Nissan Motor GB launched the advert as part of a campaign to introduce the New Nissan ARIYA to the Metaverse, which is essentially the name for the collective online space where people interact with different types of technology, specifically including super-modern 2D and 3D virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).
Nissan utilised this industry-leading technology and worked with a WebXR-enabled browser for the campaign, which delivers a visual and interactive art experience across multiple platforms, including mobile, desktop and VR technology.
For the campaign, Nissan challenged five digital artists from five different clean-air cities to draw images of the new all-electric Nissan ARIYA. The artists – Retro Manni (Birmingham), Tishk Barzanji (London), Janice Leung (Leeds), Neil Keating (Liverpool) and Antidote (Manchester) – were all asked to use their own unique design style to create an image that showed how the new Nissan ARIYA is a ‘ray of hope’ for an electrified future.
The artists could use the new Nissan ARIYA’s Japanese design as inspiration, while telling their own personal stories. The artists were heavily influenced by their city, incorporating elements of city skylines and iconic buildings and landmarks. Then came the layer of electric-themed design elements, including everything from an ‘electrified grid’ that ‘symbolises the new Nissan ARIYA’s power to electrify’, to the use of specific colours to represent the ‘electricity that runs through all of our homes and powers our cities’.
Experience the New Nissan ARIYA in the Metaverse, thanks to electrified British art
Eagle-eyed viewers may have recently spotted the new television advert for the new all-electric Nissan ARIYA.
The artwork is displayed digitally in large-format outdoor sites and, using Metaverse technology, allows people to enter Nissan’s metaspace experience. By simply scanning the available QR code, users are directed to the art landing page where they can start to explore the room, and then virtually connect two electric power leads together to open the artwork portal and move around your chosen electrified city.
While users explore each piece of art, the new Nissan ARIYA descends onto a platform in the centre of the room, where people can then explore the real-life model to discover all of its impressive features.
Nissan GB Marketing Director Nic Thomas, said: “The Japanese timeless design and innovation of the ARIYA allows us to influence and explore new ways of communicating with our customers, and I am very excited to be able to promote Nissan as one of the first car manufacturers to utilise the Metaverse in this immersive and inclusive manner. This is the start for us to continue to explore and test and learn new ways of bringing our electrified brand stories to life, and showcase our own product innovations in an environment that fits with our innovative leadership brand values.”
Barry Christie, Global Creative Lead at Meta Creative Shop, said: “With the Nissan Electric Lab, you can get really close to the new Nissan ARIYA and the campaign’s artists’ electrified artwork; in fact, you can literally step into it with a Meta Quest headset for a fully immersive experience or explore it in 3D on your mobile or computer.”
Nissan is one of the first car brands to take an exploratory step into the Metaverse, utilising existing 2D and 3D VR building blocks to create an immersive art experience. We look forward to seeing how the Metaverse will continue to be built over the next decade, and how this will affect the future of the customer car-buying experience.