Interbrand has teamed up with D&AD for its annual student award competition. The challenge is to build a brand that will represent car manufacturer Nissan's line of sustainable vehicles.

Nissan is aiming to appeal to a new generation of consumers, with its products becoming lifestyle statements demonstrating an awareness of issues surrounding sustainability.

In creating this new lifestyle sub-brand, entrants are asked to consider the following principles:

What is the big insight? What need will the brand address for its audience? How will it anticipate the needs of tomorrow? How will it (re)waken the audience's desire for Nissan's products and services?
How will the new brand expression live and flex in different situations? What will be the new sub-brand's personality?
How will the new brand involve its audiences and encourage participation? How will social media and digital channels be used to engage people in a dialogue?

"Great brands anticipate our needs and transform our desires," Interbrand's Andy Payne said. "We believe that to create such powerful brands, we must encourage curiosity. We hope that this exercise will enable students to gain both the confidence and experience to build a brand that has the power to change the world."

Adds Interbrand Sampson's Creative Director in Johannesburg, Anton Krugel: "This is a fantastic opportunity for African students to get involved in a global competition."

Open to students from around the world, the prize is a place in the D&AD Graduate Academy - a "creative bootcamp that supports and inspires exciting new talent transitioning from education to industry".

Entries must be submitted by Wednesday, 20 March 2013. Download the brief.

About Interbrand Sampson:

Based in Johannesburg, with offices in Accra, Gaborone, Lagos and Nairobi, we act as a hub for Africa. Working in close partnership with our clients we combine the rigorous strategy and analysis of brand consulting with world-class design and creativity. This reach enables us to conduct global research, investigate emerging trends, introduce brands across markets, and better service our clients where they want to do business. Interbrand Sampson has won Finweek's AdReview 'Best Branding and Design Agency' in 2009 and 2010. Interbrand is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Omnicom Group, the global leader in marketing and corporate communications.

About Interbrand

Founded in 1974, Interbrand is one of the world's largest branding consultancies. With nearly 40 offices in 27 countries, Interbrand's combination of rigorous strategy, analytics, and world-class design enables it to assist clients in creating and managing brand value effectively, across all touchpoints, in all market dynamics. Interbrand is widely recognised for its annual Best Global Brands report, the definitive guide to the world's most valuable brands, as well as its Best Global Green Brands report, which identifies the gap between customer perception and a brand's performance relative to sustainability. It is also known for having created brandchannel.com, a Webby-award winning resource about brand marketing and branding. For more information on Interbrand, visit interbrand.com.

About D&AD

D&AD is a membership organisation for the global design and advertising community. It promotes, stimulates and awards creative excellence in business communication. Not for profit, it provides material support for creative education and people around the world.

For more information, please contact:

Interbrand Sampson:
Jeremy Sampson
Group Executive Chairman
Tel: +27 11 783 9595
Fax: +27 11 783 9596
Email:

Doug de Villiers
Group CEO
Tel: +27 11 783 9595
Fax: +27 11 783 9596
Email:

Anton Krugel
Creative Director
Tel: +27 11 783 9595
Fax: +27 11 783 9596
Email:

D&AD, Nissan and Interbrand: one team