Nissan’s involvement in Formula E creates a huge amount of excitement around the brand – and that can only be good for the manufacturer’s UK dealer network, according to Andrew Humberstone.
The Managing Director of Nissan Motor (GB) said the all-electric motor racing championship was a true reflection of Nissan’s brand story – and dispelled once and for all the myth that life at the wheel of an EV was anything other than an enjoyable experience.
Humberstone was speaking at the ExCeL Arena, East London, as the 2022/23 Formula E season reached its thrilling conclusion at the venue on a very wet afternoon in the capital.
A great opportunity
He said: ‘‘We’ve given a lot of thought to the benefits our involvement in Formula E delivers to our dealers. From their perspective, it’s about excitement and innovation – and I don’t mean just talking about that in terms of our brand strategy, but delivering and sharing it.
‘‘What Formula E gives us is an opportunity to dispel one or two myths around EV – one of which is around the lack of excitement. This race series gives us a great opportunity to extend our brand and let people know what an exciting and innovative company Nissan is.
‘‘Formula E reflects our story as a manufacturer. It’s about our commitment to the future of the planet; it’s about the development of our vehicles and our technology. Excitement, innovation, zero emissions, sustainability – the values of Formula E are perfectly aligned with our own.’’
Nissan certainly went to town in the build-up to the weekend’s final races of the season, creating a special ‘Feel Electric Festival’ in London’s Covent Garden, and projecting a dramatic image of a racing driver’s protective helmet onto the City Hall building next to Tower Bridge.
‘‘All these activities have created a lot of fame for Nissan,’’ says Humberstone. ‘‘We estimate our Formula E activity will have reached around 40 per cent of the UK population. That’s an incredible number of people and can only be good for our dealers.’’
Not only has Nissan embraced the next generation of motorsport, the company has taken a very modern approach to raising awareness of its Formula E activities.
As well as providing opportunities for traditional automotive magazines and websites to get involved, the brand has enlisted influencers across a range of social media platforms to help spread the word, many of whom were invited to Sunday’s final race of the season.
‘‘Millions of young people, potential customers of ours, don’t watch broadcast TV, they don’t read newspapers. We have to find different ways of talking to them,’’ says Humberstone.
‘‘They’re not just interested in what we have to say about our cars; they want to know what their favourite influencers think. So they use a platform like TikTok almost as a search engine.
Pinnacle of racing
‘‘By inviting influencers to join us at a Formula E event, we’re feeding interesting information and excitement about the Nissan brand into a wide variety of channels.
‘‘The big difference is that we’re not doing it – these talented content creators are doing it on our behalf.’’
Humberstone adds: ‘‘Ultimately, if you want customers to understand that we are a leader in electric vehicles, there’s no better place to do it than the pinnacle of racing.
‘‘That’s always been the point of Formula 1 and now Formula E – to demonstrate that this is the absolute best technology we can deliver – and it filters through to everything else we do.’’