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Every day, the decisions you make have a direct impact on a business’s financial performance. While some of your decisions are deliberate, many are made without your notice, contributing to what is known as “decision fatigue.” This build-up of decisions can often result in spur-of-the-moment purchases, like grabbing a soda or candy bar at the grocery store. Businesses continually market to us through various channels, such as websites, road signs, and even clothing, making it challenging to avoid advertising unless we disconnect entirely. In my discussion with Allyson Witherspoon, Nissan’s Chief Marketing Officer, we explore the overwhelming presence of marketing messages.

The aim is not solely to discuss car purchases but to highlight the broader issue at play. We are constantly exposed to marketing messages that influence more than just our buying habits. This ubiquitous marketing impact extends to disrupting dietary goals, impeding retirement savings, and much more. That’s why I sought the expertise of someone like Allyson to review the evolution of marketing tactics and consider what lies ahead in the marketing landscape.

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Resources Mentioned:

• @allysonwitherspoon
• www.GabrielleReece.com
• @gabbyreece

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Show Sponsors:

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Time Stamps:

• 00:00:00 – 00:10:00 – Navigating Global Marketing Challenges 
• 00:10:01 – 00:20:00 – The Impact of Technology on Automotive Sales
  
• 00:20:01 – 00:30:00 – Leadership and Life Balance
• 00:30:01 – 00:40:00 – Cultural Nuances in Business
  
• 00:40:01 – 00:50:00 – Future of Driving: Autonomous Vehicles
• 00:50:01 – End – Marketing Innovations and Consumer Engagement
  
  

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Show Transcript:

[00:01:04] Gabby: Every day, you’re making hundreds of decisions that impact the bottom line of a business.

Some of those decisions you’re aware of. Others pass by without you paying them any mind. The accumulation of all those decisions every day leads to decision fatigue, and it’s the reason you don’t get out of the grocery store some days without buying that soda or candy bar. Businesses are marketing to you all the time.

Every webpage, road, and article of clothing is marketing to you. Honestly, unless you hiked into the woods or swim out to sea, you probably couldn’t look in any direction without seeing an advertisement. It’s that bombardment of advertising that I’m talking about with Allyson Witherspoon today. She’s the chief marketing officer of Nissan.

And if you’re not careful, you might leave here. Leave this podcast without purchasing a new car. But here’s the reality of why I wanted to have this conversation. We’re all being marketed to every day. And most of the time that can lead to failing dietary goals, struggling to save for retirement and so much more.

So I wanted to bring on an expert in the field of marketing so that we can discuss not only how marketing has changed over the years, but also what we should expect moving forward. Welcome to the Gabby Reese show. Let’s go.

Allyson Witherspoon. Thanks for coming on the show all the way from Japan. Are you in Japan right now?

[00:02:23] Allyson Witherspoon: Yes, I am. I’m in Tokyo, Japan. It is where I’m in the future. So it’s 8 AM kind of the day, the day after where you all are.

[00:02:31] Gabby: Yeah, I love that. I’m at the end of my Tuesday and you’re at the beginning of your Wednesday.

So hopefully I can, I’m going to try to match. Have you had tea or coffee yet? I’m going to try. Yep.

[00:02:40] Allyson Witherspoon: I’ve had some tea. I’ve had my workout. Like I’m good to go.

[00:02:44] Gabby: So, so speaking about that, I was really excited. I was introduced to you through, we have a mutual acquaintance and, uh, my friend Elijah and, uh, just the idea of talking to somebody who for me represents, you know, I talk about.

Oh, self care and trying to eat well and move. But really it’s so that people can do, use it however they want. And you are an incredible example of somebody who not only seems pretty tireless, but. You seem adaptable, like the fact that you’ve moved from Nashville to Japan and you’ve worked in Europe and sort of taken all of this on, um, I’d love to just start by your current job description, your big boss.

[00:03:28] Allyson Witherspoon: Yes. So. I’m the global chief marketing officer for Nissan. Um, so we operate in, you know, several markets around the world, um, China, us, Japan, obviously, and I’m responsible for all of the consumer facing marketing, all of the infrastructure that backs that up, all the decision making the investments, um, that we make in, in all of our marketing, as well as all the pricing and incentives that we have on the cars around the world.

So. That is my role. I, um, I moved, I’ve been in Japan for three years, but I, but there was a two year stint and then I came back a year ago. So I’ve been, I’ve worked abroad in Japan for three years total. And then I also worked in Europe for two years, um, with a different company. So I, I’ve definitely bounced around and I’ve, I’ve, I’ve tried to take on the, you know, these foreign service assignments, which have been proven really valuable for me and a good development opportunity.

[00:04:23] Gabby: I think it’s interesting when you talk about pricing, because I think when people think about marketing, I don’t even, I don’t know that they would also connect even component of, of the business. So how did, what does, what does that look like? Like how much of it now at this point for you is the creative and then how much of it is sort of the management of all of the pieces.

[00:04:48] Allyson Witherspoon: It’s right now. It’s a lot more the management of all the pieces put together because we have marketing heads around the world. And, you know, I’m responsible for driving the strategy for it. And then they’re responsible for the actual execution of it. And I’m, you know, I’m, I’m kind of, I guess I’m the puppet master, I guess.

Um, but I’m the one that’s responsible for all the management. And I think in marketing, there’s actually, and this goes back like, you know, decades and decades ago, kind of with the origin of marketing, but they’re four P’s and that’s promotion, price placement. Now I’m going to forget the fourth one. Um, is it the product itself?

Yeah. And the product. Yeah. That’s the most important one, actually. The car, the car. Yeah, the car. I can’t forget the car. I know. It’s still burning. Where is my tea? Um, but, but that’s the, so I’m, you know, I’m responsible for all of those. And I think the pricing piece of it is, is an important piece of marketing.

And especially when you’re talking about a car, because it’s the second most considered purchase. And so how do you make sure, and for us, we’re a mass market brand, how do we make sure that our pricing is accessible across the range of products that we have?

[00:05:55] Gabby: When you have customers go, I’m just curious, and now with, has the internet changed car buying greatly or is it just more, maybe they’re a little more educated before they come in the door?

[00:06:08] Allyson Witherspoon: It’s massively changed it. It’s completely disrupted it because I think you, Consumers are, and the, pardon the automotive pun, but I, you know, it’s, it’s been my world, but drivers or consumers are very much in the driver’s seat, and so they’re so educated. They know what they’re looking for. They know when it’s available.

They’ve been able to reach out. And if you think about word of mouth, it used to be, you would talk to your friends and maybe an extended group, and now you have, now consumers have access to thousands and thousands of people that can provide feedback on things. And so it has completely disrupted not only the education process, but also how you can transact and how you can actually buy the cars.

[00:06:48] Gabby: Does that make it in the one way, let’s say you’re, let’s say, for example, um, Nissan is doing something really cutting edge and revolutionary. So it creates a direct to consumer education, uh, kind of forum. So in a way I would imagine it makes certain parts of revolutionizing or innovating easier to get that information to the consumer.

But then on the other side, Do you feel like the company gets held to a sort of a bigger standard by them?

[00:07:19] Allyson Witherspoon: I think, I mean, I think the most important piece is it’s created this two way dialogue. You know, there aren’t, you can’t, it doesn’t exist for brands anymore to be able to kind of sit in an ivory tower and just push products on people and just, You know, here they are.

Here’s what the price is, you know, take it or leave it I think what’s been happening more and more is that you’re now getting feedback throughout the process And you know, and it’s it’s not just the buying behavior. It’s actually the feedback that you’re getting So there’s that piece of it and I would say I think I wouldn’t say that we’re held up I think the biggest challenge that we have in the automotive industry right now is that It’s, we are, you know, heavy equipment manufacturing.

It takes time to actually do, you know, plan, design, manufacture the vehicles. And generally in this, this was, you know, kind of what the norm was. It took about seven years to actually have from, from, you know, kind of origin to actually getting the cars on the road. That timeline is now completely shrinking because we have a lot of technology that now enables the speed.

But then also we can, there are now more touch points that we could get feedback through the, through consumers throughout that process, which didn’t exist before.

When someone, what are, what’s the same as it’s always been, as far as, you know, someone buying, A, in your case, a car. What, what’s, what’s the same? And, and then what you’ve, you’ve shared also what’s different, but when someone goes in through the doors, you know, I read this book years ago, culture Code. I don’t know, did you ever read that book?

[00:11:02] Allyson Witherspoon: Yep. I, yeah.

[00:11:03] Gabby: And, and I thought it was so interesting, like talking about where, for example, I guess when, um, I don’t know, uh. GMC, or I don’t remember who was relaunching the PT cruiser, which, you know, that’s a whole conversation in itself. Like you’re going to relaunch that car. And they, they bring in this, uh, this French psychologist and it’s like, what do you want your car?

And people are like, I want value. I want safety. And then after digging a little deeper, it was like 85 percent of Americans or something have their first sexual encounter could be holding hands, right. Could be a smooch. It doesn’t mean like heavy duty, but in a vehicle, like the amount of freedom that the vehicle represented to.

at least to the Americans. Um, and just sort of decoding in all these different cultures, whether you’re bringing coffee to Japan, which is a tea culture, or you’re bringing makeup to the U S when we’re, you know, uptight about sexuality, you know, whatever it is, um, just kind of the different psychology. So I’m curious just from what you guys have known, um, What hasn’t changed about, um, car customers, consumers?

[00:12:11] Allyson Witherspoon: I think the, probably the main thing that hasn’t changed is how important the design is. Because I think people, their car represents, it’s, it’s a signature almost. It represents something about themselves. And so that goes into the decision making when they’re looking at buying a car. Value is really important.

And that’s even in the luxury space. And I, I’ve spent the first part of my career on the luxury side of automotive. But. It value is really important. People want to feel and this is universal. So it’s not just in the U. S. They want to feel like they were able to get value for what they’re spending. And again, because it is such a considered purchase.

Safety is important. What we’ve seen is that safety is becoming the norm. It’s kind of the table stakes. Um, What is starting to really evolve is how technology enables the experience within the car when you’re driving. So connected vehicle. Those are the types of things where you really that’s where we’re kind of transitioning.

And China has been the leader in this area over the last few years, and that they’re creating really interesting and exciting experiences for consumers in the car, because. And a lot of the big cities in China, traffic is a major issue, kind of like LA, um, but take that and put it on steroids. And there’s also your, a lot of times you have a lot of your family in China that it’s about having your family in the car.

And so what are those experiences that you can have that the car can actually help unlock and create kind of family moments? So I think the design is really important value and making people feel confident that they made a good decision. But then the evolution now is actually the experiences in the car.

[00:13:45] Gabby: Can you, just cause again, I, you know, listen, I was born in 1970, so we, I don’t know that we even had car seats and seatbelts or later, you know, it was like, uh, you know, they’re, I think they’re in the window, they’re fine. You know, we had the station wagons where you’re facing backwards. So when you say an experience in the car, I’m like, Are they clubbing in the car?

Like, what are they doing? What, what is that? How does that, I understand like, okay, accessibility and like technology uniting, but can, maybe you can share with me because I think it’s so interesting about how this is becoming another location that we’re trying to figure out how to, you know, Have a better experience in.

[00:14:23] Allyson Witherspoon: Yeah. And I think I can give two examples. So one in the U S I think COVID is also where, you know, they’re, they’re starting to become a much different relationship for people with their cars. Is that, and sometimes it was an escape. It was able to get out when you couldn’t do that. It also started to turn into a mobile workplace where you could be much more, you know, kind of productive.

You were able to take conference calls. You could sit in your car in garages, things like that. And so I think COVID, COVID also. the relationship that people had with their car. And in China, what’s happening is that a lot of the local Chinese brands, they’re starting to create, you know, like twisting screens, the doors are opening up on their own.

There’s, it’s becoming much more gesture gesture based. You have massive screens kind of in the dash as well as in the back seats of the cars. And it’s, I remember I was in China and I’m going there next week, actually. I was in China at the end of, uh, the end of September of last year, and it was a completely different and advanced experience than when I was there before, and I’m anticipating when I go there next week that it’s going to be even more advanced, and I think it’s, you know, there’s kind of, there, you say the club thing, but there, there was one, you know, there was one car that I saw that, you know, It has music, the screens are pulsing, it’s twisting, there’s kind of a lighting show.

And I think the Chinese customers very much value that. I think other customers around the world are, there, there’s going to be a little bit of that, that you’ll see. It may not be as much or, you know, kind of as active as that is, but you’ll start to see a lot more engaging activities in the car that can be provided by screens. Essentially.

[00:16:02] Gabby: I’d be remiss not to talk about driverless. I mean, we’re, you know, obviously we, we see San Francisco, we see them around. I, I personally, I mean, it’s a little, I joke that a lot of the people who have Tesla’s in Los Angeles already think it’s self driving. They don’t realize that they’re still driving.

Cause sometimes I’m like, yeah, I know you’re emailing right now, but you got to, you got to go, um, what, what’s that horizon like for real, from your point of view, because I would imagine you have a deeper understanding. Um, and you know, what’s funny is I was completely opposed to it, let’s say 10 years ago and now because everyone is on their phone, I’m like, yeah, let’s do it because I feel like people are on their phone anyway.

And they are literally, I’m sure you’ve experienced this, you’re driving and they are looking completely down.

[00:16:51] Allyson Witherspoon: Yeah, and it, I think in so many accidents or have I, I was in an accident last year and that it’s, it’s, someone was on the phone behind me. We were in stop-and-go traffic and ran right into me.

[00:17:02] Gabby: Where were you?

[00:17:03] Allyson Witherspoon: I was in Nashville at the time.

[00:17:05] Gabby: Yeah.

[00:17:05] Allyson Witherspoon: Do you,

[00:17:06] Gabby: do you notice the difference? I’m not going to get into any stereotypes, but driving in the, in the U. S. versus like, if you go to Japan and China, like, do you, have you, have you culturally felt any differences? Yes. Yes.

[00:17:22] Allyson Witherspoon: In Japan, it is, you have the most polite drivers that are here.

I think safety is such a, is just inherent and there’s this respect for society in Japan that, that you just don’t see. And I, you know, I, I, Spent several, several years in New York and driving there. And that’s its own experience. L. A. is its own experience. You’re here in Japan, and first of all, it’s right hand drive.

So as a foreigner, there’s, there’s that. You’re like, how do I, where do I go? What side of the road am I on? The other thing is that there’s, you know, if you want to change lanes, the person behind you will slow down. No one’s speeding up. Sometimes they’ll even turn their hazards on to indicate that you can go.

And I, and that’s just an example of it. So I think there is very, very safe, um, people are more considerate of the people around the road. And, and so I would say that’s a major difference with Japan. I would say in other parts of the world, it’s, it’s a little bit more similar. I think, I think Japan is very unique in the safety focus and society focus.

[00:18:23] Gabby: Yeah. And, and so what have you seen, what are you excited about or kind of the verdicts out on, on the driverless vehicles?

[00:18:35] Allyson Witherspoon: I think we’ve been, cause we’ve been working on autonomous for, for several, you know, for years now. I think to me, I think it’s further out than what people are saying and I think that’s because you need an infrastructure around it.

You also need policy. That’s part of that. What does that mean for drinking and driving, which obviously no one can do. But if the car is driving for you, what does that mean? But I think the infrastructure has to be there. And it doesn’t exist in cities where we are. What I’m really happy with what we’ve been doing on the Nissan side is it’s very much on the driver’s choice.

So you can lean in and be active, be an active driver, or you can be more passive and you can have a more passive experience, but you’re always going to get kind of, you’ll always have indicators to keep your eyes on the road, keep your hands on the wheel. And we have these reminders to remind you to still stay alert.

Which is what I really like about the approach that we’re taking. So for us, it isn’t all or nothing. It’s. It should be based on what the drivers want to do and what consumers want to do.

[00:19:35] Gabby: Yeah. I think it’s interesting. I just have, I have three daughters and my youngest is just, you know, she’s the last one to drive.

It’s been in the last like four or five months. And again, you go through that and you just think there’s going to come a time and Who knows how many years where that’s not even going to happen anymore. You know, yeah.

[00:19:54] Allyson Witherspoon: And I, yeah. And there were discussions, we were having discussions with some colleagues, my husband and I were talking about, you know, the, the 16 year old car used to be, you would get a beater and it was, you know, the parents just wanted something that.

You know, if they had an accident, it wasn’t going to be, you know, it wasn’t going to be a financial risk. Now, I think much more parents are really wanting all of the, the latest, greatest safety, because that actually can help enable consumers and especially young drivers to be better, more confident drivers.

And what, the biggest thing that I saw as it relates to this is, And I was in Saudi Arabia in 2018, I think it was 2017 or 2018 and women were just allowed to get their driver’s licenses. And I went there and it was the week that they were actually able to get the licenses and we were doing these, you know, kind of consumer research groups.

And the most fascinating thing to me was we were asking them, what are you interested in? What is the most important thing for you, you know, as a, as a woman driver. And it was, they wanted to feel confident. Because there is so much pressure from society on this moment in time that it gave them anxiety and they wanted solutions that could help them be more confident, capable drivers.

[00:21:08] Gabby: Yeah.

[00:21:08] Allyson Witherspoon: And I, and I just, and I think that that’s going to be universal because everyone says that they’re a great driver, but the reality is that we’re not all great drivers. It’s very rare that you’re a really good driver and that’s where technology I think plays a really important role.

[00:21:21] Gabby: Yeah. I, I think that’s interesting.

It’s funny when we grew up, right? We, we I’m older than you, but we, I learned to drive stick and somehow because you had to drive, I felt like it made you a better driver because you, that’s all you could do, right? Like you have shift and all of that. So that, that was sort of an interesting way to learn.

Um, it’s just, it’s fun to watch the evolution.

So speaking of evolution, I want to go back. You mentioned you weren’t a luxury brand. I, I, When you came out of college, you did, you went to Mercedes Benz, right?

[00:23:59] Allyson Witherspoon: Yeah. I was a consultant. Yeah. I was a consultant from Mercedes Benz.

[00:24:03] Gabby: Now let me, let me see if this is right. So your major, it wasn’t accounting. What was it?

[00:24:10] Allyson Witherspoon: I started out as an accounting major. So I started out when I started school and I was in a five year master’s program and I took a prerequisite my junior year in college and I took an international advertising class. And the first day of class, they did a case study on got milk and it was, they were talking about how got milk didn’t translate in different parts of the world.

In some parts of the world, it meant lactation and other parts of the world. It didn’t, and it blew my mind. It completely opened up my mind and it triggered something that I was like, I am not an accountant. I want to do this. And so let’s go. And I changed my major, you know, I changed it overnight and I was, you know, fortunately I had taken, fortunately I was able to graduate on time.

Um, but I was able to get a job right out of school consulting, being a marketing consultant for Mercedes. And that was then, you know, and then it just, you know, Then the universe took over from there.

[00:25:07] Gabby: What do you, I know you have, tell me if I’m wrong, you have a twin brother, another brother, and you were raised by your pops, right?

So I’m always interested in when people. They get that thing because we, we read a book, we have a mentor, we take a class and all of a sudden nothing about our life has, has, you know, sort of directed us to this thing, but you go, but, oh, but that’s my thing, you know, is that, was that encouraged in your house or did you just maybe also, I feel like sometimes too, you got brothers, you got dad, it’s like maybe also having sort of an internal strength.

This is what I’m doing. Um, where did you, how did you trust that? Cause I think a lot of people get that, but they, they kind of go, well, that’s not what I do. Or no one does that. Or where did you get that ability to do that?

[00:26:03] Allyson Witherspoon: Yeah. And I, it’s, it’s funny cause you don’t realize it at the time, but I, You know, my, I had an older brother and my dad, they were both, they’re both doctors and my, my twin was already kind of predisposed to, to loving kind of that field.

And I started out as an accounting major because I was, I was good with numbers. And, and, and, you know, I was like, well, I don’t, I don’t feel like I’m a doctor, but I’m good at this. So maybe, you know, let me try this out. And then when I took the class, it was. My dad always encouraged me to kind of pursue, he didn’t ever push me to be a doctor, he never, he never really pushed me to kind of, you know, conform to gender roles or things like that, so I always played sports, and You know, I was always kind of doing, you know, whatever it was that I wanted to do just intuitively.

Um, and then when I took that class, and I, and I, I realized there was just something that really unlocked, um, unlocked a side, a creative side of me that I didn’t know was there. It was so strong that I was just, you know, It was like, it wasn’t a choice. It was like, this is what needs to happen. And I think the, the fear piece of it, you know, I think fortunately when you’re, you know, 21, 20, 21, you’re, you’re naive enough to just kind of go with it.

And I think I, I did that and I didn’t, I wasn’t. I wasn’t really afraid. And I, even when I graduated, I, I was, I was happy. I got a job because it was kind of at the, you know, I graduated in 99. So it was kind of on the, the. com bubble and things were, you know, it wasn’t guaranteed you would have a job. And then I got a job, you know, consulting for a brand that I loved was familiar with.

And in a category that I knew that I enjoyed driving and I’ve had, you know, like I’d always been interested in cars ever since I was young. And so the pieces just all kind of came together. And when that, and then I moved to New York and also kind of no fear of, you know, I was this girl from Missouri that moved to New York and was making no money, had a, had a great job that had a lot of opportunity, but it was, I just kind of made these decisions that.

When I look back or when I explain it, it feels fearless, but it felt just really intuitive at the time.

[00:28:19] Gabby: I think it’s, you know, to see where you are now, it must be so interesting to reflect back because you’ve done other stints with other brands. You’ve lived in other countries. Was, was there, as you’re going along, is there sort of like this idea of like, Oh, there’s an ultimate job, or you’re just kind of going, Hey, this is, I’m going to keep learning.

It’s, You know, uh, you, I think you worked, uh, forget me if I’m wrong. Were you with BMW as well? Right. I was, yeah, I was with their agency. Yeah. Yeah. Jack, Jack Pitney, you talked about. Yes. So like his job, for example, maybe you can share about, you know, kind of the impact that Jack Pitney has on you. It’s like, are you, are you gunning for, uh, for like the job that you have now?

Which is. which is about as big as it gets in your world, or is it, I’m, I’m kind of following my passions and my loves and we’ll see where it goes.

[00:29:17] Allyson Witherspoon: I, at first it started, I was following my passion, my love, and I, I, I just wanted to learn. I wanted to grow. I was curious. I was kind of. Like really, really curious.

And I wanted to just absorb as much as I can. And so I just, I would take on projects and I would ask for projects that were outside of what I knew just to kind of grow my skillset. And I, I taught, you know, I’m, I’m always kind of teaching myself how to myself, how to do different things. So it started first, just wanting to grow and to learn.

I would say when I met Jack Pitney, he was the CMO of BMW in the U S at the time, and I was on the agency side. I’d never gone for his job. I don’t even think I realized that that type of job existed. But he had such an impact on me because whenever we would have meetings with him, I, I really respected how, and I was agency side.

So how do, how to provide feedback, how to motivate us to deliver great work. He was, he was really kind. He was firm when he needed to be firm. And it, it just, it really struck me that I wanted to be that type of leader. And I think I had been, uh, you know, I’d been in kind of a manager, Almost since the very beginning, which was crazy because I had zero experience, but I was just kind of doing it intuitively.

And then I started to ask people to mentor me so I could learn different parts of the automotive business. And then when I met Jack, it was okay. Now marketing, I’m S I was still relatively young, but I realized like that’s the type of leader that I want to be. And I, and I know that my, my calling is in marketing.

And so I, you know, and so he was a mentor to me and it just, it reinforced the type of marketing leader and person that I wanted to be.

[00:31:10] Gabby: You know, I think when people would, if you said, you know, I’m the global leader of marketing for, for Nissan, they think, oh, so you’re telling stories for the company and communicating, but you’re also involved with innovation and, and other components, how, and even naming vehicles, like how, how does that, you know, intertwine and, and play in altogether, like, what is, I guess, how do you change hats and what does that look like?

[00:31:42] Allyson Witherspoon: Yeah, I mean, every you know, my days are never the same. So there’s always a different topic because the scope of it is of what I do is pretty broad. So, you know, it could be, it could be something that’s, you know, yesterday as an example, I, you know, I had a meeting with our agency leaders with our global agency team, and then I had a team meeting, and then I had a discussion about our, you know, our quarterly budget and kind of how we’re tracking to our quarterly budget.

Okay. Then I had a meeting with our CEO to take him through a program that we, that our formula E race that we had in Tokyo. And then I went to our design center to talk about colors that we’re going to have for some upcoming cars. And then I was in, and then I had a meeting on naming. So for potential package naming, vehicle naming, um, and company naming, and it just, The shifting of the hats, I think it, you know, I think there’s, you know, it’s a lot of it’s a lot of listening.

So it’s, you know, the teams are coming to me and they’re bringing me the proposal. So there’s a lot of listening to what’s going on. And then, you know, how do we need to adjust proposals? Or how do we need to present this information? Or what is the or, you know, do I have the right information to make a decision on something?

And so it’s, you know, I just kind of move, you know, Through that, I try to, the biggest, you know, the biggest challenge that I have is, is my schedule because if, if, if I’m not careful, it will be absolutely wild. And, and then I’m not able to make the best decisions for the company. If I’m completely, you know, burnt out.

And there are periods where you go through just, you know, like crazy hours and stuff like that, but you know, overall, I need to make sure that I’m. Making good decisions and how do I have information and an environment where I can do that?

[00:33:31] Gabby: Do you have specific guardrails when you can be in charge of it?

Like, for example, I know it’s very early still there 8 o’clock and you’re doing this for me and with me. But you said you trained already. So do you have kind of things in place, whether it’s planning ahead on what you’re eating or this allocated time and your executive assistant knows like, hey, if I can protect this time, this is her movement and exercise time.

Do you have anything in place like that?

[00:33:58] Allyson Witherspoon: Yeah, because my, my non negotiables are the workouts in the morning and I meal prep on Sunday. So my lunch, you know, like I have, my lunches are all kind of taken care of and I’m, I’m ready to go. And then dinner, my husband and I, you know, we usually have a, an idea of what we want to do.

He also works for Nissan as well. And so I think it’s, I, The approach that I try to take is sometimes I can’t control everything that’s going to happen at work because I can get caught. If the CEO calls me into a meeting, then everything has to stop. But the things that I can manage in my non negotiables, those are the things that, you know, I, I control and I control it.

I control it. You know, quite strongly. And I think my my assistant knows, you know, she knows that if I have I think tomorrow I have meetings from 7 a. m. to 8 p. m. And so, you know, how do I how does Friday morning not look too tough, you know, the day afterwards? And how can I make sure that I get, You know, kind of adequate sleep tonight.

So I can go into those into that day, you know, ready to go. Are you a good sleeper? I’m a good sleeper. I I’ll go through periods of insomnia. Um, what are you thinking about

[00:35:06] Gabby: projects or what do you, what do you got?

[00:35:09] Allyson Witherspoon: It’s, it’s always projects and it’s, you know, it’s, it’s, you know, there is like, I’ll naming will come up to me in the middle of the night.

And at that point you just, you have to lean into it and then it’s write it down, look it up. Okay. You know, kind of make notes and go and go back to sleep, but I, it’s, it’s always projects, you know, sometimes there’ll be stress where I, when I sleep, I guess I, I’m trying to process things and I’m trying to work through how to address something.

And so if it’s something that’s really stressful, then sometimes that will keep me awake. But if, but those are, those periods are pretty, you know, it’s not too, it’s not too much and it doesn’t last too long. Um, and I kind of know when they’re going to happen. So I try to. I try to take care of myself as best as I can.

And then the other times I, you know, I can sleep really well and I’m a deep sleeper and I can usually recall bits and pieces of my dreams. Um, and so I try, you know, I try to just kind of. Embrace when I have those moments prepare when I think there’s going to be a stressful period and try to manage around all of that.

I know you said your husband is in the, in the business, and I know you’re close to probably several people that you work with, but when you feel Cause you, you’re, you’re navigating a lot of moving pieces and a lot of money. And you know, there’s a lot on the line. These are not like, Oh, whoops. These are, you know, big things.

Do you go, do you have someone, a mentor or some, or some ones that you, at times when you do feel upside down, that you kind of check in and get help from? Cause I, I oftentimes, that when people see people like you and your job and you’re very much like even very up, you know, kind of upbeat, they think, oh, she doesn’t, um, she doesn’t get upside down.

She knows what she’s doing. Look at it. And, and it’s not, it’s realizing that everyone, uh, has times that they’re, they sort of unsure. Do you, do you have a technique of dealing with that?

[00:39:06] Allyson Witherspoon: Yeah. I mean, a hundred percent. Cause I think sometimes it’s. You know, as executives, you’re kind of, you’re expected to know everything, but the reality is that you don’t, and you’re, you’re trying to make the right decisions in the moment, um, and I get, I go through times, I go through periods of self doubt, of imposter syndrome, I go through all of that, and I have, I have, and especially when it’s kind of during big periods or big decisions that are being made.

I have kind of this personal board of directors that I have that if I’m going through one of those periods or there’s a big decision coming up or I’m not quite sure how to solve a problem that I, I tap into them and some of them are, some of them are, are at Nissan and some of them are just friends that I’ve, I’ve had for years where they, you know, they know me, it’s a safe space, um, And, and there are also, you know, sometimes there are people that, sometimes you just need your hype people, and I have, you know, one of my best friends is like, my hype girl, and she, she’s there to kind of, you know, pull me out of, you know, those moments of self doubt, and, and give me a little boost of confidence when I need it, but, I, I, and I, and I have an executive coach and I’ve had an executive coach for a few years now, and it’s really, really helped me to try to work through, you know, communication or how to better influence people, how not to react.

To situations when, you know, you know, when people are trying to kind of get you or, you know, the, the kind of the shock and awe. And so I think all of that together has been really helpful for me to kind of tap into those resources, um, as I’m going through those periods. And just even, even day to day, it’s super helpful for me.

[00:40:46] Gabby: I just think it’s so important. Cause I, again, if someone sees you, it’s like, oh, well, she’s got it. It’s like, yeah, no, nobody’s got it figured out. They’re just, they’re, they’re still sometimes building the road as they go. So, you know, I, the other thing that’s so interesting for me is you, you’re in a, an executive role.

So you’re, you have to manage a lot of people. And then not only a lot of people, but, um, many different cultures. And I would imagine the automobile business is male dominated. Sometimes

[00:41:22] Allyson Witherspoon: I would think. Yes, very much.

[00:41:25] Gabby: So, what techniques, for example, I know that there’s a lot of protocol around dealing with Japanese culture.

I mean, even what you said earlier about considering society and stuff, but that makes it also that there’s sort of rules about, uh, maybe confrontation or how you would address things and things like that. How, and I know you had been working. with the company prior to moving there, but where do you, how do you fit your real self, who you are, your personality, your point of view, your opinion, but then in order to be effective, kind of morph and move around so that you, you can get the job done.

[00:42:04] Allyson Witherspoon: Yeah. And I, I, that’s probably what I spend. Especially in transitioning in and I’ve been back a year and then again, I was here two years before that. That’s what I spend a lot of time thinking about for myself and tapping into, you know, especially my executive coach that I have now. I think that it is, it’s very difficult.

Um, and it can be, you know, if I, if I really, Think about each individual time, something like that happens. It can, you know, it can start to, I can start to deteriorate me sometimes. But the biggest thing that I’ve learned is before I moved to Japan and this was in 2017, Nissan, they, they had me spend a day with a sociologist and the sociologist was, I was there to help me prepare and I was going into a management role and there weren’t a lot of females in that role, but to really help me get ready and the most interesting and the thing that really impacted me the most was she said, what made you successful in the U.S. and in Europe is not going to work in Japan. And it was enough that when I got to Japan and, you know, your things don’t happen in meetings, there’s things happen kind of. In side meetings and separate discussions, and you’re never going to have the discussion in the meeting. It’s going to happen outside of that, which is completely different than, you know, in Europe and in the U.S. You have those confrontational discussions, then in there and you make a decision. And in Japan, None of that will happen. It happens kind of one by one to each of the key stakeholders, and you, you’re never going to have that discussion actually in the meeting. And so, you know, and so you, when you start to see things happen, or if your team doesn’t understand what you’re explaining, or they don’t agree with it, it just won’t happen.

And in the US, you know, like, you know, if the boss tells you to do something, you do it. And, you know, it’s kind of like, You can, you’ll, first of all, you’ll push back if you don’t agree with it, and that’s, I welcome that, um, but it just won’t happen, and there was a time where I had to present something to our board of directors, you know, it doesn’t get much bigger than that.

And the team was working on it. It was, it was something, you know, there wasn’t a deadline to the meeting yet, but I was like, I’d try to kick them off. This is the feedback. This is what we need to develop. And, you know, and then I start to check in and again, there’s no deadline for the meeting. So I, but I’m thinking things are happening and.

Maybe two months go by and I’m like, okay, we’re going to get called up to the board of directors and we need to be ready for it. Um, where are we? And nothing had been done and it was, you know, we didn’t quite understand and all this stuff. And I just remember, and I, I immediately thought back to that discussion that I had with the sociologist.

I’m like, okay, this is what this is. Now I need to know how to, how do I adjust, how do you provide the direction? How do I. You know, how do I, you know, get the team to be on board with it? And so I think it’s, you know, to me, there, you know, conformity is a big piece in Japan, um, I’m a five foot 10 blonde, so I naturally am not going to be, I, I’m just gonna, I stick out no matter what.

And so it’s a matter of how do I. Make sure that I’m still me, but I’m able to be me in this culture that may be not quite as comfortable with me. And so sometimes I feel like I have to soften different sides of me and that’s difficult. It’s really, that’s really difficult. Um, but then there are other times where I feel like I can be even more myself and I can be, you know, much more kind of empathetic sometimes with the team and, and, and things like that.

And so I think it’s, it’s just, it’s a matter of. Riding the wave of it and realizing when it’s happening, how do I adapt my style, but still not lose who I am. And it’s, it’s a constant, constant thing that I’m working on. And my coach is really helpful talking to other, um, expats that are in Nissan, just how to address some of these situations.

And so it’s, I think when I first came to Japan, I was trying to do it on my own. And then when I was able to, to start talking to other people, it really helped, you know, one, other people going through this, it’s not just me, but to like, what are some of the tools and what are some of the, you know, kind of tricks that you can do to, to, you know, work through those, those times when they happen.

[00:46:27] Gabby: Yeah, is direct confrontation not the way to go there? Right?

[00:46:33] Allyson Witherspoon: No, because you won’t hear, you know, you and I could have an argument about something and we’ll both be going at it. We’ll both have our sides. If there is, especially if you’re the boss and no one is going to challenge you in a room full of people.

And. And in the US, of course, that happens all the time.

[00:46:52] Allyson Witherspoon: You know, in the US we’re very much like, I’m gonna, I’m gonna try to, you know, I’m better than my boss. I’m going to try to, you know, prove my boss wrong and things like that. And in Japan, it’s like, this is, this is what the boss is saying. I’m gonna, I’m gonna not react to it. And sometimes, I won’t even address what they’re asking me to do. Um, but other times I’m just, you know, I’m, I’m just going to kind of let them wander. And what I’ve learned is that in the U. S. you lead from the front. And in Japan, you push from the side. And so you need to, you need to kind of explain where people need to go and where the team needs to go, but then you’re in the back kind of gently nudging them along.

Um, and that’s been a huge learning. Uh, that’s been a big learning.

[00:47:38] Gabby: I wonder, it must’ve been interesting. I I’m saying like for the executives from global to say, yes, we’re going to, you know, we’re going to take Allyson, our five, 10 blonde American, and we’re going to move her to Japan. You know what I mean?

Like, of course they already know what you’re going to be navigating and what the teams are going to be navigating. Um, what do you think at the kick of the pants was besides obviously you’re good at your job that they thought you coming in. idea. What, what is it? Cause you must, I mean, you must have thought about it.

[00:48:16] Allyson Witherspoon: Yeah, I think it’s, um, I, I was, when I was in the U S I was the, the chief marketing officer for the U S market and we, there was high performance. We were, The brand we, I was able with my team, I was able to really turn around the perception of the brand and in a quantifiable way that, that people inside the company felt and outside the company felt.

And so there was a lot of momentum. And I think, I think the other thing is that I had, I’m a relatively young. Person for the position that I have in being a corporate officer. And so I think that, I think one of the biggest things was, you know, what, I think a lot of the discussion was what, what do we do with Allyson after this role?

And then it was discussion about, okay, how can, what are the other qualities that I have that can translate into bigger leadership positions? And so I think it was, you know, performing in our biggest market, being able to turn the brand around in a quantifiable way. And then. You know, what is my glide path, you know, beyond just the next position.

And so I think that they, I think once, I think once they realized that I had leadership skills that translated, um, to, to bigger and larger roles that, that, that became maybe what the turning point was. And, and I think they’ve also been. The company has been very, very good about providing support. And I know that other executives, you know, and I think we’re, I’m, I’m also having this for people on my team as well, is how do you have that coaching?

How do you have mentors within the company? You know, what are the other. You know, if, if, you know, I was able to go to Wharton to take an executive training program, all things like that, just, they’re very, very willing to offer that, you know, if, if you’re, if you’re looking for those types of opportunities,

[00:50:03] Gabby: I feel like innovation is a big part of your, of you feels. Which is, it’s hard, right? Like at the end of the day, there’s certain things that have to be in a vehicle, no matter what. So where do you, where do you find the inspiration from? How do you, you know, come up or, or lean into things that, uh, are innovative and, and, and what is that process like? Cause that’s also, you have to have a lot of patience when you, cause innovation seems like it comes from excitement and it’s like, great.

And you know how long, that takes. So, what’s that process like for you?

[00:50:42] Allyson Witherspoon: I think for me, I, the biggest thing is that I’m, I’m a naturally curious person. And so I’m always trying to study and read up and what are the different, you know, what herbs, what’s coming up that I need to be mindful of that can apply for us as a company and us as a brand.

And so I think it’s really educating myself and learning about that firsthand, not relying on somebody else. The kind of brief me on it, but to really try to learn it myself. I think I’m also, I naturally have a tendency to just challenge the norm and just, you know, not, not accept, well, we did this in the past, so let’s just, you know, rinse and repeat and do it again.

And so I. I really learned how to, I think I was probably a nightmare with that when I was younger. Um, but I’ve started to learn how to do that in a motivating way of, you know, how do we, how do we acknowledge what we’ve done in the past, but how do we tweak it? And so I usually refer to like, how do we remix this?

Um, how do we kind of take it to another level? And so I, you know, so that’s a big piece of it. Inspiration for me comes from a lot of different places. I try to spend a lot of time with our design team because I feel like that, you know, marketing and our, our car designers, you know, we’re, we’re a little bit of, you know, we’re kind of like-minded individuals and being creatives in a very corporate environment and a very manufacturing centric environment.

So I try to spend a lot of time with them. What, what inspired them to create certain things or to think about the customer? What were they thinking about the customer when they designed this? And so it’s, it’s really tapping into all of those different places and I’m inspired by nature and art and fashion and technology.

And so I just try to expand my view of things, um, and find where some of it can fit into and can apply to what I actually do.

[00:52:35] Gabby: No, you, you said earlier, like if somebody, you have a meeting and it’s about colors, you know, is this meeting around, um, data suggesting where trends are going, what, what, what all, cause I think people don’t realize the combination of kind of data and technology and our artistry and creativity, this kind of melding, whether you’re at Nissan or a Nike or, you know, um, Gucci, you know, whatever, it’s like, yeah.

What, how do they, how does that, you know, show what, I mean, I think, cause I think for a lot of people, they, they have no idea, um, you know, where the thought comes from on something, let’s say, let’s say color, for example.

[00:53:18] Allyson Witherspoon: Yeah, it’s, it’s fascinating because we, you know, we’re, we’re looking at trends for colors and it’s interior and exterior.

So you have to kind of look at both, you know, how, what does that timeline look like, you know, for the next five to 10 years, where, where are color trends going? And how do you look at that globally? Um, and so we are very much looking at day it’s data oriented, where, you know, where do we think this is going?

What has been the pattern that we’ve seen so far? And so it’s very, very data-oriented in that piece of it. And a lot of times, you know, colors. You know, you have black, silver and white are the most purchased, you know, vehicle colors, but what gets you noticed actually is some of these more unique colors.

And that’s, that’s what we use in marketing. And so, you know, there’s a lot of discussion about, you know, what is the hero color that we’re going to have in all the marketing, because that will stand out and maybe that’s not going to be the highest take rate for consumers, but it’s, what’s going to capture their attention.

And then you have to think about how to, you know, and this is where my team and I come in and like. Some colors don’t shoot very well. And so it’s, we really like the color, but how do we light it? How do we create, you know, kind of the lines of the car to be able to go through. So it’s very data oriented.

Then it’s also just the, the practicality and the operation side of how do we make it look its best

[00:54:40] Gabby: of all, of all the countries that you are in. What, which country will be the most playful and, and which country is the most conservative on, on maybe color and design? Hmm.

[00:54:53] Allyson Witherspoon: Uh, that’s an interesting one. I would say the U.S is maybe the most conservative. Really? Yeah, maybe the most conservative. I would say the most playful is probably Japan. There are pinks here that you wouldn’t see in other parts of the world. And there’s kind of, there’s a lot of playfulness when it comes to two tones. So like the roof and the, you know, the hood will be a different color.

So I would say that is the most playful when it comes to color.

[00:55:20] Gabby: Can they request it? Or it’s like, this is how it comes.

[00:55:24] Allyson Witherspoon: The design, uh, it depends. In the, in Japan, you have built to order, so consumers are able to go in and configure and purchase that. In the U. S. it’s, it’s, it’s stock, so you go in and you purchase it, you know, kind of what’s on, you know, in inventory.

Uh, and so I think, yes, they are able to customize bits and pieces of it. Obviously we, we try to not overload people with decisions, but keep it kind of contained. We also need that from a manufacturing efficiency side, but they are able to customize it to a certain extent.

[00:55:57] Gabby: As a, as a person in a leadership role, never mind being a female, just in leadership, um, cause I think people often think leadership is something where you go and you just tell everyone what to do.

And in fact, you stated it earlier, you’re trying to create an environment really for everyone to be there. selves and for the team to perform the best. What has shown up for you, um, techniques as far as being, uh, you know, a good leader that, um, you know, you’ve through time, you go, you know, like for me, for example, like if I, if I teach a class or do something, I’ve learned that raising my voice is, It’s not better right in that moment.

I I’ve I’ve lost kind of I’m not in charge anymore. Um, certain things, but I’m I’m wondering what traits really not only did you respond to, but maybe you’ve incorporated that really. Yeah,

[00:56:56] Allyson Witherspoon: I think when I first started again, I was, you know, I was a manager kind of right out of school and it was, you know, I was a mess.

I’ll be totally honest. And it was, you know, you’re, you’re just, you think like you said, you think that you’re just supposed to tell people what to do and you, you, I didn’t see enough of, you need to get people to buy into the idea to trust you. Um, I think also I thought, you know, I, it was about me for the early part of my career and showing that, you know, well, I did this and, and this was because of me and.

And what I realized, especially over the last several years, and, you know, the last couple of roles I had, it is less about my technical ability. And it’s a hundred percent about my ability to galvanize people and to provide a vision and to empower and motivate them to deliver on that. But it has nothing to do with my technical ability.

And that was, and I wish someone would have told me that when I first graduated. Like, you can be great at it, but that’s not what’s going to get you to be a good leader. What’s going to be able to get you to be a good leader is to listen to your peers. To take input from people to take criticism and not get defensive and, you know, be able to accept points of view that are different than your own.

And, and I would say that’s been the biggest evolution. And I think COVID had a big impact to me because all of a sudden you’re trying to be a leader. And you’re dealing with screens, you’re trying to connect with people, people are afraid, they’re afraid for their jobs, because, you know, no one was going to buy a car at the time, they’re afraid for their health, they’re afraid, they’re just anxiety, you know, what’s gonna happen, and so you have, I, I, Very much had to learn to stop trying to separate Allyson from Allyson, the CMO, and I had to be much more vulnerable and connecting with people on a much more personal level that then they were able to trust me.

We were able to trust each other to get through that time period. So. And I had never had a leader like that. Jack Pitney was a mentor and he was like that. I didn’t work for him. And so I had, I’ve had very traditional male, all men, um, you know, they were kind of militaristic, like, you know, this is what you need to do.

And, and I suddenly started to shift into instead of being a robot. Becoming a person and becoming a person, you know, for, you know, with my team. And so my team could see that, and that’s been a huge change. And I never would talk about my personal life. You know, I never let them know, you know, I would never let people know that I was scared.

And all of a sudden in this timeframe, you’re, you know, you, you have to. You have to show that. And it was, it was a huge turning point for me. And I, I still struggle and you know, I, I get upset if, if I don’t, if something doesn’t, you know, I don’t feel like it’s meeting the expectations that we need it to be.

What I’ve learned is that those moments become fewer and further between. I don’t beat myself up when they do happen. Um, but I learn and I grow from it.

[01:00:03] Gabby: Do you, cause every once in a while you, you will have to either, you know, Someone will have to be reprimanded, you know, uh, talking to like, Hey, the performance, the attitude, or actually you’re probably gone there.

You have, I’m sure in your day, has that, have you found a way that that has gotten easier to deal with? Cause I, I always think that that’s as a, as somebody who has to, you know, be in charge of a space, um, that part is tricky. Has that, has that gotten easier for you?

[01:00:35] Allyson Witherspoon: No, it’s always, that’s always tough. I think what I’ve learned, what I have learned is that, especially when it comes to performance management, you have to do it, it can’t be a surprise for the person they have to, they have to know that, okay, we’re starting to see something.

And so start gently and, you know, this is what I’m looking for. And, you know, this is what we need to deliver. And then. Give them, you know, give them a challenge, give them, you know, like, I want to see you come back with this and then it becomes on their terms and either they’re able to deliver of it or they’re not able to.

And then the discussions become more difficult. I would say, you know, I spend as much energy kind of stressing out about it now as I’ve done in the past, but I plan for it. And I try to make it so it’s not a surprise if it, if we have to get to that point, if it’s really not working, it’s not a surprise to that person.

[01:01:28] Gabby: Yeah. It’s never easy, is it? No. And you,

[01:01:33] Allyson Witherspoon: we’re humans.

[01:01:34] Gabby: Yeah.

[01:01:34] Allyson Witherspoon: And it, and sometimes, and some, sometimes things just aren’t the right fit. You know, it’s, it’s just not the right fit. And, and that’s not a personal attack on somebody. It’s just not the right field for their skillset or maybe where their capabilities are.

Or what they’re looking for in a job. And so I think you, you know, I, so I try to, that’s what I try to do. But I think the biggest thing is to just, you know, have honest conversations. Yeah. They, again, they start first delicately and then, you know, kind of, they build an intensity over time.

[01:02:08] Gabby: What’s the most, um, intricate or, uh, challenging country to market to?

[01:02:18] Allyson Witherspoon: The most, the most challenging market, uh, to, to actually market to right now is probably China, China and India. I would say those are, those are the two China, because things are moving really, really rapidly. I mean, there’s many local brands that are coming in and it’s, it’s a massive amount of brands that consumers are able to, to look at.

And so how do you really break through and how do you break through? Um, In ways that your competitive set isn’t, you know, you’re not just copying and pasting what they’re doing. And so that, that one’s very difficult. India is also very difficult as well, because so much, there are also local brands that are there, that consumers are kind of pre, you know, they’re pre wired to be interested in.

So again, how do you start to break through in those markets and how do you, how do you show you’re a global company, but with Indian consumers best interested in mind,

[01:03:10] Gabby: do you tell, and I think that’s the, yeah. Do you, sorry, do you tell stories because you, you know, here in the U S you, you know, you have very well known people as well as sort of regular commercials running.

Um, do is one of the ways to sort of use maybe a beloved character in, in that specific country to help usher in the brand. Does that, does that work? Is that ever part of the story?

[01:03:33] Allyson Witherspoon: Yeah, and I think in a lot of markets that’s, that’s what we’re, that’s what we are able to do. And I think in places like China, ’cause I think you have brand ambassadors, they need to be local to those markets because those are the people that they trust.

And so we don’t have global brand ambassadors, but we do have them in, in each of the markets. So yes, because culture plays such an important role, the brand doesn’t exist. In the same way around the world, you know, in Mexico, we have almost 20 percent market share. So that’s very different than how it is in, you know, in the UK or in different parts, even in the US.

And so you have to tap into those cultural nuances. You have to understand that in order to really see what is the right thing around the world. And it’s not one size fits all.

[01:04:19] Gabby: So I just have one more kind of strategy question, which is you, I heard you talking about kind of sort of these one off plays in, in marketing and then kind of an ongoing, like I’ll use the Heisman house as a sort of a continuous story for, for marketing.

What would be the goal of like a one and done we’re going to get in there. We’re going to, you know, hit it hard. Would it be to feature a special, um, you know, vehicle that you really want? To highlight, or is it for a special event? Like what’s the thinking in the strategy? Because one has a different follow through and follow up when it’s ongoing.

How do you, how do you know when it’s, it’s time to do each? Cause one is a longer commitment, right? Like on high in the Heisman house, you have talent attached to it. You have storytelling. It’s a ongoing thing. When do you know it’s. Yeah,

[01:05:15] Allyson Witherspoon: I think in the case of Heisman House, we were looking for a way to break through in college football, which is very difficult to do because it’s such a fragmented there’s so many different sponsors of it.

So we were looking for a place to own. What can we own? And that’s how we created the Nissan Heisman House. And so it And it, it’s really rare to be able to own something like within a big platform like that and being known for something. And so, and it comes up for renewal every few years. And when you look at the numbers, it’s, it drives consideration.

It drives awareness. It changes people’s perception of the brand. And the important thing is we’re tapping into consumers passion points, but we’re doing it in a relevant way. And I think it’s not enough to just say like, Oh, it’s us. We’re here in college football. It’s how do you actually tap in understanding what they’re interested in and how you organically make the brand relevant.

And so that’s why we continue with Nissan Heisenhaus when it comes to the one off things and super bowl is a great example. I think it’s really important that how will that one moment, how will it impact the rest of, you know, your calendar that you’re going to be working on? So, I like to look at things as far as chapters.

So, we have a brand story for 12 months. What are the different chapters that are part of that? And in the case of the Super Bowl, and we did this in 2020. To I think 2000. Yeah, 2022. And it was, we had a big product transformation that we’re wanting to communicate. We knew that we wanted to get momentum going into the next couple of quarters.

And so it was the right time. We had new product. We had. A great story that we wanted to tell, and that’s what ended up, um, you know, it made sense to make that type of investment that was going to be a little bit more shorter term, but would have a halo impact on the things that were going to come after that.

And so that’s how I, that’s how I try to look at it. I think it’s rare that we’ll do something that’s just one and done. It’s always a piece of a bigger story.

[01:07:18] Gabby: When do you know? It’s good. Like, ’cause you gotta, you gotta put it out there eventually. When do you go? Okay. It’s good. We’re ready.

[01:07:28] Allyson Witherspoon: I was just listening. I was just, I’ve been reading the Creative Act by Rick Rubin and I was talking about one of the chapters is completion. I, I generally know kind of around the first rough cut of, if it’s a, if it’s video content, I, I generally will know, um, like, okay. This is like it has the right type of energy. It has the right type of vibe.

The story that we’re telling is there. And then it’s about kind of tweaking that. Um, and I think when you put it out into the world, it’s very scary because every, you know, people, a lot of opinions. Um, and you just have to go with it. You just have to kind of put it out there and see how the world responds to it.

I think if you’re confident with it internally, um, then that makes a big difference. We do testing, you know, so we’re we want to make sure that we’re not in a You know, kind of, we’re not tunnel vision about something, or we’re not tone deaf, and there’s something that maybe we missed. So we do do testing, that’s part of it.

Um, but, but generally, you know, generally that’s, that becomes just part of the process, the creative idea. Um, you know, if that’s strong, then everything else starts to follow beyond, you know, behind that.

[01:08:38] Gabby: I think a lot of people want to follow a creative path to make a living, but it seems really scary, or there’s something, it feels ambiguous, you know, because it’s creativity.

It’d be like, yeah, it’s like art. What would you, do you think it’s if like, you can’t help it, you got to do it? Like, because. It is. It’s a different type of path and it is a, it’s a harder path, but I feel like it’s almost like they’d suffer more if they don’t.

[01:09:08] Allyson Witherspoon: Yeah. I, I agree because I think, and I have this conversation, um, Alfonso Albaiza is our head of design and is maybe the most creative person I’ve met in my life.

And I would say it’s his calling and it’s, you know, there’s. It’s rare to get something that has more opinions about than a car design because everyone has an opinion, everyone has a reaction to it, and I think it’s, you know, it can create, you know, for creative people, there’s a lot of pain that goes into that, but if you’re able to be resilient, you work through that pain, you learn from, you know, you learn from the feedback, you learn to tune out.

What is noise and what’s real feedback. And I think that’s the biggest thing that I think I’ve learned over the last several years is that there’s a lot of noise and noise is going to happen. And don’t let that distract or detract from what you’re doing. If there’s legitimate feedback, pay it. That’s what you need to pay attention to.

And how do you take that and apply it to whatever the next thing is that’s coming?

[01:10:09] Gabby: Yeah. I love that. What’s your favorite? I know you said that your family, I think you have a family Z that’s get gotten passed around. Um, what’s your fit? Forget Nissan for a second. What’s your favorite car of all time? Do you have one?

[01:10:24] Allyson Witherspoon: Yeah, I do. The first car I ever fell in love with was a Porsche 911. And I was, we were talking early about station wagons. My twin and I were in the back. We were facing each other in the back of the station wagon. Like, I don’t know. You can never do that now. Okay. I remember looking out and I remember seeing a Porsche 911 and I was fascinated by the way that the sheet metal was kind of shaped around the headlamps and I just, I was like, I don’t know what that is, but I am so drawn to this thing and so that’s been, that’s it.

And then the 300, the Nissan Z and I think any generation of it is my favorite. Um, but there’s a 300Z that my older brother had that we just all individually in our family fell in love with. We all, I learned how to drive a stick on it. Um, my dad had it for a few years, my brothers had it, and then my nephew now has it.

And so that one is, it’s just, it’s, it’s, it’s, It has this emotion. This is what I love about cars is that there is an emotion. There is that freedom to it. Great things happen in cars, you know, momentous things happen in cars. And I think it’s, it’s so great to try to tap into that as a marketer.

[01:11:34] Gabby: For you in the last 10 years, has there been something, obviously electric cars, but is there something that has been like the most monumental, innovating thing that has happened in the automotive space that you, that you were like, whoa, That’s even surprising for me.

[01:11:52] Allyson Witherspoon: I think that there’s this technology called brain-to-vehicle technology. And it’s, you know, it’s, it’s still, it’s very advanced, advanced engineering and advanced development. But it’s how you take, how do you, how can the car react to you faster than you can react? Um, and so it’s, you know, you have kind of this, this helmet that you put on, and you’re, the, the car is able to see things that you can’t see yet.

And that to me was just mind-blowing, and we use it with our Formula E team, and it was just, the technology will get there over time, but that was just like, that to me, I just thought about all the things that people could do if, if there wasn’t this fear that was happening and how does that advance, you know, things like autonomous drive, things like that.

But that, that to me, it was when I was like, I, this is just amazing. It’s amazing what our engineers can do.

[01:12:45] Gabby: Okay. Last work question. You, as many successes clearly that you’ve had given where you are right now, on the rare occasion that maybe it didn’t. It didn’t go over something. It just some an idea didn’t work, whatever the market didn’t match the product or the communication.

How do you, because again, every time you do something, there’s a lot on the line. How do you trust yourself and say, okay, you know, dust myself off. Where, how do you get that reboot that recharge? Cause I think people don’t realize you’re, you are, you play a high stakes game and you do talk about being fearless, but.

It’s like, it’s, it’s challenging what you’re doing.

[01:13:31] Allyson Witherspoon: It’s fearless, but I’m scared shitless all the time. Um, I think, sorry about that. Sorry, Nissan. Um, I, to me, it’s about really looking when something doesn’t work, really looking at it objectively, you know, kind of taking. Taking the, maybe the emotion that’s part of it, or maybe it’s part of my legacy or something, but really forcing myself to look objectively at something and why understanding why it didn’t work, I think talking about it in a weird way.

I always thought it would be afraid of that, but actually talking it out because people have so much respect where you’re like, you know what? We tried this and it didn’t work, but this is what we learned. And I think I was always afraid to say that. to, you know, to my managers or things like that. But now I’m not, now I’m not afraid because I know that that, I know that they respect that.

And I know that they appreciate it because no one is perfect and no, we’re not going to be a hundred percent all the time. And sometimes. You’re going to have to get a base hit instead of a home run, and that’s okay, but what do you take from the learnings of that and how do you apply that to the next thing?

[01:14:47] Allyson Witherspoon: And I think you have to, you know, you just have to really be objective. And I think, you know, when it’s less about you and something that’s the right thing for the company, that’s how I also try to position it. Like, we tried this, it didn’t work, because of X, Y, Z, we think that this is going to be more powerful. And then and keep it moving.

[01:15:09] Gabby: Yeah. Do you, do you think, do you feel at home anywhere now? Like, where’s your home? Like, where do you, that’s tough. You and your husband are in Japan together. It looks like you have a really beautiful life. Like, is there a place you feel at home or you’re it, that’s just an open, you know, possibility.

[01:15:29] Allyson Witherspoon: It’s an open possibility. We still have a house in Nashville. Um, but you know, we’re, but we’re never there. I would say it’s, The two of us together is kind of the home and it can be wherever we are. And I, you know, and I look at your marriage and, and I think about, you know, it’s like, and that we go through, you know, the ups and downs of all of that, but it’s the, it’s the fact that we’re together, that’s, that’s the home for us.

[01:15:50] Gabby: Yeah. So my last question, Allyson, you’re, you’re, you’re a powerhouse. professional person, woman, and you, you are kind of a newlywed the last few years. Are you, did you go through a period? Cause I think a lot of, and especially females, it’s just natural. You think, Oh, I don’t know if I can have both, you know, like I can either do this job that takes all this time and attention and energy and travel and, or, you know, the other, and you, you’ve managed to blend it.

Did you, are you surprised that, um, you, you’ve been able to, to do now both? Was it a surprise to you at all?

[01:16:32] Allyson Witherspoon: Yeah. Yeah. A huge surprise. I, I put my personal life on the back burner for years, for, you know, for decades. For, you know, at least a couple decades, and I, you know, I was work was, I wanted to, I wanted to, at first I wanted to see how far I could go, and then I started to realize, okay, then this is more the position that I would like to have.

Um, but I, I put all of my energy into that and I think I, I went through a period where both of my parents passed away. It was right around Covid. And I was reconnected with, uh, you know, one of my best friends from when I was in Japan and a colleague and we just started hanging out and we realized that, you know, we were, we were both out of our other relationships that we had before and which were, you know, they were on my side, it was, you know, it was not, not ever going to go anywhere, which worked perfectly for me at the time, but we realized that we were.

You know, we were something more, and I, I remember feeling like, I don’t know if I have the emotional energy to give to this. I don’t know if I can give to this person what he needs. And the thing I think that shifted was that he was so supportive of me and my career and he believed in me that it actually, it became not scary.

And I realized that, you know, when I, now that I’ve started to pay attention to my personal life, I’m actually better at my job.

[01:17:55] Gabby: Hmm.

[01:17:56] Allyson Witherspoon: Which I never would have thought that you couldn’t have told me that, you know, and, and I would have ever listened to it. And it’s just amazing what can happen when you start to accept that, you know, you do deserve things from a personal standpoint and, and not all successes have to be work related.

And in, in, in this weird way, I never would have guessed. I, I got better at my job. I got better at leading people. I got better at taking care of myself because. I was now open to that.

[01:18:26] Gabby: Yeah, it’s, I’m always, I always love to see any person male or female, but especially females when it’s like, yeah, they, they truly have kicked a lot of ass in their career and somehow they got matched up with the right person who can handle that speed and understands.

the gears and the language. And, um, because I feel like if you can have a life simultaneously to this robust work life, um, you know, and it, it, it’s an interesting thing. I think in partnership, I always say sometimes you’re the farmer, sometimes you’re the flower, you know, and it feels like that. Allyson, thanks for your time.

 

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About Allyson Witherspoon