Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. has placed its Lexus marketing chief in charge of the automaker’s overall social media strategy in a sign of the growing importance of untraditional marketing. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
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Dave Nordstrom, who has been Lexus vice president of marketing since 2007, was appointed to the newly created position effective Monday. He will be succeeded by Brian Smith, formerly vice president of Lexus sales and dealer development.
In an interview last year, Nordstrom noted with chagrin that Lexus had just created a Twitter account. In embracing social media since then, he has changed how Lexus communicates with its customers by becoming more interactive in launch details, customer surveys and lifestyle events.
Smith takes over a brand that has been battered by recession and a recall crisis in recent years. Lexus has said it will yield its 11-year title as best-selling luxury brand in the United States in 2011 as it battles inventory shortages stemming from the March earthquake in Japan. Before his Lexus sales post, Smith was in charge of the launch of the current-generation Toyota Tundra pickup.
Nordstrom began his career with Toyota in 1990 and has rotated through several departments, including business processes and technology, marketing, remarketing and Toyota Financial Services. While at the finance unit, Nordstrom helped develop ways for young first-time buyers to get financing for a new Scion.
He took the Lexus post after Deborah Wahl-Meyer departed for Chrysler four years ago. Nordstrom will report to Bill Fay, group vice president of marketing.
