JAPANESE automaker Nissan has received a prestigious Gold Lynx advertising award for its innovative ‘Self-Healing Paint' campaign. Nissan's R&D team has broken new ground in the automotive sector with its Self-Healing Paint technology, which makes a vehicle scratchproof. To spread the word of the product, which represents a major breakthrough for the automotive industry, TBWA\RAAD Dubai agency developed a series of print ads and posters for Nissan Middle East highlighting the unique feature. Samir Cherfan, managing director Nissan Middle East, said: “We couldn't be more proud to receive a Gold Lynx Award for our Self-Healing Paint advertising campaign because in this case it highlights the tremendous work of our international R&D teams.” “Automotive technology is moving at a rapid pace nowadays and our teams in our research labs are meeting challenges head-on and triumphing with ground-breaking and exciting initiatives such as our Self-Healing Paint.” “The new product is part of a technological evolution that enhances the driving experience of the motoring public. Nissan is committed to bringing next-generation innovative technology to the auto industry today. Our R&D teams are continually carrying out work that will have a profound impact on all-things automotive.” Nissan's super-hydrophobic and oleophobic paint is impervious to water and oils. The technology, sold by UltraTech under the name of Ultra-Ever Dry, is in prototype form as applied by the carmaker's European engineers on a Nissan Note. In many ways, it works like Rain X (where the solution's polymers react with pores in the windshield glass to create a barrier that repels precipitation). Ultra-Ever dry creates a layer of air between the paint and environment; when mud, dirt or oils touch the surface, it rolls off leaving a clean, streak-free appearance. Water-resistant coatings aren't new, and Nissan has offered a self-healing product (Scratch Shield) on its cars for years. Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands have been developing a surface coating that not only repels precipitation like Rain X, but combines the self-healing aspects of Scratch Shield. In 2012, those same researchers expected to be six to eight years away from a production-ready product. The Lynx recognition was for a ‘Bandaid campaign' featuring different plasters made of car paint to show how the new paint technology ‘heals'. The impressive campaign saw two Bronze Lynx awards alongside its Gold. The Lynx Awards in Dubai honor and celebrate MENA's finest work in creative advertising with work adjudicated by international juries. Lynx 2015 winners were recently announced at a gala ceremony at the Madinat Jumeirah. The Lynx honors join a host of other highly-regarded major international and regional accolades attained by the Japanese automaker previously this fiscal year. They include: Five Cristals culminating in Cristal Global Leader Automotive; Interband - Top Global Green Brands; Effie Awards - Most Effective Automotive Brand in the Middle East; Interband – Best Global Brands for 2014; CDP Global 500 Climate Change Report – 100A; and Effie Awards - Most Awarded Automotive Company. — SG
