Chapter 115\ Carlos Ghosn: Global Advertiser of 2002

After an exceptional seven-year tenure with Nissan Middle East, Miyoshi-San was finally replaced by Shigeru Tsubaki. This long overdue management change shattered my dream of making Miyoshi-San our “Mr. M” for the Middle East.

In early February 2002, Tsubaki-San called me to relay a dinner invitation from Carlos Ghosn in Geneva on 1 March. For a split second, I nearly asked Tsubaki-San if Nissan was going to pay for my ticket but avoided slipping into the pettiness trap. We had our private dinner in Ghosn’s suite, as we were both staying at the InterContinental Geneva. In fact, a large Nissan delegation was at the hotel for the Geneva International Motor Show. Ghosn thanked me for the perfect arrangement and for the media coverage I had managed to secure during his trips to Lebanon and Dubai. He also thanked me for rushing a copy of my telex invitation to L’Orient Le Jour’s editor-in-chief to Tokyo. He explained that the editor-in-chief, an old friend of his from high school, had called and apologized, attributing his earlier complaint to a failure on the part of his PA. Ghosn then got to the crux of his invitation, explaining that during our brief conversation in Beirut and throughout my introduction at the Dubai Press Club, he had noted a couple of key observations. Firstly, that I had extensive knowledge of Nissan in the Middle East – more than most of what he had received from his company briefings – and seemed to be far more insightful than anything he had picked up from the Japanese executives dealing with the Arab markets. He explained that he always learnt about the companies he was assigned to manage from all the different stakeholders, and not only from corporate briefing reports. He had learnt much more about forgotten and neglected issues at Michelin and at Nissan this way. He then asked me to share with him all that I had seen at Nissan Middle East – both the good and the bad.

There was a snowstorm outside, and we both became so engaged in our conversation that I forgot an earlier promise to Khalil and Diana Koutran on joining them in the lobby after my meeting. Ghosn concluded the evening by reminding me that it was a unique opportunity to have an Arab CEO at the helm of a car manufacturing company and promised to make himself available to TBWA\RAAD to make the most of this opportunity. From my side, I concluded our meeting with an agreement to host a dinner with Lebanese and pan-Arab media at my summer house in Broumana. This would help them bond with Nissan’s CEO and capitalize on the fact that Ghosn and his family spent a month at Al Bustan Hotel in Beit Mery every year.

I couldn’t wait to meet with Jean-Marie Dru and to report on the developing relationship with one of TBWA’s key global clients. I also wanted to highlight the opportunity of using Ghosn as the spokesperson for Nissan in our Middle East campaigns. Excitedly, I reminded him of Mr. K’s success in the US and saw Nissan’s CEO addressing Arab car buyers in our native language. Sadly, my global boss killed the idea instantly, stressing that Ghosn had turned out to be an extremely difficult client to handle and TBWA would be committing a grave mistake if it turned him into a second Lee Iacocca.

In August, Ghosn and his family arrived at Al Bustan Hotel in Beit Merry to spend a month of summer holidays. I invited him and his wife Rita, to a dinner at my garden in Broumana on 17 August, to which I also invited Antoine and Rose Choueiri of the Choueiri Group, the advertising sales representatives of LBC, MBC, An-Nahar and many other media. I also invited Raouf Abou Zaki, the publisher and editor-in-chief of Al Iktissad Wal Aamal; Nadim Mounla of Future TV; Gerard Saunal, publisher and editor-in-chief of Sport Auto; Nasser Saifeddine of New TV; Walid and Yolla Azzi, the publisher and editor-in-chief of ArabAd and president of the IAA Lebanon Chapter; Marcelle Nadim, publisher and editor-in-chief of Prestige; and Camille Menassa, administrative director of L’Orient Le Jour and a past president of the IAA Lebanon Chapter. The party also included many other guests, including Michel Ayat, managing director of the Arabian Automobiles Company (Nissan’s dealer in Dubai and the Northern Emirates), who flew in with his wife especially for the occasion.

In the ensuing years, Ghosn proved to be a miracle maker for the Nissan business in the Middle East. The scene before he arrived was one of continuous dealers’ complaints because Nissan’s model line-up was meagre compared to that of Toyota. RYMCO, Nissan’s dealer in Lebanon, were well informed and knew that the new Pathfinder had turned into a bestseller in the US. They also knew that a Middle East version of the Pathfinder would take at least another year to be developed in Japan because of GCC Automotive Emission requirements. So, they approached Ghosn on one of his frequent trips to Beirut and asked him to allow RYMCO to import Pathfinders directly from the US, since GCC restrictions did not apply in Lebanon. Ghosn approved, despite the resistance of his Japanese colleagues, and the Pathfinder became the fastest selling car in Lebanon. This led GCC distributors to complain and the production of their version of the Pathfinder was speeded up.

On another visit to the GCC, regional dealers complained about the disparity between Nissan’s seven-model line-up and Toyota’s 23. Ghosn questioned his Japanese team, who blamed it on GCC regulations, claiming that millions of yen were needed to convert every new model to GCC specifications. On the spot, Ghosn challenged his entourage from the Japanese Middle East Export Department, asking how Toyota was able to afford this and not Nissan. He asked for an urgent meeting to be arranged with Nissan’s engineers upon his return to Japan.

The outcome was quick. Six new models were launched in the region that year after it was revealed that Nissan had been operating with a poor translation of the GCC’s technical requirements.

Walid Azzi, who was introduced to Ghosn at my Broumana dinner, persuaded the organizing committee of the IAA’s 38th World Congress (which was to be held in Lebanon in April 2002) to invite Ghosn to be the keynote speaker. I had the honor of introducing Ghosn and Jean-Marie Dru at the congress, and during his introductory address, Nissan’s worldwide CEO said: “Mr. Raad has kindly listed all my professional titles and nicknames that I’ve been called since my arrival in Japan. However, I am certain that Mr. Raad prefers the last title he used in his introduction – TBWA’s dearest client.” At the end of the congress, Ghosn was named the IAA’s Global Advertiser of 2002.

---

Articles covering the events!