In the spring of 1998, I participated to the TBWA International Worldwide Leadership Conference in Los Angeles. As an affiliate of this global network, I was introduced to the three surviving founders: Bill Tragos, Claude Bonnange and Uli Wiesendanger. The fourth partner, Paulo Ajroldi, had passed away in 1990.
I was extremely excited to meet the legendary Lee Clow, TBWA Worldwide’s chief creative officer, who shared examples of the group’s creative work at the conference.
We all applauded Apple’s historic “1984” and “Think Different” campaigns and the men in the conference hall were fascinated by Wonderbra’s “Look Me in the Eyes”.
But what personally attracted me the most was the campaign that launched Nissan in the US. At the time, Nissan was our only common client with TBWA, hence my eagerness to return home loaded with learnings to share. Lee Clow screened the Nissan brand campaign developed by TBWA\Chiat\Day in 1996 to help the Japanese car manufacturer broaden recognition of the brand amongst American car buyers. Unlike everything we’d been receiving from Japan in the Middle East, which always showed a Nissan being driven on a winding road as the camera captured both its exterior and interior, the American commercial told an emotional and memorable story. Known as the “Dream Garage”. This featured a young kid who hits a baseball through the window of an old barn. He cautiously steps inside looking for the ball, only to find a dog biting it and then running up into the attic. He tries to chase the dog but falls down a shaft into an underground garage filled with vintage Nissan vehicles. There he is received by a mystical Japanese character wearing a baseball cap and pink colored glasses. Mr. K shows the kid around his garage, telling him the story of each model. When he finally waves him off, he hands him back his ball, saying: “Young man, life is a journey…. enjoy the ride.”
Lee Clow then told the conference that Mr. K was not an actor, but the real Yutaka Katayama, who had served as the first president of the Nissan Motor Company in the US. In 1960, he had been dispatched against his wishes to the US and had quickly earned a name for himself when, against the will of his cautious and conservative Japanese bosses, he launched the legendary Datsun 240Z, which instantly became the best-selling car in the US.
On the flight back to Dubai I couldn’t stop thinking of how we could duplicate the US success story by introducing a “Mr. M” to Arab car buyers. I had in mind Nissan Middle East’s CEO, Kyosuke Miyoshi, who would play a role like the American Mr. K. Miyoshi was fluent in Arabic, having learned the language and the history of the Arab world at Al-Azhar University in Egypt.