Nissan Bets Ad Dollars on 4 Models

The brand will devote 80 % of its marketing funds to the Altima, Rogue, Sentra and Versa, Fred Diaz, Nissan North America senior vice president for sales, marketing and operations, said at the NADA/J.D. Power Automotive Forum here.

That will help Nissan Motor's goal of capturing a 10 % share of the U.S. market, with combined Nissan and Infiniti sales, by March 2017, up from 8.4 % at the end of 2014.

"We're focusing on the core models that drive our volume," Diaz said. "Eighty cents of every marketing dollar we spend is focused on these four models."

That leaves 20 % of the marketing budget to cover a wide-ranging portfolio of volume and image vehicles, including the soon-to-debut Maxima sport sedan, the recently released Murano crossover, the high-profile Leaf electric car and a new-generation full-size Titan pickup that will appear late this year.

"In the past, Nissan constantly tried to water all the flowers," Diaz said. "The problem was, when you looked at them, all of them were wilting."

The concentration on four models is part of Nissan's "Fewer, Bigger, Better" marketing campaign, he said. "With emphasis on our core models, we want to dominate platforms where we can fully engage our customers."

Nissan also will give more attention to advertising during major sports events, which audiences tend to watch in real time rather than on DVRs, which allow viewers to fast-forward through commercials.

The efforts already are showing positive results, Diaz said. The brand experienced a 90 % increase in purchase consideration following its return to Super Bowl advertising this year.