Lexus marketing boss Nordstrom to run Toyota social media post

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.

According to KHABAR KHODRO, Dave Nordstrom, who has been Lexus vice president of marketing since 2007, was appointed to the newly created position effective today. He will be succeeded by Tim Morrison, previously corporate manager of marketing communications for Toyota Division.

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.

Morrison 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.

Among Morrison's projects was the 2011 model year Highlander ad campaign that positioned the vehicle as the car for cool parents, narrated by a know-it-all kid. He also led a 2009 branding campaign that focused on Toyota quality, durability, reliability, efficiency, safety and innovation.

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