Dive Brief:

• Nissan's luxury auto brand Infiniti has teamed with celebrities on Cameo to answer shoppers' questions about its 2022 QX60 model, per a company press release. The Q&A also helps to launch the brand's new reservation program, which allows consumers to reserve a car before it goes on sale.
• Shoppers can submit a question through Infiniti's reservation page and receive a personal video response via Cameo from Gabby Douglas, Erin Andrews, Clinton Kelly, Misha Collins or Dule Hill. Infiniti will later archive video responses on up to 100 topics to build an FAQ system that consumers can access at a later date.
• "Q60 x Cameo," created in partnership with digital agency Critical Mass, is an effort by Infiniti to enhance its online shopping experience and is the latest from a car brand hoping to reach younger, cord-cutting consumers on mobile media.

Dive Insight:

Infiniti's activation on Cameo is an effort to create a more personalized experience for online car shoppers. Celebrities will be available to answer questions on a range of topics, from features to pricing to delivery information, which could help emulate the advantages offered by in-person shopping with a dealer.

As more consumers shop for vehicles on the internet, automakers like Infiniti are hoping to engineer better customer experiences, which could explain the launch of the luxury brand's new reservation program. Through the program, shoppers will be able to reserve their own 2022 QX60 from July 13 until the car goes on sale in early fall. Reservation programs are a hot trend in the auto industry as brands try to capitalize on early fan excitement for new models.

By tapping celebrities from various circles, Infiniti could attract a wider pool of consumers. Gabby Douglas and Erin Andrews may appeal to sports enthusiasts, Clinton Kelly could draw in fans of reality TV and Misha Collins and Dule Hill, both actors in drama series, may help to entice fans of more serious productions. The personalized nature of these celebrity appearances — i.e. answering specific questions from consumers — could drive further interest in Infiniti. Last year, the car brand attempted a similar strategy when it called up "Hamilton" star Daveed Diggs for a test drive on Instagram live.

Also notable is that Infiniti will try to leverage its Cameo content at-scale by archiving videos on up to 100 topics for an FAQ system that consumers will be able to access at a later date. This could help the brand circumvent a difficulty of a business model that relies specifically on videos created for individual people.

Infiniti's Cameo campaign is the latest example of a car brand activating mobile media to reach cord-cutting, younger consumers. Gen Z and millennials grew up using the internet to shop, and automakers are shifting to digital-focused efforts in order to meet their habits . Volkswagen recently activated Pinterest for a virtual test drive, and Hyundai used augmented reality (AR) tech to promote its hybrid models.

As for Cameo, the celebrity shoutout app is expanding to a new industry to build partnerships. This move comes after the company experienced a surge in use during the pandemic by celebrities who needed new ways to earn money while production studios remained shuttered. Cameo's success has inspired the emergence of copycat platforms from other companies, such as Facebook's Super and Dubsmash's influencer-focused Shoutout.