VIDEO REPORT: Nissan's Marketing Team is on the Hunt for No-Fear Startups to Extend Marketing Reach

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Nissan Motor Company has put together its first-ever Marketing Innovation Lab.  You could liken the team in charge to the judges on the popular ABC network show Shark Tank.

Together Nissan's three Marketing Innovation Lab staffers have years of ad agency, direct marketing and technology experience.

The first startup company picked up by the Nissan's Innovation Lab is Stadium Stock Exchange (SSE). At SSE, they have a mobile app and website that allows sport enthusiasts to play college-level fantasy football.

"I grew up in Birmingham and all we've got is college football.  Ever since middle school my friends and I have always wanted a way to play college fantasy football," said William Schreiber, CEO of Stadium Stock Exchange.

Schreiber started the company in 2012 when he was a senior at Vanderbilt University.  Nissan found him through Nashville's Entrepreneur Center, a non-profit that helps accelerate ideas into concrete companies.

"Startup companies know no fear. They are trying new technologies, new designs, new ways to market; they're very close to their customers.  So for a large company like Nissan, having an engagement around the startup community and younger entrepreneurs keeps that freshness in the company," said Michael Burcham, president and CEO, Nashville Entrepreneur Center

Now, you can find links to Nissan's Heisman House website planted on both the side and top of several spots on SSE's site.  Schreiber says his business plan takes the current 3,000 site users to a million within a five-year span.
 
"As a startup we are very, very good at some things, and horrible at everything else.  So what Nissan has brought to the table is marketing expertise. They have given a couple of developers insight into how we might convince people to play our game," said Schreiber.

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