Interbrand and Nissan Challenge Students to Build a New Brand for Nissan’s Sustainability Range

In partnership with D&AD, Students Compete to Work on Real World Brief

London – Interbrand, the world’s leading brand consultancy, is pleased to announce that for the second consecutive year it is partnering with D&AD – a not-for-profit organization that promotes the importance of creativity, innovation and ideas to the business community – on its annual Student Award competition. In collaboration with Nissan, Interbrand is challenging students to build a new brand that will represent the automaker’s complete line of sustainable vehicles.

As the automotive industry continues to grow, due largely to increased demand in emerging markets, it faces several big challenges: growing cities, shirking living environments and increased pressure on time and resources. These factors are changing the fundamental role of vehicles in society.

Nissan aims to lead the market by appealing to a new generation of consumers. It aims to promote not just the benefits of its individual products, but also the connected and technologically integrated products of today and the future. These products will become positive lifestyle statements, which demonstrate sustainability and conscientious.

In creating a new lifestyle sub-brand, entrants are required to think about the holistic brand experience and consider the following principles:

* What is the big insight? What need will the brand address for its audience? How will it anticipate the needs of tomorrow? How will it (re)waken the audience’s desire for Nissan’s products and services?
* How will the new brand expression live and flex in different situations? What will be the new sub-brand’s personality?
* How will the new brand involve its audiences and encourage participation? How will social media and digital channels be used to engage people in a dialogue?

Submissions will be judged by how effectively the sub-brand will come alive across a range of touch points and experiences. This will include the sub-brand’s ability to integrate both the online and offline experience in a seamless manner and its ability to engage consumers as a means of building brand advocacy. The development of brand guidelines and how these guidelines will serve in managing the new sub-brand’s verbal and visual identity will also be assessed.

In regard to the brief, Andy Payne, Interbrand’s Global Chief Creative Officer said, “ Great brands anticipate our needs and transform our desires. At Interbrand, we believe that to create such powerful brands, we must encourage curiosity. We hope that this exercise will enable students to gain both the confidence and experience to build a brand that has the power to change the world.”

Of its many programs and competitions, the annual D&AD Student Awards provide ambitious students with direct access to the creative industry, answering real briefs that allow them to demonstrate their skills to employers. 76% of graduating Student Award winners walk into a job placement within three months of winning. Open to any student from around the world, the ultimate prize of the Student Awards is a coveted place on the D&AD Graduate Academy – a creative bootcamp that supports and inspires exciting new talent transitioning from education to industry.

Entries for this brief must be submitted by Wednesday, 20 March 2013. For more information and to download the brief, please visit:
http://www.dandad.org/awards/student/2013/categories/3/branding.

About Interbrand
Founded in 1974, Interbrand is one of the world’s largest branding consultancies. With nearly 40 offices in 27 countries, Interbrand’s combination of rigorous strategy, analytics, and world-class design enables it to assist clients in creating and managing brand value effectively, across all touchpoints, in all market dynamics. Interbrand is widely recognized for its annual Best Global Brands report, the definitive guide to the world’s most valuable brands, as well as its Best Global Green Brands report, which identifies the gap between customer perception and a brand’s performance relative to sustainability. It is also known for having created brandchannel.com, a Webby-award winning resource about brand marketing and branding. For more information on Interbrand, visit interbrand.com.

About D&AD
D&AD is a membership organization for the global design and advertising community. It promotes, stimulates and awards creative excellence in business communication. Not for profit, it provides material support for creative education and people around the world.