Lisa Materazzo begins her first week Monday, Jan. 4, as the brand new group vp of promoting for Toyota Motor North America. Within the position, Materazzo, 52, is succeeding longtime Toyota government Ed Laukes, who introduced his retirement in November.

When she first joined Toyota in 1998 as a senior product planner, Materazzo was a part of the Scion effort earlier than leaving Toyota in 2008 to carry managerial positions at Model Sense Companions, Ridemakerz and AOL. She returned in 2014 as a company supervisor, media technique and digital engagement.

Materazzo spoke with Employees Reporter Larry P. Vellequette final month about her new position.

Q: What are your plans for the brand new job?

A: I undoubtedly have large sneakers to fill. The gentleman who got here earlier than me, Ed Laukes, has been main that division for some time. That being stated, it is not unfamiliar territory to me. I spent many, a few years in Toyota advertising and marketing — I’ve been on each side of the home, I’d say. After I returned to Toyota in 2014, I used to be in built-in advertising and marketing operations; I used to be answerable for digital, and media and social, after which I transitioned from there to car advertising and marketing and communications. That is the realm that works on technique, our go-to-market plans, inventive manufacturing, coaching for brand spanking new merchandise, in addition to the Toyota Seller Affiliation. It is thrilling to return again now and see all of it come collectively beneath the group vp position.

Do you’ve a to-do checklist — a technique to put Lisa Materazzo’s stamp on Toyota advertising and marketing?

I’m at first going to return in and pay attention and be taught, as a result of it has been two years [since last working on Toyota marketing instead of Lexus], so I wish to respect what has been accomplished previous to my arrival. I feel it is much less about placing “my stamp on it,” and extra about: What can I actually dig into? What do we have now forward of us?

I feel the good information there’s that there is lots of thrilling issues to stay up for. While you have a look at the brand new product that is coming down the pipeline, that is very thrilling. We even have, over the subsequent 16 months, we will have 13 new [Toyota] autos to launch, so from that perspective, there are lots of alternatives inbuilt for nice, nice advertising and marketing.

And in the event you have a look at our Olympic and Paralympic initiatives — we’re a prime sponsor within the Olympics — and due to COVID and the delay to the Tokyo video games, we’re really going to have a fairly unprecedented state of affairs the place we’ll have the Tokyo video games taking place in the summertime, after which six quick months later, we could have the Beijing winter video games. In order that brings a number of alternatives.

Talking of upcoming product launches, are there some new stuff you’d prefer to attempt?

We’re all the time making an attempt new stuff; that hasn’t modified. We’re all the time wanting with a brand new launch to do a mixture of tried-and-true initiatives, but additionally extra of these “moonshot” alternatives. That varies product by product precisely what these are, however that’s so embedded in what we do, and the way we go to market. I feel notably now, with COVID, it is no shock that the shift to digital brings on many alternatives for us. I feel even put up COVID, a lot of these adjustments in habits — and people shifts in media consumption patterns notably — I feel they will stick.

What’s your excited about the significance and even the way forward for auto exhibits?

I feel we’ll need to see. Auto exhibits have performed a job, not just for Toyota and Lexus, however for all the opposite OEMs, and it is much less about auto exhibits particularly and extra considering: The place are the customers? How can we attain the customers? What is going to that appear to be? That has to play out a bit bit extra, I feel, as a result of we’re nonetheless within the midst of COVID, to the purpose the place it is actually difficult to renew auto exhibits in a protected method. That is at first in our thoughts. We have confirmed that we are able to pivot; if you have a look at the product that Toyota launched just about, after which on the Lexus facet as nicely.

You may argue that digital reveals had been maybe much more useful, as a result of it supplied us the chance to broaden past the viewers we might have had in a conventional auto present.

However I do know that lots of the auto exhibits perceive the adjustments which can be happening, particularly in gentle of COVID, so that they’re taking a look at how they will innovate as nicely. We’ll need to see what they arrive again with in 2021. We have had success with auto exhibits, particularly when you consider the regional and native auto exhibits, and the publicity that provides us for our sellers, it is nice. We’ve got our product specialists there, so it is a terrific alternative to the touch and really feel the autos and be taught extra about them.

You are additionally now answerable for Toyota’s motorsports. The place do you fall on the motorsports spectrum?

I am an enormous motorsports fanatic, and I’ve been all my life. It predates my Toyota expertise. I grew up in upstate New York close to the Watkins Glen racetrack. I’ve two older brothers who’re automobile and bike fanatics, as is my father. It is form of in my blood, so I really like motorsports.

I feel it is good for the model, and I feel it is good for our friends, as a result of we have now fan engagement. It truly is a means for us to attach with our friends, and that is common, whether or not it is on the Toyota facet or the Lexus facet. Motorsports is one other good technique to have that one-on-one contact, to get people in our autos and allow them to be taught a bit bit about our model. I do assume it performs a job in advertising and marketing the model and being a terrific contact level with our customers, so I like it.

Have you ever ever accomplished a racing college or something like that?

I’ve accomplished a pair: the Skip Barber Racing College, and the Lexus Efficiency Driving College. I’ve pushed Laguna Seca observe, and I used to be going to have the ability to drive the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, however that was interrupted by COVID, so I am hoping to get an opportunity to get again on the COTA circuit. It is on my bucket checklist.