Ikimono-gakari - Serena CM Presentation at Nissan Global

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when the “eco-friendly” push started in the car industry. It may have been the popularity of initial hybrid offerings from Honda and others that compelled everyone else to keep up. It could have also been the Hummer, the massive vehicle whose image gradually changed from that of a power symbol to an international icon for size compensation. What both the Hummer and hybrids have demonstrated, however, is that image may very well be everything. Everything from the color of promotional materials down to the selection of artists to record commercial songs with helps shape customers’ opinions of a brand in ways this opening paragraph cannot count.

Nissan, whose global headquarters are located some ten minutes from Yokohama Station, is making no small attempt at drawing in new customers. Their line of eco-friendly remodels was recently updated with the Serena, a minivan sporting up to 15.4 km/L and over two dozen custom seating arrangements. Several units were on display at the spacious showroom, along with other cars in the lineup. Despite the mass of cameramen and Nissan higher-ups promoting their newest vehicle, the Serena itself was not the star of this particular morning.

Again, image is everything, or at least a close second: today’s function was centered not on the car, but its commercial. In the 15-second clip, displayed on a massive screen above the Nissan stage, a family jaunts about a grassy field and travels to a nearby forest, where the sons play with bugs as the parents watch with a smile. In almost every shot rests the Serena: carrier of families and protector of children. Interlaced with these shots were mentions of the new car’s specs: the aforementioned seating options, pricing options, and so on, all to the chorus of Kaze to Mirai, an upbeat song about, well, carrying someone towards a bright future.

Here you have a car that’s both friendly, eco-friendly, and can help your kids catch bugs while lifting your spirits. This is a powerful image, and what better way to drive the point along than to invite the image song’s artist, pop trio Ikimono-gakari , to talk about the song. Some thirty minutes into the event, and after the CM was displayed the group stepped onto the stage. Rather than performing the song for the dozens of reporters, the group instead took turns talking about their feelings behind the project.

Vocalist Kiyoe Yoshioka, clad in a modest brown vest jacket over a lighter blouse, was decidedly soft-spoken, but assured the press that the feelings of the song matched what she felt the car could accomplish. Guitarist and leader Yoshiki Mizuno, appearing in a casual black jacket, seemed to agree. Amongst the three, the most talkative was guitarist-harmonicist Hotaka Yamashita, sporting a grey jacket and a pinkish streak in his hair. Once the three had opened the room for questions, Yamashita traded jokes with Yoshioka and the press for several minutes.

The Serena commercial featuring Kaze to Mirai is currently playing on Japanese TV nationwide. You can find the song on the band’s new best-of album, Ikimonobakari, which is on sale now.