By dipping their toes into the metaverse Nissan was able to bring their most shining example of their passion for innovation, and what would otherwise have only been seen by a niche group of superfans, to mainstream audiences. With a single scroll-stopping key visual people were able to participate in this brand experience by sharing the GT-R NFT across social media. And our live auction became an event to witness by putting a $280,000 price tag, the same price as a real Nissan GT-R, on a digital work-of-art.

The Nissan brand has always been positioned at the leading edge of innovation and technology, but an aging vehicle lineup had caused its overall opinion scores to decline over the years in Canada. Now that Nissan was able to boast one of the freshest lineups amongst its key competitors in North America, we needed a campaign that would be reflective of Nissan's innovative spirit to help reclaim their technology/innovation credibility.

Enter the all-new Nissan GT-R Nismo. A shining example of Nissan’s innovative and technological prowess. But with only three on-route to Canada, there was no planned budget or campaign to support it.

To use the GT-R to reframe consumers' perceptions of the Nissan brand, we needed an innovative idea that would breakthrough beyond expectations with minimal investment.

Make noise in the automotive world by making a limited-edition supercar, even more super limited by turning it into a 1-of-1 NFT. Then, generate hype by putting it up for auction with the reserve price of $280,000, the same price as an actual GT-R. And finally, double down on the excitement surrounding the GT-R NFT by following up with a twist by revealing that the GT-R NFT comes with the keys to a real Nissan GT-R Nismo Special Edition.

The combination of its extreme limitedness, the unbelievable price tag, and the fact that it came with a real GT-R, was designed to make headlines and get the attention of the automotive enthusiasts in Canada.

The Nissan GT-R wasn’t just chosen for its technological achievements, but also for its passionate following of super fans. Case-in-point, #GTR has 9.6 million posts on Instagram alone. These super fans are hyperactive on social, sharing fan art, video clips, and photography of the Nissan GT-R.

We knew that by targeting this specific group with a highly shareable key visual of the GT-R NFT through our CRM and social channels that their excitement would be contagious and help spread it quickly to other channels.

We launched with a teaser post on Nissan Canada’s social channels that highlighted the reserve price of the NFT, a whopping $280 000, the same price as a real GT-R.

Then, just days before the auction we posted the GT-R NFT. A visually striking, scroll-stopping work of digital art featuring the GT-R in a surreal environment. We also revealed the twist, that the GT-R NFT comes with the keys to a real Nissan GT-R. The post included a link to RubixMarket.com, the auction marketplace where people could view a high-res version of the digital art, and place their bids.

On Nissan.ca a key visual of the GT-R NFT was also given prime placement on the homepage, with a link to the auction.

The total duration of the campaign was six weeks. From the launch the teaser post to the closing of the auction.

Potential reach of 71 million across traditional and social media, resulting in an estimated total media value of $585,000, ten times the value of the media investment.

The GT-R NFT appeared in over 133 media articles in 24 countries with 100% of them using our key visual.