Nissan Debuts CrossCabriolet During Three City Social Media Tour
Throughout the month of March, Nissan invited 100 bloggers and social media influencers to attend 2-day events held in San Diego, Dallas, and West Palm Beach, Florida where attendees had the opportunity to experience the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet, described as the “world’s first all-wheel drive crossover convertible.”
The itinerary for each city was designed to help participants rethink notions of a convertible vehicle through events that were elegant, luxurious, and playful like the car. Guests were treated to cocktails and dinner the evening of arrival and a day that included a vehicle walk, ample time to drive the Murano CrossCabriolet before it goes on sale mid-April, and lunch before departing home. San Diego guests visited Nissan Design America while Dallas attendees went to the Nasher Sculpture Garden. This weekend’s West Palm Beach participants enjoyed a cooking demonstration and lunch by acclaimed South Florida chef, Michelle Bernstein.
“The Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet is all about innovation without limits and that’s the approach we took with the launch of this vehicle,” said Josh Clifton, Manager, Nissan Product Communications & Social Media at Nissan North America, Inc. “We wanted to do something different with this launch and not limit ourselves to a traditional approach but reach out to new audiences by inviting a variety of lifestyle bloggers to come experience something so versatile and innovative with the all-new Murano CrossCabriolet.”
The CrossCabriolet turned heads and attracted attention as attendees drove it through West Palm Beach, along the beach, and on the highway. Ellen Seidman from Love that Max and a Mom Blog Magazine columnist confessed, “I have a thing for convertibles, but lead a minivan lifestyle so it was a thrill to test drive the Murano CrossCabriolet. It’s beautiful, drives like a dream and makes other drivers gawk as you drive by. Gotta love that!”
That Tech Chick‘s Jess Benton, has attended events with car companies such as Chevy and Ford, and thought it was wise for Nissan to enlist new media in their outreach efforts. “It was nice to see Nissan incorporate bloggers in their test drive of the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet,” said Benton via email.
Benton elaborated saying, “New Media (bloggers) have an online following that want to know what the blogger has to say. When a blogger talks about a brand or product online readers get a more personal feeling from the blogger verses traditional media. With a traditional news source, the readers really can’t ask questions that will get answered from a personal point of view. Traditional media will give a non-biased answer, but bloggers will give their actual opinion and answer questions from their point of view. I think it is a plus for brands to work closely with bloggers.”
It wasn’t a requirement to write about the experience, but bloggers such as Shannon Lane (TravelingMamas) and The Vacation Gals’ Beth Blair had positive feedback about the vehicle after test driving it in Dallas.
Attendees were welcome to tweet using the hashtag #MuranoCrossCabriolet and write about the event but were asked use a pre-event disclosure tweet prior to the trip and incorporate a disclosure statement into follow-up posts.
Lisa Frame (A Daily Pinch) heard event buzz from fellow bloggers talking about it in the Social Media Moms group and via Twitter and said, “I’m so jealous I didn’t get to attend!”
More information about the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet can be found on the consumer site and on the Nissan Facebook page.
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