27 October 2010

Nissan Leaf & Baby Boomers (Part II)

The first post about the Nissan Leaf discussed the web site.  I neglected to mention the miniscule, mealy fonts and poor choices for color palette and contrasts. Read this.

Here’s a nifty computer fly-though I think is on the Leaf site (although please don’t ask me to find it again – instead, I’ll just toss it up from YouTube):

Fly-Through

What I like: The dashboard appears to be large and readable. 

Some past posts about marketing/advertising automobiles to Boomers:

Car Spots Driving in the Wrong Direction (2006)

Coming Boom in Boomer-Friendly Transport (2008)
imageMy point three years ago was that Baby Boomers were buying up those mid-priced boxy cars (even though they were being marketed to college kids and twenty-somethings) because they were easy to get in and out of, easy to see out of, and some had large dashboards that were easy to read. So why not build cars with these and more features for older drivers? And market them as such?

Who’s gonna buy this car? (2009)

What Next From The Crystal Ball of Common Sense? (2009)

If you’re offering a car to the 50+ demo, physical comfort and ease of use had better be front and center in all marketing material. 

Somewhere tucked away in the Leaf web site (don’t make me look for it – that’ll take hours):

  • 6-way manual adjustable driver’s seat
  • 4-way manual adjustable front-passenger’s seat

Great. But let’s see it somewhere where we can see it. 

And how about a video showing how easy it is getting in and out of the car, the large windshield, big mirrors, etc.

This worries me – from a piece on the Forbes website:

… The much-desired feeling of automotive superiority will have to come from the zero-emission badge, not a horsepower rating or superior creature comforts.

Not surprisingly, an independent source has made the best video about the Nissan Leaf:

A review by CNet’s Brian Cooley

This one’s just as good:

Brian Cooley & Nissan Leaf

My point: A couple of video reviews and a trip to Wikipedia offer more information and ‘reason why’ then the Nissan Leaf’s flashy, convoluted official web site.

Not good.

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