Design and build an Electric Travel Guide to Stockholm

We were approached by Nissan – through our trusted partners at global communications company Edelman – to promote its electric vehicles with a unique digital activation campaign. The multinational manufacturer is a pioneer in electric vehicles. It has accelerated electrification and technological innovation, invested in charging infrastructure and made EVs more affordable.

The brief was to tap into the consumer trend for more sustainable travel and target an audience that shares the brand’s core value of sustainability and low-carbon-footprint transport. We were tasked with creating an interactive travel guide, promoting travel adventures by electric vehicle. Nissan wanted it to be exciting, digitally led, easily shareable and measurable. 

The first destination would be Stockholm, one of Scandinavia’s most exciting cities. Stockholm not only has superb cultural attractions but has made pioneering efforts in urban sustainability, with plenty of charging stations to make it easy for electric car owners to explore the city. 

The electric travel guide would launch exclusively to influencers at an event in Stockholm

What we did

An interactive map

To make the guide as interactive as possible we chose to have an interactive map as the focus, which would show selected sustainable destinations and recommended routes. 

We needed a mapping system with advanced functionality and styling capabilities so we used Mapbox, a platform we were already experienced with. It has a lot of flexibility in its infrastructure and we could implement it within the Nissan brand without making visual compromises. Unlike some other map providers it also doesn’t charge every time a user interacts with it.

We created categories for the destinations, such as restaurants, hotels, points of interest or areas of natural beauty, so that users can select what they’re interested in. Each destination then expands to show details plus links to TripAdvisor reviews and Google Maps to quickly and easily get more information. 

User experience

We designed the user journey, using Stockholm locations and descriptions provided by Edelman. 

Nissan wanted the experience to be accessible to as many people as possible so we developed multilingual functionality, with five languages including English. Further languages can be added in future as the guides expand.

Following the successful launch of the Stockholm guide, we later built a second and bigger iteration of the product, adding four more cities – Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna and Prague – with maps and roadtrips for each one plus a bigger European roadtrip.

Focus on the car 

The underlying focus of the travel guide is Nissan’s innovation in electrification so we created an About page with content on the fully electric Nissan Ariya and information on charging, to reinforce how Nissan is helping drivers to make more conscious lifestyle choices. This also links to Nissan’s Ariya sales page, where people can find out everything about the car.

Built-in analytics

The guide has integrated performance and analytics reporting, using Google Analytics, providing the client with data on areas of interest, usage patterns, most popular locations across each language and more.

After launch, we analysed how people were using the guide and worked with Nissan and Edelman to continue improving the UX, for example adding the roadtrip to the home page and segregating location types for easier browsing.

Futureproofing 

We deliberately took into account the future life of the product, building the infrastructure in a modular way that can be added to, to give the product adaptability and longevity. Having built the framework, it’s easy to add further destinations and categories. Users will get new content and travel ideas and Nissan can potentially reach a wider audience with every new destination. 

Further functionality could also be added to help build a community around the product and increase sharing and engagement e.g. users could add photos of their journeys, submit destination requests and more. 

Outcome

So far (spring 2023), 9.3k people in 106 countries have visited the guide. 

Senior leaders at Nissan have enthusiastically supported it. The Senior VP of Sustainability, Corporate Affairs and Governance said: “As we continue driving a fundamental shift in how sustainability can – and should – be at the forefront of our lifestyles in the move to an electrified future, the Nissan Electric Travel Guide demonstrates that it is possible to continue travelling while having a kinder impact on our planet.”