Nissan Maneuvers More Mascot Mayhem In March Madness Road To Final Four
Monday, March 6, 2023 at 07:26PM By Barry Janoff
March 6, 2023: Building on its March Madness campaign from 2022, Nissan has added more mascots, a TikTok element and Candace Parker, Kenny Smith and Lindsay Gottlieb, University of Southern California women's basketball head coach, to its 2023 activation.
The spots support such Nissan vehicles as the all-electric Ariya — the official EV of March Madness — Nissan Z, Rogue, Altima, Frontier and Pathfinder.
Nissan, an official partner of the NCAA March Madness Men’s and Women’s basketball tournaments, said it would use the multi-level effort to interact with fans, viewers and consumers throughout both tournaments and then on the ground at the Women’s Final Four in Dallas and the Men’s Final Four in Houston.
Creative will air across TV — including official NCAA March Madness broadcast partners ESPN, ABC, CBS and Turner Sports networks — as well as digital and social media.
Nissan has its own online destination for its March Madness coverage.
“The March Madness tournaments give Nissan unlimited ways to be creative and connect with our target audiences as they share their passion for this annual cultural moment,” Allyson Witherspoon, Nissan U.S. vp and CMO, said via the auto company.
“This year we’re thrilled to show our commitment to continuous innovation with a first-of-its-kind TikTok campaign.”
Nissan said TikTok users would receive a “Now” notification to post a video of “how and where they’re watching the game, sharing the excitement with their followers.”
People who 
post their TikTok Now moments to their Instagram account will be entered into a sweepstakes offering four tickets to the 2024 Men’s Final Four game in Phoenix.
Nissan also is again hosting an online bracket challenge in partnership with CBS Sports.
Mascots in the new creative — many of whom appeared in the 2022 campaign — include Brutus (Ohio State), Blue Devil (Duke), Otto the Orange (Syracuse), Fighting Irish (Notre Dame), Boomer (Oklahoma), Baldwin (Oregon), Pete the Pirate (Seton Hall), Louie the Cardinal (Louisville), Spike the Bulldog (Gonzaga), Herky the Hawk (Iowa), Tree (Stanford), Rameses (UNC) and Shasta (Houston).
An intro spot, “Ride Together,” which plays out to "Ballroom Blitz" by Sweet, sees Smith is jogging on a street when Brutus puts him in a car with Gottlieb. “Is it March already?!” asks Smith. They end up on the Road To Final Four. “I love this time of year,” Smith offers.
In “Ol’ Days,” Smith, Parker and Brutus are driving to the Final Four when Smith reminisces about the time he drove to the Final Four in a 1980s Nissan, playing cassettes and having a full head of hair. “Good days, bad hair,” he says.
In “Plant Food,” Gottlieb is driving with the Stanford Tree, who constantly wants to stop because he is always hungry. Her passenger resolves the problem by opening the sun roof, explaining, “Photosynthesis.”
“The Jam” finds the Oregon Duck, Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Gonzaga Bulldog rocking out to a song on the radio, so much so that the Duck begins to lose his feathers.
UNC fans in “Fresh Ink” driving to the Finals each have tattoos of the UNC Ram. Turns out Rameses also has a tattoo — of himself.
In "Ride With Them," Candace’s Nissan is full of mascots, so Smith has to ride with the “angry face” mascots from Iowa, Louisville and Gonzaga. “You sure? They don’t look too happy about that,” says Smith. “Don’t worry," replies Candace. "They always look like that.”
As part of Tourney Town at the Women’s Final Four, Dallas, in Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center,
Nissan activation includes basketball contests, panel series discussions, photo opportunities, murals from local artists, giveaways and basketball talent appearances.
At the Men’s Final Four, Houston, Tip-Off Tailgate (located outside NRG Stadium) the Nissan fan experience will feature musical acts, photo opportunities, giveaways, murals by local artists and basketball talent appearances.
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