Nissan uses World Cup to embrace Hispanic customers

NASHVILLE -- Nissan North America kicked off a Spanish-language ad campaign today to capitalize on twin opportunities: global mania for the World Cup soccer championship, and Nissan’s own popularity among U.S. Hispanic consumers.

The ads will run on TV and social media, featuring high-energy Hispanic soccer fans playing soccer, watching the World Cup games and driving Nissans.

Nissan is working on the assumption that soccer is more closely followed by Latino and European consumers than by the average American household.

“We want to inspire soccer enthusiasts to let their true fan out, and this campaign allows us to do just that as we engage Hispanic consumers with the Nissan brand through a variety of TV, digital, social and mobile engagements," says Fred Diaz, Nissan senior vice president for U.S. sales and marketing and operations.

“Each component of this campaign is designed to celebrate the passion around these games, which is the same level of excitement we aim to deliver in each of our vehicles.”

Nissan marketing managers want to use the world soccer games now being played in Brazil to drive traffic to Nissan’s Spanish-language Facebook page and Web site. Those sites began playing up World Cup fever last month, encouraging visitors to intermingle their experiences with soccer and Nissan cars, upload soccer videos and obtain World Cup-related bumper stickers and.

The online campaign has already captured 10,000 new Spanish-language Facebook fans.

The TV ads will run on all major Spanish-language TV stations through July 13, including Telemundo and Univision. The company declined to say how much it is spending on the soccer campaign.

Nissan claims one of the most ethnically diverse owner bodies of any import brand. More than 34 percent of its owners are of an ethnic background, and the brand is particularly popular among U.S. Spanish-speaking consumers.

Nissan vehicles sell well in markets in Texas, the Southwest, Southern California and the New York region.

According to data from Polk, Nissan has a 12 percent market share among Hispanic buyers, compared to an 8.1 percent share of the U.S. market in general for the first five months of this year. Three of the top 12 models purchased by Latino consumers are Nissan nameplates, according to Polk.

Nissan is also the top-selling brand in Mexico, where it holds a 25 percent market share.