra especially and also have more dashboard-type luxuries, such as Satellite Radio and iPod hookups. Overall, the visit was generally unhelpful and the salesman didn’t feel the need to push a sale toward me.

Insights:

Dealers don’t prefer to sell Nissan and have to be asked about their stock of Nissan cars available

Millennials are unimportant to the dealer, even if they may be interested in purchasing a car

It is clear to the millennial buyer that they are not being fully attended to because of their interaction with other people on the lot during your visit

Features and build of cars are not discussed with millennials; maybe because the dealer thinks the millennial is unfamiliar with car builds

Dealers expect parents of millennials to be involved in the process of buying a first car