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Sunday, April 1, 2007
Driving the Dollars
Nissan and Infiniti will launch some new vehicles this year, and Jan Thompson says their print buy will at least equal last year’s. In fact, it could be better, although she is still "moving dollars and priorities." She is in charge of media strategy and placement for the auto giant in the U.S., overseeing a $20 billion annual marketing budget.
Nissan is trying to buy into the insights of its target group, but because of the convergence in media, "negotiations are at their most challenging time ever in the marketing world." As people consume media in new combinations, ad investments spread across platforms incorporating printed pieces, DVD, TV, radio, online and other choices.
Thompson 18 months ago challenged the reps that call on her: "For crying out loud, break the silos down. Don’t make me talk to a magazine’s print person, then the online person, then somebody else. I’m not buying three iterations of your book. You all get together and tell me what you can do."
She recalls a Nissan campaign in Sports Illustrated’s preview issues for college football: "We had gatefold creative enveloped in editorial, and we tried to be context-relevant. We went with mysi.com, too, and the hits exceeded expectations." An interactive edge – the Nissan Million Dollar Challenge – engaged consumers, who submitted predictions to win a million dollars.
To engage young women, Nissan signed a deal with Glamour, creating a sweepstakes to do a video with Pink. A new program for female consumers is in the discovery phase now, she says, to push a new model that is coming out in the fourth quarter 2007 at the New York Auto Show.
Thompson seeks insight into very specific targets. For example, "We are not talking just ‘adults 18 to 34,’" she says. "We’re talking ‘Gen X males with no kids.’ We’re refining the targeting." She depends on publishing partners to learn how she can reach their readers. "It’s your job to tell us how can we leverage their engagement for our brands."
Thompson wants to tap the magazine’s knowledge. "We have a greater chance than ever before to get in under the tent," she says. "We can’t stay up to speed on every single target market we need today, it’s just too fragmented." Measurement is another mantra. "At the start of the year, we say ‘this is what we’re going to spend, this is where we’re going to put it,’ then after the run we ask whether we put the money in the right place, get the lift we wanted, and if not, why not." It’s a matter of measuring, then refining, then measuring again and refining yet again. "You can’t go broad, just throw it out there and see what sticks, the way we used to. The dollars are more precious."
Facing Challenges
JAN THOMPSON KNOWS HER STUFF when it comes to marketing autos. She started at Chrysler right out of graduate school (she holds a masters from the University of Detroit, appropriately enough), and was in the field talking to dealers for nine years. While in California working for Chrysler, she was tapped by Toyota to work on its marketing side. Next, she became Lexus’s first marketing director, and moved to Mazda to become its first vp of marketing.
She later became president and CEO of the Designory, which was an Omnicom company, doing marketing for auto clients. After about five years, Nissan and Infiniti, which were clients of the Designory, called Thompson and asked her to take her current post. That was in 2004, and she hasn’t looked back.
"There is nothing boring in marketing," she says. "Every model, every launch is completely different, there’s no ‘cookie cutter’ any more." She thrives on the challenge, laughing that the secret of her success has been perseverance and her willingness to look for the next "new thing."
"I’m never satisfied with where I am," she says. And as content and platforms continue to converge and cross lines, that’s a good thing. "Look at what Ann Moore is doing over at Time, Inc.," she marvels. "What will we look like in five years? That’s a hell of a crystal ball."
- min's Special Issues — April 19, 2011
- Brenda White - Vice President, Director of Print investment, Starcom — April 1, 2007
- Print/Online Bundle: WIRED Media, Xerox Custom Cover Project — October 1, 2007
- Maggie Knoll - Print Director, Senior Partner, MindShare Chicago — April 1, 2007
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