Back Chat with Nissan's David Parkinson: 'Don’t take anything for granted, especially in digital marketing'

I’m good. Nissan is on a massive drive to increase our digital capability in Africa, the Middle East and India, so I’m very busy trying to move those forward and bring them up to European and US standards.

What’s your biggest gripe at the moment?

Travelling. Between flying from Newcastle to London, Johannesburg, Tokyo, then to Dubai and Egypt, it’s killing me, but that’s the way it is.

What have you been loving recently?

I love a challenge. Going into those regions and looking at the capabilities they have today, benchmarking them and being able to leapfrog the market with those learnings. That’s really exciting. Some of the countries are ready for that – they are eager to learn. We have a great team across those regions.

What would you do if you were prime minister or had unlimited resources?

There’s not enough being done for the youth of today to really drive them into productivity and meaningful jobs. One of the first things I would tackle would be to give everyone an opportunity to move into something that they love and want to do.

If you look at the cause of the issues that we have across the country, it’s a lack of investment in youth and education. In the US, the really exciting thing you see is that everyone is starting a company and is an entrepreneur. You just don’t see that in the UK.

Which ad do you wish you had worked on?

I really liked the recent Sport England ‘This Girl Can’ campaign. That was very emotional for me with two daughters. It was pulling at the heartstrings by telling women to get out there, exercise, look after themselves, and what you look like, what shape you are, shouldn’t mean you don’t just get out there and do your thing. Celebrities got right on it, tweeting and retweeting it and that’s a lesson for the children of today – to get up and do anything they want to do.

Who is your biggest hero in the industry?

From an advertising perspective I read a book by George Louis who is reputed to be one of the inspirations for Mad Men in the 50s and 60s because of the the way he ran his business. He disputes it but it’s an interesting claim.

He wrote a book called Damn Good Advice which is full of damn good advice about advertising, people and insights. It’s a very quick read but if you take your time it’s a really amazing book, very inspirational. It really gets you to understand good old fashioned advertising and the emotion that pulls on something that is happening and gets people thinking – regardless of the medium, that’s what gets people thinking. I was really inspired by that.

Who outside the industry inspires you?

The power of a good movie. I am really inspired by some of the great film directors – the Romeros and Ridley Scotts of our time. All of the top directors. What inspires me about the ones who do some really innovative work is that they really shape and inspire people. For example, Whiplash is a very narrow movie but it is so emotional. Top directors really inspire me.

Where else do you find inspiration?

I find inspiration in my daughters and the opportunities that are out there for them to grasp in comparison to what we had 20 to 25 years ago. Watching them grow up and helping them on their way to success, making sure they do things they love – that should be something you try and do throughout your whole life. If you don’t love it, why are you doing it?

What’s your last word on the industry?

Don’t take anything for granted, especially in digital marketing. Things are changing so quickly. We’ve gone from organic to paid and we are looking at influencers and categories that didn’t exist three years ago and we have to be prepared.

I remember being on a training course many years ago and being told that the only thing that is constant in business is change.

That is as true now as it has ever been and we need to be ready for it. You need to have an open mind to embrace that change.

David Parkinson has worked over 10 different business areas across Nissan. As well as heading up social media for Europe, he is head of digital for the Africa, Middle East and India regions and is helping evolve the brand’s digital communications.

This feature was first published in the 27 May issue of The Drum.