Nissan's Retail Branding

Nissan North America (Gardenia, Calif.) has announced the opening of a Team Nissan dealership in Lithia Springs, Ga., that reflects the new branding and design initiatives created by the auto company and consultant Lippincott & Margulies (New York).

It is the first dealership to integrate Nissan's new retail environment design initiative for facilities and signage and marks the beginning of Nissan's efforts to apply a new visual identity and design and create a consistent and coherent Nissan brand image at retail outlets. It has also been designed to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty by managing traffic flow to insure all customers are being taken care of in a timely and efficient manner.

The design features bolder signage, a more welcoming entrance and distinctive architecture that reflects the design language in new Nissan vehicles. The designers feel they've accomplished an easier -to-navigate layout and that customers will respond positively to amenities like children's playrooms, business lounges and retail shops. Dealers, in turn, are expected to benefit from an integrated sales and service departments and greater cross-selling opportunities.

Team Nissan is part of AutoNation Inc. (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), the largest car dealer in the U.S., which operates 28 Nissan dealerships. It will be completing projects this year under the new Nissan program in Miami and Fort Lauderdale and, over the next five years, says it plans to apply elements of the retail environment program to the rest of its 25 Nissan franchises.

“Our significant investment in 28 Nissan franchises reflects how strongly we value our relationship with the brand and how eagerly we await the new Nissans that are headed for showrooms,” said Michael Maroone, AutoNation president and coo. “This is why we're enthusiastically supporting the new retail environment program. It will lead to greater sales of Nissans and more loyal Nissan customers.”

The new Nissan retail environment design was first unveiled to dealers in September 2001 and, based on current dealer demand for the program, Nissan anticipates over 100 Nissan dealers will commence construction during 2002. Nissan has approximately 1100 dealerships nationwide, and the company expects all of them to be redesigned in the next six to nine years. The new retail design initiative is also being expanded globally.

Lippincott & Margulies did extensive interviews with Nissan customers and dealers and assessed Nissan and competitor locations throughout the U.S. “Our research indicates that the retail environment plays an integral role in customer satisfaction, likelihood of transaction and repeat business,” said Peter Dixon, Lippincott & Margulies senior partner. “With that in mind, we created a unique, Nissan-branded point of sale that enhances the experience for the customer while improving dealership operations.”

To facilitate successful brand integration, Lippincott & Margulies used Customer Experience Mapping, a proprietary method that enables the firm to identify the factors that impact a customer's retail experience and then ensure that the brand attributes are expressed at each of these critical touch points.