Infiniti Creates i-view, an Immersive Sensory Experience in European Showrooms
Infiniti was first established in North America as the luxury brand of Nissan, and over the last 20 years has carefully developed its brand ethos to capture the very essence of what it describes as “Modern Japanese Luxury.” Infiniti is now bringing this ethos to the discerning markets of Europe, where a high level of quality is demanded in automotive products and services.
The essence of the Infiniti proposition is the quest for “Individualiti,” a desire by Infiniti to find unique and inspired ways that ensure customers get the car ownership experience they want and deserve at every point of interaction with Infiniti, beginning with the first moment they visit an Infiniti center.
It is at this early point in the journey that Infiniti begins to instill this sense of brand Individualiti to its customers. Infiniti hopes its customers sense that the company is more proactive, more responsive and more invigorating than anything a customer has ever experienced.
The Challenge
Infiniti recognized early in the development of its showroom concept that there were substantial ways that the brand could deliver the “Total Ownership Experience.” The company wanted to create an immersive and engaging introduction to the brand as soon as a prospective customer walks through the door. The goal was to combine modern architecture, inspiring aesthetics and highquality personal service that would put the customer in the driver’s seat. Infiniti knew it was critical to find an innovative way to offer as much or as little consultative support to customers as they wanted. The challenge was, therefore, to combine these elements in such a way that the overall showroom experience would be immersive and interactive to enable customers to explore the brand, the products and other services in their own time and in their own way.
The Marketing Solution
Unrestricted brand exploration became the guiding principle for the development of the Infiniti digital showroom and i-view platform. i-view is a suite of digital services designed to complement the vehicles, the environment and sales consultants by offering a range of interactive audiovisual information to customers. Through i-view, customers can view, review and personalize their car options depending on their personal preferences. Customers can navigate through the i-view system on their own or side-by-side with an Infiniti sales consultant.
Now, Infiniti customers are able to view videos of the entire range of car models as they move through a wide variety of environments. Customers can pause a video and interact with the content, which then allows them to change options such as interior trim, body color, wheel design and accessories, as well as modify their preferences until they find a match for them.
Infiniti then provides these customers with the opportunity to see and touch the options selected. With the help of a sales consultant, customers can see the paint color and finish, feel the trim or the upholstery and, if necessary, compare this on a car in the showroom to help them experience more closely what the final product looks like.
Similar to tailoring, Infiniti’s approach provides a high degree of “made to order” within the options available. In the time it takes to enjoy a coffee, a customer can select a model and design it to his or her exact preferences at any new Infiniti center.
This seamless experience is made possible through an integrated approach to retail marketing within the center, from engaging sales consultants to adopt the system as a sales enabler to helping customers understand the benefits of using such a system.
“The outward simplicity of Infiniti’s i-view system, which is sublime to look at and to use, belies its complexity. As a contributor to Infiniti’s Total Ownership Experience, the i-view system adds significant value, enabling customers to immerse themselves in the brand by virtue of the digital technology carefully specified and deployed to simplify the decision making process. We’re delighted to have contributed to the creation and ongoing management of this path-finding network.”
– Oscar Elizaga, Vice President of Scala, EMEA
The Infiniti center experience will be rolled out to all European centers by the end of 2012, marking the success of the Infiniti center in providing customers with a Total Ownership Experience through its high level of tailoring, or Individualiti, delivered on its key performance indicators for Infiniti Corporation.
The Technical Solution
To create the highest quality product, Infiniti contracted Soft Audiovisuel to provide audio-visual system integration and project management services. In order for the network to be brought to life, Soft Audiovisuel partnered with Scala to provide end-to-end digital signage, interactivity and content management software plus additional consultative services.
Scala implemented its suite of content creation and asset management systems to enable Infiniti and its marketing partners to create content and distribute that content to dealerships in a controlled and structured manner.
“Infiniti Europe recognized that we could provide our customers with a clear and meaningful way of engaging our brand and our philosophy through the use of our centers as experiential touchpoints. The digital component was designed to complement, simplify and add value to that experience, and we’re pleased to say that our customers agree that their experience has been enhanced by the adoption of this digital marketing technology.”
– Nha Thi Lieu, Customer Quality Manager, Infiniti Europe
Both video and interactive content is created by Infiniti’s marketing department and their marketing and creative agencies for use throughout the network, whereupon it is then scheduled and distributed to Infiniti centers through a satellite distribution platform. Because the system is designed to unify a wide range of content from single sites to groups and cater for a variety of languages, content can be created on a site-by-site basis and delivered to a specific site as part of, or independent from, other content destined for other sites. This technical flexibility ensures that Infiniti’s content creation and management service is as tailored as possible to each center.
About Infiniti
The beginning, middle and next chapter…
Infiniti has come a long way. Now, finely tuned to conquer the demands of European roads, it’s ready to make its mark once more. It’s an exciting time for us — but it’s even more exciting for you.
Born in the U.S. from our Japanese parent company Nissan, Infiniti now has a presence in China, Russia and Switzerland, with headquarters near Geneva. We’ve been building up gradually over the last 20 years to make certain our brand DNA — what we call “Modern Japanese Luxury” — is at the heart of everything we do. Adapting this for the most sophisticated automobile market in the world, and the most discerning drivers, has taken time to craft.
Our Infiniti Centers are known for their awe-inspiring architecture, welcoming environment and unique services. And over the coming years, we will continue to build these with the care and attention to detail for which they have become renowned. By the end of 2010, 30 more centers will be open across Europe. Infiniti has arrived, and we promise it’s been worth the wait. More information is available at www.infiniti.eu.
About Soft Audiovisuel
Soft Audiovisuel is one of the principal audio/visual companies in the French market. With a national coverage of 15 agencies and an international network of over 300 collaborators, the Soft group offers 35 years of experience and expertise. Soft specializes in the consulting and implementation of services and audio/visual equipment and broadcast, with activities in France and throughout Europe. On the basis of its strong foundation as an audio/visual architect, Soft has developed a particular set of solutions for digital signage. More information is available at www.soft.fr.