Nissan launches communications initiative with CNBC Arabiya

In the lead-up to a series of major launches, Nissan's Corporate Communications Department and CNBC Arabiya have produced a special testimonial campaign starring Nissan President and CEO Carlos Ghosn, the man credited with Nissan's dramatic global success, to reach key target audiences across the Middle East.

Nissan's decision to launch this initiative with CNBC Arabiya reflects a move to focus its consumer reach on key market segments. According to Nissan's Middle East Corporate Communications Manager Monal Zeidan, CNBC Arabiya's unique broadcasting mix and audience was a deciding factor. "Satellite television is still the most powerful medium on the regional landscape and CNBC Arabiya is the ideal platform to reach a growing and influential audience," he said. Zeidan confirmed Ghosn testimonials campaign would be broadcast on CNBC Arabiya for four months.

Carlos Ghosn, the only Arabic-speaking CEO of a major global company, makes his Middle East on-screen debut on May 15th, when the Nissan campaign is launched on CNBC Arabiya. The first testimonial focuses on the implications of the Nissan 180 Plan - the three-year business revival strategy masterminded by Ghosn that was instrumental in Nissan's success story. In the second testimonial Ghosn focuses on Nissan's global sales strategy and the importance of the Middle East's markets. In the third testimonial, Ghosn comments on Nissan's multicultural working environment and in the fourth segment, on Japanese economic trends.

Carlos Ghosn is no stranger to the Middle East. In 2003 he made a highly publicized tour of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Lebanon and Egypt, where he visited Nissan's newly acquired assembly plant.

Commenting on the Nissan campaign, Rachid Mtaini, CNBC Arabiya's Vice-President for Sales and Marketing, said, "Nissan's transformation and record-breaking success under Carlos Ghosn and its deepening commitment to the Middle East business environment is a message this channel is pleased to carry to its viewers across the Arab world; a growing and unique audience that is powerfully influential and affluent. CNBC Arabiya is proud to support the Nissan brand."