Nissan aims to achieve carbon neutrality across its operations and product life cycles by 2050; its mission is to electrify every all-new vehicle offering in key markets by the early 2030s. A recent milestone saw Nissan become the inaugural manufacturer to commit to Formula E GEN4, further solidifying its electrification commitments.
‘The Department of Futures’ film highlights this journey in a fun, cheeky way by involving the next generation in shaping its future endeavors. In previous work, called ‘Nissan EV School’, the Formula E team was the focus, and it was they who immersed and inspired children whilst teaching them all about electric vehicles.
Now, the kids are in the driving seat, and they’re putting the team through the wringer, grilling Nissan Formula E drivers on their performance, putting Tommaso Volpe, the team principal and managing director, through an intense meeting, asking for a celebration dance if Nissan wins, proffering tips, and treating them to an impromptu yoga session to soothe their nerves.
To learn more, I caught up with Lara Hallam + Hannah Rendell from Dark Horses, the creative team behind the project.
What was the brief?
The challenge for this brief was to show how Nissan Formula E are the experts in electrification and are leading the way in the future of EV technology.
It needed to work as a second iteration of a previous campaign, ‘Nissan EV School’, which saw kids getting a crash course in EVs from Nissan’s racing drivers.
How did the initial pitch/brainstorming phase go?
We began the brainstorming process by exploring unexpected and entertaining ways we could collide the worlds of kids and professional racing.
Bringing the excitement of electric to life in a youthful and playful way was a really rich area, so we started by just running at it and seeing where it took us. Despite the end product being a video, we initially considered a ton of different routes and media, from creating fake products and PR stunts, to entire parody films.
What was the process behind ideating the concept?
We landed on the final concept after thinking about the brief in reverse - instead of bringing electric racing into the world of kids, we brought kids into the world of electric racing.
Once we settled on ‘The Department of Futures’ - Nissan Formula E’s new team made up of the future leaders in electrification - we went to town to see how funny and insightful we could make the kids’ visit to the garage.
We were in the helpful position of having worked closely with Nissan over the past two years, so we understood the level of brand messaging needed and the humour they liked. We began writing a mix of jokes and prompts, seeing where we needed more scripted moments and where improv from the kids would be best.
After all, we had the benefit of kids being naturally hilarious on their own. It was always key for us that we kept that level of natural childish charm to whatever we created.
What was the production process like?
We had a quick turnaround, with only a month from final idea sign-off to shoot.
It was a unique experience of developing the script at the same time as speaking to directors, location scouting, and casting.
We teamed up with directing duo JAK (Jo and Katie) from Knucklehead, who worked on Nissan EV Schools last year as well as other projects at Dark Horses. They have a natural knack at getting the best performances from kids, and an already extensive knowledge of the client, so it felt like a no brainer.
What was the biggest challenge during production? How did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge was constantly editing the script throughout production.
We had to find the right balance of hitting the brand points, but doing it in a way that felt natural and left room for us to create an unscripted, almost mockumentary feel.
We tackled this by writing prompts, rather than lines, for the kids. If their lines were too jargon heavy and staged, it would always look and feel forced. So, we set about creating funny moments we could feed the kids, touching on brand points but leaving room for their natural charm to come through.
One example of this was when we were asked to include a point about the importance of the drivers staying calm on track. So, instead of writing a line, we had the kids do yoga with the drivers and prompted them to give a pep talk on staying calm.
What kit/tools/software were used to create the project?
We were very lucky that Nissan Formula E already had a lot of great props to give us to help bring the ‘Nissan HQ’ garage set to life.
They provided a Formula E showcar, a Nissan ARIYA, and even mini ARIYAs for the kids to pull up in outside the garage.
What is one funny or notable thing that happened during production?
As you’d probably expect, the kids themselves had us all in stitches on set.
They really impressed us with their confidence when interacting with the drivers and team, and definitely didn’t hold back when bossing them about.
One of the kids we brought back from EV schools last year, Oliver, was especially hilarious. His cheekiness really came through in the film, and watching him rip into our driver, Oliver Rowland, was very entertaining.
What’s the main message of this project and why does it matter?
The takeaway is that Nissan is so committed to electrification, that they’re already thinking about the next generation.
How long did it take from inception to delivery?
From initial briefing to shoot, it was just over 2 months. Then roughly another month in post production, delivering around the end of April.
Can you describe the creative spark or inspiration behind the initial concept? Was there a specific moment or insight that ignited the idea?
Unusually for us, this was one of the first creative routes we came up with. We’ve all seen the hilarious parody videos online where kids act like adults, and watching those definitely sparked the core of our idea of bringing kids in as the new ‘big bosses’.
It was in a creative review that we elevated the route with the team to become the idea of creating a whole new department at Nissan.
How did you ensure that the concept aligned with the brand's values, goals, and target audience?
With a lot of collaboration with our client. As we said earlier we have a lot of experience working on Nissan Formula E which streamlined the process.
It was a case of aligning on our key brand points, before we added some magic to them. It was vital to us that it still felt like kids being kids, rather than kids pretending to talk and act like adults.
Were there any alternative concepts or ideas considered during the ideation phase? If so, what led to the selection of the final concept?
We had a few ideas on the table at points that took us down alternative routes, focusing on the excitement of driving EVs in general, rather than using kids to drive the message.
One of which was looking at parodying classic movie moments that had people doing things just for the joy of it, to bring back the excitement of driving ‘just because’ to our audience. However we kept coming back to showing kids as the next ‘electric generation’, as it felt so much stronger and true to our insight.
What role did consumer research or market analysis play in shaping the concept and its execution?
Recently there’s been widespread debates in the EV industry around the ‘electrification tipping point’, as well as the news of the Government pushing back the cut-off date for selling petrol cars to 2035.
We wanted to use these insights as an opportunity to show how committed Nissan is to electrification. Unlike the Government, they’ve kept to their goal of ending petrol sales by 2030 and are helping to build up the future generations of electric leaders.
Can you discuss any unique or unconventional production techniques or approaches used to bring the idea to life?
The biggest unconventional element was writing scenarios and prompts, instead of a traditional script.
This filtered through into the editing process. After the shoot we were left with hours of hilarious moments that we could mix and match, fitting them together in endless different ways. It gave us the freedom to shape the narrative how we wanted as well as creating a lot of bonus content too.
How did you ensure that the concept remained innovative and stood out in a crowded marketplace?
This probably sounds like the same answer anyone would give, but it really is a case of knowing what’s already been done and seeing how you can do it in a fresh way.
The world of EV and motorsports ads is often very high-tech and futuristic feeling, so we knew we wanted something that felt more grounded and authentic.
What do you hope it achieves for the brand?
We hope it helps to highlight just how dedicated Nissan is to leading the way in electrification, changing people’s perception to see them as the brand at the forefront of EV expertise.
Credit list for the work?
Steve Howell - Executive Creative Director
Lara Hallam and Hannah Rendell - Creative Team
JAK - Directors
Jake Mancer - Senior Account Manager
Alex Fearn - Business Director
Charlie Hurlock - Senior Producer
Clara Gienger - Junior Producer
Simon Hanley - Senior Strategist
Hunkydory - Production Company
Magic edit - Post Production
ELMNTL - Post Production
