That Nissan TV ad you're watching may not have originated in the mind of an advertising executive. It may be the brain-child of Kelly Ruest, a mother of two from Cornwall, Ontario.
Ms. Ruest was announced as the winner of of the Nissan Innovation Challenge in a 30-minute television show on CityTV, last night.
The Innovation Challenge, a Facebook contest, asked people to tell Nissan what "innovation" meant to them, in 140 characters or less. When the top 200 entries were chosen, their creators were then invited to create a short video explaining their idea of innovation in greater depth and connecting it to a specific Nissan nameplate.
From those, five finalists were chosen and brought to Toronto to pitch their ideas in person person to Judy Wheeler, Director of Marketing for Nissan Canada, Jay Bertram, President of TBWA Canada and Latin America, and Tony Chapman, CEO of Capital C.
Kelly Ruest's winning pitch focused on the themes of innovation and technology, demonstrated through a family road trip.
Her concept has been developed into a 30-second national television spot which premiered during the TV broadcast, and will air regularly on conventional and speciality channels across Canada.
Her successful pitch portrayed a Canadian family embarking on a road-trip in a Nissan that makes every stretch of the journey as enjoyable as the destination, effectively eliminating the question, “Are we there yet?”
“At Nissan, we recognize that now more than ever, advertising is about listening and talking to customers and prospects to best understand their ideas and needs,” said Judy Wheeler, Director of Marketing for Nissan Canada.
“Social media was a perfect way for us to accomplish this level of engagement. During this contest, we were delighted to discover just how enthusiastic Canadians are about Nissan’s exciting vehicle line-up, as seen through the thousands of creative responses we received to ‘define innovation’,” she said.
Kelly Ruest is set to enjoy many comfortable road trips with her own family in the vehicle she selected as her grand prize, a 2012 Nissan Murano Platinum Edition.
You can view the final television spot: http://nissannews.com/en-CA/nissan/canada/. To view the finalist's submissions and webisodes, visit: the Nissan Canada Facebook page: www.facebook.com/nissancanada.