New York Is Getting A Facelift

The yellow taxi cab is an icon in New York City.  You see them all over the place, breaking the laws of Physics and going faster than any posted speed limit I’ve ever seen.  It is very convenient to stick your hand out and grab a cab, especially if it’s not such a nice day and you need to get somewhere in a hurry.

Nissan is starting an advertising campaign to celebrate what the fleet of taxi’s will look like in 2013.  The promotion started Monday and features the “Nissan NV200 van, which in May won the Taxi of Tomorrow competition sponsored by New York City.” (Elliott)  The campaign is being produced by TBWA/Chiat/Day Los Angeles, the longtime creative agency for Nissan North America.   The campaign includes billboards, events, social media, promotions and signs, many of which will be placed atop existing taxicabs. 

 The campaign has two goals. One is to encourage visits to the NV200 taxi that will be on display at the 2012 New York International Auto Show, to be held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center from April 6 to 15. 

The other goal of the campaign is to connect in the minds of consumers the selection of the Nissan van with what has been the theme of the Nissan campaign since August 2010, “Innovation for all.” (Elliott)  A couple of ads in the taxi campaign explicitly link the contest to the Nissan brand theme. “Innovation for NYC,” one headline reads. Another ad asserts that the cab “goes to the corner of innovative and cool.” 

Other ads are lower key and humorous. “All hail,” one headline declares. Another confides: “Kept it yellow. Changed everything else. Nissan taxi of tomorrow. Coming 2013.” A third ad calls the NV200 “Taxi 2.0.” An element of the campaign that may draw attention is a billboard with an oversize sliding door, evoking the doors of the van. “The future of the auto industry?” the headline asks. “We can take you there.” 

 

And there are plans to give away to passers-by near the Javits Center foam fingers that can be used to hail cabs rather than root for sports teams. There will also be giveaways of gift cards worth $15 to apply toward cab rides.

Of course Nissan is trying to promote their other models to the general public but the power of advertising is still strong in America.  People pay attention to what is going on in NYC and Nissan knows that.  Get their attention with a promotion that involves the big city and then say, “Oh yeah, by the way, we also offer there other great models that aren’t yellow.” 

I look forward to seeing these new taxi’s in use, I will be on the lookout for them and will surely hail the first one I see in the coming year, that is of course if the world doesn’t end on December 21^st 2012 let’s not forget about that. 

     

Elliott, Stuart. "Nissan Promotes Next New York Taxi as a Sign of Its Innovation." New York Times.com. N.p., 22/03/2012. Web. 31 Mar 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/23/business/media/nissan-promotes-nv200-as-new-yorks-taxi-of-tomorrow.html?_r=1>.