Infiniti.com Vision
Associate Creative Director · October 2012
As Infiniti’s digital agency of record at Critical Mass, our team was always looking for ways to improve how customers researched and shopped for a vehicle. Our research showed that most people came to manufacturer websites to do one thing: configure the vehicle they wanted. Yet most configurators at the time were basic and unengaging. They listed features with no explanation of what they were, what they did, or how they fit into your life. We pitched Infiniti a vision for the future of Infiniti.com and its regional websites. It was a rich, immersive configuration experience that showed key features in context and connected every build to real pricing, inventory and incentives at the customer’s nearest retailer.
Config-first
Research showed most customers use manufacturer sites to configure their vehicle
In context
Key vehicle features demonstrated as part of configuration, not listed beside it
Local
Pricing, inventory and incentives tied to the nearest retailer
My role
As Associate Creative Director, I led creative direction on this pitch. I shaped the research-driven premise, defined the experience, and directed the art direction team that brought the vision to life.
Creative Direction — Jason Mills
Art Direction — Min Kang, James Ayers
What I did
Led creative direction on a pitch to guide the future direction of Infiniti.com and Infiniti’s regional websites.
Centred the experience on a key research finding: that most customers use manufacturer websites to configure their vehicle and features.
Reimagined configuration as an immersive experience that demonstrated each key feature in context: what it is, what it does, and how it fits into the customer’s life.
Connected each customer’s build to their local retailer, with accurate local pricing, inventory and incentives.
Designed it as a responsive experience, carrying the mobile-first approach from the global site into the regional experience.
Directed art directors Min Kang and James Ayers through the design of the full vision.
Configuration with context
Configurators were where customers spent most of their time, but they treated vehicle features as a checklist. Take tri-zone automatic temperature control. On a list, it’s just a name. Without seeing how it works, nobody can tell what it would actually do for them. We wanted to show it, not list it. In our vision, choosing tri-zone climate control showed the cabin split into three zones, each set to its own temperature. The driver, front passenger and rear passengers each got their own comfort, and the benefit was clear at a glance. Every key feature followed the same idea, so the build became a way to understand the car, not just spec it. Every choice then connected to what the customer’s local retailer actually had: real pricing, real inventory and current incentives.
We pitched the vision to Infiniti as a blueprint for the future of Infiniti.com and the regional experience. It turned the configurator from a research tool into the most engaging part of the shopping journey and a direct path to purchase.