Q&A: Jeremy Tucker Wants to Keep Nissan Living Large
By Karl Greenberg
Red stripes, sharp angles, racing imagery, and cars like the GT-R grace Nissan's exhibit at the New York International Auto Show. Nissan's racing program was a co-star, with the new Maxima, in Nissan's return to the Super Bowl, and a certain swagger and attitude is in everything the brand does. That's perfect for Jeremy Tucker, who -- having run marketing at Disney Consumer Products before coming to Nissan North America last year as VP marketing -- probably understands the value of thrills more than most people. Marketing Daily spoke with Tucker at the auto show last week about where he sees the brand going, and how a "Fewer, Bigger, Better" media/partnership strategy can help.
Q: Okay, you've been with Nissan for seven months, give or take. That's a sharp learning curve coming from kids, not cars. Any similarities?
A: I tell people that cars are just toys for big boys. The great thing about it is, especially with my background, including with PepsiCo [Tucker had a number of marketing jobs there, including senior director of marketing, for Frito-Lay, North America], automotive is very similar: fast paced, sales-results driven, very focused, and you have to move and deliver. And I'm here at a time when there is tremendous momentum for [SVP sales and marketing for North America] Fred Diaz.
Q: How has a "fewer, bigger, better" approach worked out for Nissan?
A: It has definitely shifted our thinking. It has kept us from spreading the money across spot TV at random, weird hours of the day where the viewership and the return is not there. It means we are being more focused and efficient in our spend. It is also moving to our product side. So now fewer, bigger, better means focusing on our core volume drivers: Altima, Sentra Rogue. We also want to make sure we are maximizing any investment we have. So even within a property like college football, we are going to make sure we are going to blow it out in a much larger way.
Q: Does the passion the viewer has for TiVo-proof viewing translate to more interest in ads?
A: TiVo-proof isn't enough. The onus is on us -- the challenge is on us -- to define a bigger role. What is Nissan's role in college football? What is our role in the NFL? What are we bringing to the table? NBC's "The Voice" is a great example. Yes, we have a media buy there, but we are also a partner. So the content we are producing with NBC and Adam Levine, and how we are bringing access is what makes us different. We aren't just getting media and eyeballs, we are bringing fans closer to the experience. That's the win. It's partnerships with a capital "P."
Q: Like Heisman?
A: That's a great example. We have been building that relationship for eight years, and now Nissan and Heisman means something to our fans and to college football fans as well. They know what to expect from Nissan.
Q: What are the big challenges that you see for Nissan in keeping share of voice?
A: The speed of culture. Marketing is a discipline of culture, and culture changes. You have to be where it's going. You have to let consumers lead you to where their taste and preferences are going. You can't be dogmatic: you can't say, "this is what I'm doing forever and a day." We talk a lot about swagger and what that means: it's what makes the Nissan Super Bowl spot different from the Toyota Super Bowl spot; and why Nissan's execution of "The Voice" is different from Kia's execution two, three years ago before we came in.
Source
"Q&A: Jeremy Tucker Wants to Keep Nissan Living Large." MediaPost, 4/10/15.