Fiat to promote Perosino to global marketing role

Fiat is set to hand marketing communications chief Giovanni Perosino its top global marketing role after Steve Norman’s move to rival Renault.

Industry sources say Perosino, Fiat’s worldwide marketing communications director, is already handling most of Norman’s responsibilities and is expected to be promoted to the role of worldwide marketing director for the Fiat brand in the coming weeks. Perosino is thought to be close to chief executive of the Fiat brand Luca De Meo.

It emerged last month that Norman was leaving Fiat after three years to join Renault as senior vicepresident of global marketing, as first revealed on marketingweek.co.uk. Norman, who starts on September 10, replaces Benoit Marzloff, who is stepping down from the French car-maker after 37 years.

Norman joined Fiat as managing director of Fiat France in 2004. He was made worldwide marketing director for the Fiat brand a year later (MW August 4, 2005).

Norman, who has also worked for Rover and Volkswagen, will report to executive vice-president of sales and marketing Patrick Blain in his new role. Renault promoted Blain, who was previously senior vice-president for Europe, to its top global sales and marketing role at the end of 2004 (MW January 6, 2005).

Norman and Perosino have helped mastermind a turnaround that has seen Fiat bounce back from the brink of bankruptcy. The global marketing team has won a host of marketing awards in Italy in the last year for its contribution.

The duo have overseen several advertising pitches in the last year and handed UK incumbent Krow the £14m pan-European advertising account for the company’s Grande Punto model at the end of last year (MW December 7, 2006).

A Fiat spokesman says no decision on Norman’s replacement has been made.