Steve Jobs is a master perception manager in a way no PR team could ever dream up (no salary as CEO of Apple, working at the intersection of liberal arts and technology, aesthetic appearance, his attitudes and perception management skills have seen the iPhone through its initial launch problems and its 2010 iPhone 4 receiver problem).
It's still working on that: After it buys ad time and space for an individual campaign, Nissan measures consumer attitudes and purchase intentions every week while the ads run.