Nissan news centre highlights potential for proactive corporate comms in Asia

The formation of the unit, led by Nissan's corporate vice president of global communications Simon Sproule, represents an innovative step forward for automotive communications and for corporate communications as a whole, the company said. The move follows the integration of Nissan’s marketing and communications functions, and is designed to enable a considerably more proactive approach to news delivery than is standard in the automotive sector, and particularly among Japanese corporations.

Rather than serving as a centre for corporate communications in the traditional sense, the media centre is modeled along the lines of a newswire bureau. While the centre’s purpose is still clearly to serve the interests of the brand, the level of credibility has been heightened by the hire of former Reuters correspondent Dan Sloan as editor-in-chief.

Sloan says the concept sprung from a desire by Nissan chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn to find a new way to present a corporate narrative. He notes that the news centre is experimental in nature but ultimately aims to “tell stories in a way that do not hammer you as a brand tool”. It will serve as a means to convey Nissan-related stories, he says, but will balance those with outside perspectives and discussion.

Sloan describes the initiative as a further nail in the coffin for the common press release. “A press release is not something you want to share,” Sloan says. “Hopefully we will be able to produce content that is compelling enough to attract repeat audiences, highlight industry trends and concepts and help facilitate [individual] stories.”

Given the level of consumer interest that accompanies the auto sector, the news centre does not limit its audience to journalists. Sloan says visitors to the centre could range from electric-vehicle enthusiasts to the investment community to the corporate bench.

Early efforts have included telling the story of Nissan’s recovery in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis in March. Sloan points to the ability to confront ostensibly negative stories in a way that is not possible in more traditional corporate communications arrangements. The centre enabled the brand to address teething problems with the electric Leaf, for example, promptly and directly. He points to a growing recognition in the corporate world that “if you are not happy with the way your story is being told, it’s best to get on your horse and do it yourself”.

Beyond Nissan, similar initiatives exist in patches — Ford operates a global 'content factory', for example — but are not yet a common feature of communications policies in Asia. The news centre has drawn approval from within the public relations industry, and Bob Pickard, regional president and CEO of Burson Marsteller, sees it as “the future of PR and communications”.

Most notably, Pickard points out that the unit represents a degree of cultural change as it goes against the tradition of Japanese corporate public relations, which is based on reactive responses to criticism or crises, as opposed to proactively telling a story. What is still unclear, he says, is how that proactivity will be received by journalists and those in PR agencies.

“It remains to be seen if it will improve relationships with journalists or not. Will it be seen as a complement or a rival content platform that reduces the salience of their own [journalists’] stories?” Pickard says.

The media centre’s official opening, attended by Ghosn, will take place at Nissan headquarters in Yokohama on 21 September.