NISSAN: DEVELOPING A NEW car ownership model  

Client: Nissan

Challenge: White Space Exploration, Innovation Platform

My role: Cultural Strategist, Workshop facilitator, Report Writer

Agency: Cassandra

August 2019

New York, New York 

NISSAN: A NEW car ownership model

Challenge 

Nissan wanted to make a leap into embracing its customer-first approach, externally and internally, and so began to pivot from being an automotive company to being an intelligent mobility company.  To define what’s next in the mobility space, Nissan approached Cassandra to develop a co-creation workshop. However there was a twist - all team members had to be aligned on that next big idea. 

My role: I co-developed the project workflow, conducted cultural research, developed a screener, and created a brand action playbook - the report describing key insights, white space opportunities, and innovation platforms, along with how they can be made actionable.

Workshop strategy: designing a framework that stimulates conversations and co-creations

Cars are expensive, and the economy is uncertain, so we focused on the topic of money - to define what people are willing to pay for, why they pay for it, and how a car manufacturer might tap into the emerging meaning of money. 

To define the emerging meaning - and value - of money, we designed a one-day co-creation workshop guided by design thinking principles. We invited Nissan’s innovation project stakeholders to join in a conversation with those consumers identified as trendsetters.

What is a trendsetter? It is not about age, occupation, or the number of social media followers - it is a mindset defined by unique passions. Food, fashion, beauty, or whatever else - a trendsetter is a person who is willing to go the extra mile to invest in what they enjoy doing. They are those who are always asked by their friends, “Can I ask you about…?” Trendsetters are recognized by their exploratory and open-minded attitudes, which makes them the hub of influence in their immediate networks. 

Developing the workshop: empowering internal stakeholders to be a part of the journey  

The workshop was designed to have a story-like structure: introduction (building the trust), conflict (bringing the cultural tensions to the forefront), and resolution (defining avenues to resolve the conflict). 

The freedom and burden of car ownership 

We arrived at the main insight -  people want to invest money into products/services today that will help them save time and money tomorrow. By comparison, a car purchase, which is associated with immediate depreciation and high maintenance costs, is seen as the opposite of such an investment. So to connect with its consumers, Nissan ought to liberate people from some of their long-term costs and downsides that come with outright car ownership. Thus the idea of an all-inclusive access-to-mobility service was born.  

Brand Action Playbook: insights storytelling that can be championed by anyone in the team. 

After the workshop, we produced a brand action playbook - a report with insights, findings, and cultural examples. The report was circulated among C-level management at the US headquarters in Franklin, Tennessee, and the Japanese headquarters in Yokohama. Thus the Nissan Switch was born. 

Results

After a short six months, the Nissan Switch was introduced. On-demand hustle-free driving was test-piloted in Houston, TX. For a subscription fee of $699 per month, members can enjoy a car subscription service that gives them the flexibility to access or even switch out their vehicles at any time, without the long-term obligations of full ownership. All vehicles are fully insured, cleaned and delivered to their doors, on-demand.