Nissan Taxi & Food Trucks

On top of having the only zero-emissions car on the market, Nissan has recently unveiled two new innovations with the help of GPJ - The NYC Taxi of Tomorrow and two LA-based food trucks. 

In December 2009, the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) issued a "request for proposals," inviting auto manufacturers and designers to submit their best ideas for a purpose-built vehicle to serve as a New York City taxicab. In the Spring of 2011, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith and TLC Commissioner David Yassky announced that the NV200, designed by Nissan North America, had been chosen as the winner of the “Taxi of Tomorrow” competition.

Kicked off by a press conference over the Halloween weekend in which Joe Castelli, Nissan VP of Fleet & Commercial Vehicles, and Yassky introduced the NV200, Nissan shared the new taxi with the press and New Yorkers through a multimedia exhibition called the “Design Expo” in the public plaza adjacent to the Flatiron building. The “Design Expo” was designed to bring the attention away from the exterior styling, where the focus in on today’s taxis, and towards the interior design - Nissan’s elevation of the passenger experience with added comfort, room and amenities is what won them the competition. A prototype of the taxi interior allowed exhibit visitors to step into the taxi and check out the features such as added leg room, USB ports and a panoramic sunroof. Videos shown on the Infotainment system inside the prototype further educated visitors on the new vehicle. A special program by Discovery Channel’s Cash Cab host, Ben Baily, gave New York online influencers a chance to participate in a live online media edition of Cash Cab centered around the NV200.

In all, the exhibit generated millions of impressions, received coverage in media from around the world and engaged over 6,600 visitors for an average of more than five minutes at a time.

Nissan Food Trucks

At this year’s L.A. Auto Show, Nissan wanted to highlight their Commercial Vehicle line (NCV), but without a press event scheduled, they needed to find a new way to capture their attention. GPJ’s solution - convert NV2500 vans into trendy food trucks that give out tasty eats during press days.

To get the most out of the initiative, GPJ carefully selected food truck partners that already had the popular vote and a healthy social media following — the Grilled Cheese Truck (GCT) and Coolhaus fit the profile. Two NCV vans were wrapped in the food trucks’ trademark graphics and featured #nissanfoodtruck hash tags to encourage social media postings. Serving windows were cut into the gutted vehicle so that food could easily be assembled and served from the truck on the auto show floor.

Lines for the food trucks wrapped around the Nissan booth on opening day. The GCT and Coolhaus auto show menu included exclusive items such as the GT-Roasted grilled cheese sandwich (named after Nissan’s GT-R) and the icecream Zookie and Electric Mint (named after the Z and LEAF respectively). And both trucks Tweeted and posted on their Facebook page about their new Nissan food truck during the auto show days.

It was a true collaboration with the GCT and Coolhaus that resulted in over 55 million impressions, a headlining article in L.A. Times, in addition to coverage on Autoblog, Car and Driver, USA Today, NPR and many more. We certainly got the press’ attention.