Renewing the nissan branD

Case Analysis
Under the guidence of prof Sanjay Patro
BY GROUP 16
JEETINDER KHUBCHANDANI (G15084)
JYOTI GUPTA (G15085)
PIYUSH DAS (G15098)

Product & Brand Management

1.

Situation Analysis

The case revolves around the rebirth of Nissan brand and its revival from the near
death situation. Nissan as a car brand had its roots in Japan. The company
launched Dastun 510 sedan and cars for American market. Dastun was able to
deliver really well on its performance and earned positive reviews from everyone in
the industry. Dastun was later renamed to Nissan and quickly garnered reputation
as a car based on innovation in engineering. By the latter half of 1980s, company
had already manufactured 1 million cars in North America and started its branding
under Nissan brand. Driven by customers need for fuel efficient and reliable cars,
it quickly grew to gain a stronghold in the market. During the same time frame
Toyota and Honda also started establishing their presence in this market and soon
came to be accepted by people more than Nissan. Owing to the intense pressure in
the market from the competitors, Nissan shifted its focus from innovation which
eventually led Nissan to the loss of their identity. In 1999, Nissan signed a global
alliance agreement with Renault. Carlos Ghosn from Renault was sworn in, who not
just turnaround the company, but also set ambitious goals for the brand and for
meeting
financial
objectives.
This
brought
financial
discipline
and
processes/operations were streamlined to bring operational efficiency. A new brand
strategy was initiated through Perry, Tackes and Nakagawa to build upon the
corporate brand following which individual brands would be developed and
maintained, and all this while upholding and delivering on the same core promise.

Problem Definition
Launch of the SHIFT campaign led to the establishment of a connecter for the new
models and ongoing branding efforts. Also, synergy between all the individual
brands to the corporate brand was established. Nissans global luxury brand, Infiniti
was launched in 2004 and was expected to bridge the gap between Nissan and its
competitor like Toyota, which was widely known for its quality and Lexus, largely
known for luxury. There were challenges in terms of dealer expectation since dealer
numbers were more conservative than demand in the market. The team also had
difference of opinion in taking the right call between prioritizing short term goal of
sales figure or taking a long term perspective on things.

Background
Company was founded in 1933 as Jidosha Seizo Co. Ltd and later renamed to Nissan
Motor Co. Ltd. in 1934. In 1944, it shifted its headquarters to Tokoyo. Soon after it
acquired stake in Minsei Diesel Motors and undertook a technological cooperation
with Austin Motors in 1952. The company made its first exports to USA in 1958 and
established its first overseas factory at Taiwan in 1959. This was followed by a
1

Product & Brand Management

phase of building branding under the name of Nissan during 1980s. After 1990s
Nissans decline had started.

Product & Brand Management

2.
Cause of Decline

Case Analysis
Some of the factors that caused decline are

1. Problem - Nissan facing brand identity issues

Reason Nissan had lost money competing over incentives and dealer discounts
with its competition whereas the other brands were sold at premium. Nissan was
following a strategy of targeting other brands customers rather than enhancing its
own image thus being seen as a follower rather a leader.
2. Problem Loss in Brand Image
Reason Though Nissan had entered the American market with an image of an
innovator brand but it couldnt maintain it.
Brand symbolized great driving
experience with its model like 240z and Dastun 510 sedan but had slowly
become a value added car after Toyota and Honda.
3. Problem Strategy was volume driven rather than profit driven
Reason Though Nissan had entered the American market with an image of an
innovator brand but it couldnt maintain it.
Brand symbolized great driving
experience with its model like 240z and Dastun 510 sedan but had slowly
become a value added car after Toyota and Honda.
4. Problem Increasing Debts
Reason Sales started declining leading to debts pilling up. Also slowdown in the
economy due to increase in oil price further impacted the companys performance.
Pressure started rising due to strategy of pushing volume to increase in sales and
reduce the debt.

Product & Brand Management

Corporate turnaround Success Factors

Ghosns plans was to bring in financial discipline in the organization. His layed
emphasis on communicating the goals and targets clearly. He restructured the
organization and introduced new marketing strategies.
Some of the key elements identified that were missing in Nissans strategy were:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Focus on Profit rather than volume

Customer focus
Positioning of corporate brand
Building Competitive Advantage rather than
competitors
5. Effective internal and external communication

focusing

on

aping

As part of organizational restructuring at Nissan, Cross Functional teams were

formed. Mary Perry had diverse knowledge and was a key players of the CFTs.
Having been part of the organization from the beginning, Mary had complete
knowledge of pain areas the organization was facing. CFTs were to help reduce the
barriers between the design and engineering divisions and creating an integrated
structure that will be of help to both the design as well as engineering divisions and
create more value to the organization. The Organization also encouraged the
engineers design high performance cars by involving marketers in the design
process. So the whole perception of the company had changed and the divisions
had started working with each other rather than working in silos.
Communication at Nissan was also worked
branch/department and divisional communication.

upon

to

improve

inter

It was important for Ghosn to identify the brand DNA in order to build the brand. He
involved Perry and Tackes to look after the marketing and branding .They identified
the brand personality as bold and thoughtful and core customer values as people
who had set high standards and maximized life. Also, the brand had to be identified
with agility and responsiveness.
One of the key initiatives that acted as a link for all individual brands to the
corporate brand was the SHIFT campaign. It not only strengthened the corporate
brand but also created public awareness of the Nissan brand.
Once the corporate brand was strengthened, the organization started focusing on
establishing the individual brand keeping the core values constant. Altima , maxima
, xterra were examples where the cars met the needs and wants of different
segment of the market .