Nissan EV learns tricks from once popular Beanie Babies

Historically, the best money-making products have not always been the ones with the greatest functionality or innovation, they have been the ones that from the beginning were carefully crafted and executed from a marketing side to create and stimulate a demand.

They were the stuffed animals turned Beanie Babies in the 90s or the Cabbage Patch Dolls in the 80’s—each of which grossed huge chunks of change. In a world of all different stuffed dolls and animals, why did those make it? Smart marketing.

Cars are no different. Generate a demand from the beginning, limit the supply, and bam, suddenly people are anxiously waiting to get on a list and be the first in line for the next hot model. With all the hype in the electric car industry, people are left demanding the environmentally friendly vehicles without being able to actually hit the accelerator, grind the gears, or turn the wheel—at least for now.

In the next few years, however, electric cars of every make and color will hit the roads, and some will make it and others will flop. Tesla’s will cruise the highways at a lightning pace, the Chevy Volts, with their sleek design and sport engine, will wow consumers and the standard electric sedans will provide convenience and affordability for the average consumer to buy an electric car.

Out of the gate, we can already anticipate who the victors will be. The Chevy Volt, with its already accumulating Wait List (or Want List as Chevy calls it) and popular web site, has generated a buzz since 2007. Over 33,000 people, according to the Volt site, have already signed up to get in line to buy the fully electric vehicle. Additionally, the Tesla, just from its racecar performance statistics has raised a few eyebrows and licked a few lips of high end consumers. The two vehicles have made a name for themselves through good marketing from the beginning.

The rest of the field of electric cars is waiting to distinguish themselves, but the Nissan EV may have just made its move. Nissan smartly latched on to cities that have agreed to partnerships that will promise to create electric charging stations within their perimeters.

According to a few reports out of Seattle, Nissan agreed to sell the Nissan EV in the Seattle area in exchange for Seattle’s help in building charging stations, developing incentives, and considering regulatory changes that would help support the EV. An additional report claims that Nissan has also reached out to San Diego, Phoenix, Tucson, Oregon, and Tennessee for assistance in building charging stations in those areas as well.

To me, it is the perfect marketing solution. Nissan partners with cities that want to benefit from a cleaner environment and in return, Nissan sells cars while Seattle nonchalantly becomes the leader in electric cars. It is the same tactic McDonalds used when they partnered with the popular Beanie Babies. McDonalds got the publicity and Beanie Babies sold more toys. It was a huge success.

Let’s see if their marketing plans translate into the same type of success.