Nissan is using mobile advertising to propel its multichannel end-of-year promotion aimed at getting consumers to dealerships.

The campaign for Nissan’s year end-sales event also extends into broadcast and Web. The mobile banner ads are running inside the Flixster iPhone app.

“Mobile is an increasingly relevant medium for Nissan to reach in-market auto shoppers given how widely these consumers use smartphones today as their assist tool of choice to compare and check vehicle pricing, packages and availability,” said Chad Jacoby, senior manager of media operations and direct marketing group at Nissan North America, Franklin, TN.

End on mobile
The Nissan banner ads read, “Ring in the holiday savings today” next to a Nissan logo.

The banner ads also feature a call-to-action with an icon that says, “shop now.”

Once users tap on the ad, they are taken to an optimized landing page that has the campaign’s slogan, “The most wonderful sale of the year” splashed across the screen.

To promote its newest products, the 2012 Nissan Altima Sedan is prominently placed on the home screen.

The mobile page focuses on three main features for consumers – vehicles and offers, shopping tools and a find a dealer function.

Location is also heavily used in the ad and consumers can enter their ZIP code to find a nearby dealer. Users can also search by dealers for particular inventory.

Additionally, users can contact particular dealers to request a quote and ask about site-specific offers.

Users can search for new vehicles by car model and color

Consumers can search for their dream car from six different types of vehicles.

The ad also targets current Nissan users with a trade-in feature where users can look up the price of their car.

Consumers can also build a custom Nissan car by selecting a model and choosing their color and features.

Mobile blowout
The Nissan end-of-year campaign is successful because the company realizes that mobile advertising is key to a rounded marketing strategy.

Additionally, the ad’s focus on location is key to the campaign’s goal of driving consumers to dealerships.

By using 2012 models as the main focus of the campaign, Nissan is able to transition its campaigns smoothly into the new year.

Nissan is not the only automotive brand using mobile ads to promote its products.

For example, Lincoln recently used mobile ads to leverage its cross-platform marketing efforts (see story).

“We continue to leverage the evolving technologies of smartphones and tablets to provide richer, more immersive engagement with our vehicles virtually so consumers can appreciate more of what Nissan has to offer as a brand,” Mr. Jacoby said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York