Social media marketing in developing countries: a Q&A with Nissan’s David Parkinson

By Nikita Geldenhuys

Your first digital marketing role kicked off as GM of social and digital engagement for Nissan’s MEA and India markets. Where did your journey with digital marketing start?

After building several business teams from scratch, and with a technical marketing and solid business background, I was asked to take lead of the creation of social media from scratch for Nissan Europe at the start of 2011.

At that time, social media was a nascent need for brands and an emerging area. I spent around four months understanding the area, looking at organisational models, and on quickly working to become a social media expert.

After I knew the direction I wanted to take, it was a case of developing a budget, organisation, and strategy for approval. The rest is history. We went from zero to 50 people across Europe over the following four years.

How did you go about building a greater presence for Nissan on social media in MEA and India?

As is standard with any company finding their feet in social media, we started with patchwork, which was spread among PR and marketing. It was very much project based. For example: We are launching a car. Let’s have a Facebook page.

Building our presence ironically meant shutting a lot of things down and having a solid strategy to follow in ensuring we used the channels properly to drive interest and awareness for the brand. “Do less, but better” is my mantra.

What digital technologies are you excited to see gain more traction in African markets and why?

Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly exciting – in its many forms. Today, this means voice activation (that works) and chatbots that reduce costs.

Toys today fall into the VR and AR category, where we are all trying to work out the difference between VR for PR and VR that provides genuine customer benefit.

In your experience, how do audiences and online communities in MEA and India differ from one another in their digital interaction with brands like Nissan?

Strategically, we used digital channels in the same way, as is the case with the tone of voice. Back to ‘global local’, we must understand the differences in how each of these regions uses the platforms and we must remain true to the core value that the platform brings to them.

This means applying local sensibilities and understanding to make sure we treat the customer in the right way. The Middle East loves videos, India loves competitions, and South Africa loves off-road communities. Each core strategy remains the same, it’s the personalisation of the message that’s important.

What is it like to fulfil the role of a regional digital head in a large company like Nissan?

Being “head” of anything is about being humble and supporting expert teams in their ability and drive to do the right thing. I surround myself with clever people and enable them to do their thing – and, ultimately, watching these people grow and deliver is the final reward.

Regionally, Nissan is very diverse so it’s about understanding the concept of ‘global but local’, and making sure that, strategically, we are all driving in the same direction.

How has your work at Nissan prepared you for your new adventure with your consultancy, Brave & Heart?

Nissan is a great place to learn many disciplines and, on the way, I have learnt about every part of the business, and how it all links together. The people development – and ability to work and think globally, locally, and strategically – has allowed me to have all the pieces in place to start delivering the key mission for Brave & Heart: deliver world-class, customer-focused digital in all its forms.

In a land of too much mediocrity – where the need to do more, everywhere, and with less, has become commonplace – I can’t wait to bring quality and focus to brands and agencies alike, partnering with the best talent available to deliver world-class work for everyone.

Find out more about Brave & Heart at www.braveandheart.com or connect with the company on Twitter.

For more inspiration on becoming a social media specialist, read our article on Championing social media: A Q&A with expert Su Little.