Nissan Scoops Silver at the 2016 MENA Effie Awards

At this year’s MENA Effie Awards, Nissan Middle East’s recent campaign around its partnership with the International Cricket Council (ICC), has landed the Japanese automaker a silver award in the ‘Entertainment and Sports’ category, for its campaign, #MomentsThatCount.

Nissan becomes the first automotive brand in the region to win an award in this category.

The winning campaign, #MomentsThatCount, was aimed at creating awareness around Nissan’s recent sponsorship agreement with the International Cricket Council (ICC). Nissan executed the campaign by taking over a street cricket game and providing players with an incredible and an unexpected experience that they will never forget.

Nissan surprised the players having one of the greatest bowlers of all time, Wasim Akram, to drop in on them unannounced and join in their game. To add more excitement to the match, the company set a pop-up cricket pitch, as well as provided players with world class kit, which included branded equipment and clothing.

The Nissan match takeover engaged with fans globally by tapping into the heightened excitement around ICC World Twenty20, owning moments of cricketing excitement on and off the field. Overall opinion of Nissan amongst  Asians improved dramatically and the campaign was a great contributor to the sales growth among the target audience.

Commenting on this achievement, Samir Cherfan, Managing Director at Nissan Middle East said, “The #MomentsThatCount campaign had a tremendous impact on the community and showed how a small gesture of goodwill among strangers can have a landslide effect on public opinion.  We are extremely proud that this has been recognized by the Effie Awards which is a trusted index for the most comprehensive global rankings in marketing effectiveness.”

Cricket is extremely popular in the Emirates with many residents taking part in  matches in car parks and other public spaces. Nobody could anticipate that one of the greatest bowlers of all time, Wasim Akram, would drop in unannounced and join such a casual public match.

The Nissan team arrived in Patrol pickups loaded with high quality equipment for the players including flags, stumps, helmets, gloves, sweaters, kit bags, balls, and of course, the finest English Willow bats autographed by Wasim Akram. The equipment was given to the players as gifts for them to enjoy for years to come.

Nissan became a global sponsor of international cricket in October 2015 when it announced an eight-year deal with the International Cricket Council (ICC).