MUMBAI: With the slowdown taking place in the auto sector many companies are looking at ways to cut costs including marketing. However, since Nissan is a new entrant in the market its marketing spend will more than double this year while promotional spend on a per car basis will rise by 30 per cent.

Hover Automotive India is Nissan‘s sales and marketing partner in India. The company‘s CEO Dinesh Jain said that 60 per cent of its spend goes towards above the line activities.

"Out of that 55 per cent goes towards television," he said. The slowdown, he concedes, has posed challenges which mean increasing operational efficiencies and making sure that the marketing rupee travels further.
 
The company has tied up with National Geographic Channel for the show ‘X-treme Trail‘ which is currently airing every Sunday at 9 pm. The company‘s SUV is featured in the show. Jain adds that it did not want to be associated with a run off the mill show. "We wanted a show that would showcase our product‘s capabilities. While the show was National Geographic Channel‘s idea the extreme part of it was co-created. We made sure that our vehicles were available. We also gave management time and also bore some part of the production cost.

"Brand Nissan is known for its product Innovations around the world. Nissan X-trail with the new 2.0L M9R fuel-efficient diesel engine combined with the most capable ALL MODE 4X4-i system makes it a unique vehicle in its class. In the X-treme Trail program, the Nissan X-trail has surpassed the expectations of all 19 amateur drivers and the two final winners who successfully drove it to one of the most difficult terrains in the world, the Siachen Glacier which also reconfirms the claims that the car is perfectly designed for city as well has off-road driving."