Lotus appoints Swizz Beatz as Vice President of Creative Design and Global Marketing

We've become accustomed to surprising and – at times – bizarre news stories emerging from Lotus since Danny Behar became CEO. But judging from reaction in the world of social media this afternoon, even by Lotus's recent standards, the news that it has appointed American rapper Swizz Beatz as its vice president of Creative Design and Global Marketing, came as something of a surprise.

Kasseem Daoud Dean, otherwise known as Swizz Beatz, has a broad creative background, having a portfolio that includes music producer, rapper, designer and painter. You might not have heard of Swizz, but you probably are aware of his wife, Alicia Keys. And you'll also most likely have seen Swizz's work if you've watched a music video from Jay-Z or Kanye West recently.

Surreal it might at first seem, but it's not hard to understand Lotus's logic with this move. They're clearly targeting the kind of impact Victoria Beckham made when she joined Range Rover in the Creative Design Executive role. Celebrity figures such as these help a brand to reach people they'd normally struggle to gain exposure to, and in the best case scenario help a brand expand beyond its traditional market - which is, we understand, part of the primary role Swizz will be playing. Yet we struggle to see quite how this will work with the same effect as Beckham, given that he's not exactly a household name.

Swizz has already collaborated with well-known brands, working with Reebok to produce a line of sneakers that was revealed on Twitter last year.

Swizz's appointment follows on from an array of recent celebrity figures who have been recruited to give their creative input to automotive companies. Last July, Victoria Beckham became the creative design executive at Range Rover, while Justin Timberlake is currently Audi A1 brand ambassador.

Swizz, as well as collecting paintings, earns money from his own paintings and donates the money he makes from them to the Children's Cancer & Blood Foundation, while also donating to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

We await with baited breath to see just who the Norfolk-based producer of (for now) lightweight sportcars, chooses to bring into its fold next.

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By Rufus Thompson and Joe Simpson