• by Karl Greenberg , January 3, 2007

Nissan, which lost vice president of global marketing Steve Wilhite to Hyundai Motor America last year, has handed Wilhite's responsibilities to Tokyo-based Simon Sproule, Nissan's corporate vp of global communications. The change is more about Nissan integrating PR with marketing than shifting Sproule from one practice to the other.

The marriage of global brand communications and PR is a move to break down the traditional silos between marketing and stakeholder communications, said Sproule. He joined Nissan in 2003 from Ford, where he was chief communications officer for Aston Martin, Jaguar, and Land Rover North America.

The Web has blurred the lines between marketing and PR, but the automotive business has traditionally kept the realms separate. Kia has bucked the trend in the U.S., with Ian Beavis leading both marketing and PR, but Nissan may be the first to do so globally.

"This is really driven by the environment, particularly online," Sproule said. "How do you distinguish our activity on YouTube or MySpace or Second Life--how does one say, 'That's definitely not PR, it's marketing?' It's very difficult now to say it's purely one thing or the other. It's communications."

Sproule said his title will not change. "My previous title ... is really what the new role is, and that speaks to the fact that we are much more about integration."

In addition to integrated global brand communications, Sproule will oversee global motor shows, global sponsorship and corporate citizenship, and motor sports marketing and communications.

"I'm now responsible for communications of the brand--and that includes product and corporate and image--but I won't be sitting there approving ad copy. Advertising is generated out of the regions," he said, emphasizing the strategic nature of his expanded role.

What won't change is the line of command: the regional heads of PR for markets like Europe, the U.S., Japan and elsewhere will continue to report to Sproule.

Marketers will report to sales and marketing. For instance, within Nissan North America, vice president-marketing Jan Thompson will continue to report to Brad Bradshaw, senior vice president, sales and marketing.

Sproule said sales, marketing and communications will be hammered out in group steering committees.

"Those will be decision-making bodies, and those are being set up now," he said.