Service brands require the services (!) of employer branding more than product brands. After all, service brands are people centric. They rely on people to be always giving of their best – customers who interact with employees see that person as being truly representative of the brand. If that person is offering less than great service, let’s say they’re having a bad hair day, their favourite team just lost or their car just broke down, then there is a likelihood that they will not be truly living and expressing the brand. And it only takes one bad service experience to lose that customer for life.
Customers can therefore have very different experiences with a service brand. If the performance isn’t consistent or fails to live up to the customer’s expectations of what great service should be, the prospects for customer satisfaction and future sales through word of mouth are at risk.
Service-based organisations need to do a more thorough job when it comes to communicating with and engaging their employees. Brand managers in particular are beginning to change their traditional belief system that ‘the customer is always king’ to one where ‘if we don’t value our employees and keep them engaged and motivated, we’ll never have customers in the first place’. Get it right on the inside first before you tackle the outside.
Sadly bad service is all around us. Websites that don’t work. Telephone sales people that annoy. Transport without a timetable. Restaurants that don’t care. Banks that treat you like a number which is never number one. The financial downturn however is teaching companies the hard way that a service company has to offer exceptional service. Many of those that offered only average service are no longer with us.
Change has made companies realise that ‘our staff are essential to the success of our brand and our ability to attract and retain happy and loyal customers’. Conversely ‘a successful brand is essential to our ability to atttract and retain happy and loyal employees’.
Company profits going backwards are stimulating more internal reviews to make staff realise what exceptional service really is and how to achieve it. Companies must ensure that their employees understand what their brand stands for, what its competitive benefits are and how to articulate them to customers, and deliver a compelling proposition of what the brand can mean to that customer.
Remember. Every employee action and everything they say reflects on the brand.
Tony Heywood is an international branding consultant and founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney and co-founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
View some of Heywood’s work on www.heywood.com.au
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Friday, July 10, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Vale One Centre and Billy Blue
The past few weeks have witnessed the passing of two Sydney-based creative icons.
One Centre was a relatively recent addition to the Australian creative scene, distinguished by a strong desire to create and grow brands on a global scale and seemingly driven with great passion. Rapid growth, stellar ambitions and a craving to employ the cream of Australia’s available creative talent despite the continuing financial gloom, sounded an ominous warning to those who have experienced previous downturns. It is all too easy to criticise those businesses that have tried and not succeeded. One Centre however should be both a warning and an inspiration to all creative businesses of the difficulties that can befall the bold and the brave, but also what can be achieved with high ambition and vision underpinned by a talented team. The business is presently in administration and waiting for a cashed up suitor to run the ruler over the figures and the prospects. I wish them well.
The well known and well respected creative icon Billy Blue is closing its doors after what must be 30 years in business. When I first arrived in Sydney in 1980 from recession-torn England and willingly immersed myself in vibrant new surroundings, I noticed one day a beautifully designed free magazine called Billy Blue, the likes of which I had never seen before. Its wide acceptance, high recognition and ability to integrate fine words and inspired design, succeeded in establishing the name and spawned the Billy Blue empire, comprising creative business, design school and hotel school. What a great shame it has gone. An important chapter in Sydney creative culture has been consigned to the history pages. My regards to all therein who have pushed forward Australian design boundaries. Thank you for the inspiration.
A blight on this recession. May it end soon.
Tony Heywood is an international branding consultant and founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney and co-founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
View some of Heywood’s work on www.heywood.com.au
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One Centre was a relatively recent addition to the Australian creative scene, distinguished by a strong desire to create and grow brands on a global scale and seemingly driven with great passion. Rapid growth, stellar ambitions and a craving to employ the cream of Australia’s available creative talent despite the continuing financial gloom, sounded an ominous warning to those who have experienced previous downturns. It is all too easy to criticise those businesses that have tried and not succeeded. One Centre however should be both a warning and an inspiration to all creative businesses of the difficulties that can befall the bold and the brave, but also what can be achieved with high ambition and vision underpinned by a talented team. The business is presently in administration and waiting for a cashed up suitor to run the ruler over the figures and the prospects. I wish them well.
The well known and well respected creative icon Billy Blue is closing its doors after what must be 30 years in business. When I first arrived in Sydney in 1980 from recession-torn England and willingly immersed myself in vibrant new surroundings, I noticed one day a beautifully designed free magazine called Billy Blue, the likes of which I had never seen before. Its wide acceptance, high recognition and ability to integrate fine words and inspired design, succeeded in establishing the name and spawned the Billy Blue empire, comprising creative business, design school and hotel school. What a great shame it has gone. An important chapter in Sydney creative culture has been consigned to the history pages. My regards to all therein who have pushed forward Australian design boundaries. Thank you for the inspiration.
A blight on this recession. May it end soon.
Tony Heywood is an international branding consultant and founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney and co-founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
View some of Heywood’s work on www.heywood.com.au
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Thursday, May 21, 2009
Wow, Richard Murdoch gets it wrong!
Saatchi & Saatchi get’s it right. Neil Shoebridge gains a few column inches but not a lot of credibility. In that hallowed journal the Australian Fin Review today it has been reported by the abovementioned scribbler that Rupert Murdoch, in a moment of weakness while reporting a 47% operating slump in his empire’s operating income, proclaimed that “the worst is over”. Yes, he was referring to the global financial calamity. Really, as if any self respecting business owner would take any heed of that, never mind global chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi Kevin Roberts as a restaurant critic. Kev goes on to say quite modestly, in a moment of creative and intellectual muscle flexing, that in his talks with chief executives in the US and the UK, 2010 will be another tough year. That must have been a real tricky one to figure out. I guess that’s headline news for many people. Darn it! And I thought I could go out and celebrate in January. Guess that’s another wasted year. Kev, how could you ruin it for so many people. Just when we’d built up some real confidence. You must be a real party pooper from way back. And then he gets on his soap box and astonishes us all with his concept of ‘winning ugly together (with clients)’. This boy just doesn’t give up. Fresh from his famed Lovemarks (really!) concept where brands have replaced women as the object of men’s desires (and vice versa), ‘winning ugly’ naturally requires companies to give up their relationships with all other ad agencies apart from good ol’ S&S and guess what? Yes you got it! They’re obliged to transfer all business to S&S. Just think what this guy could achieve selling Chryslers in up state Noo Joysey right now. With love marks on the dashboard and a ‘Let’s get ugly together’ sign on the back seat... who knows what may happen.
Tony Heywood is an international branding consultant and founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney and co-founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
View some of Heywood’s work on www.heywood.com.au
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Tony Heywood is an international branding consultant and founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney and co-founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
View some of Heywood’s work on www.heywood.com.au
Share on Facebook
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Corporate brand used as an endorsement
In a competitive marketplace consumers need reassurance that the product they are about to purchase has high levels of quality and reliability. Sometimes the product brand needs a little extra support to ensure these demands are met. This little extra can come in the form of corporate endorsement where the strength of the corporate brand is leveraged to support and enhance the product brand. The two appear together, on the product, on packaging and in advertising. The corporate brand as a result is given more exposure than it normally would have.
What is the down side? What if the product bombs? The corporate brand may be tarnished for some time.
Virgin has used the corporate brand name across its entire product portfolio. The much publicised problems relating to its rail franchise could very well have tarnished the Virgin brand. The fact that it hasn’t is testament to the strength of the core brand.
Placing the corporate and product brands together allows the product brand to assume its own identity and positioning, but also source added strength from the corporate brand and its perceived qualities. This approach can help when a company wishes to introduce new products into a mature market, where it can be very difficult to gain penetration without the visual endorsement of a strong and credible corporate parental brand.
Cadbury does this very well with its many confectionery products – Cadbury’s Creme Egg, Cadbury’s Bournville, Cadbury’s Roses, Cadbury’s Caramello where each product name has assumed the role of product brand.
In the case of Heinz the corporate name endorses product descriptors as opposed to product brands eg Heinz Baked Beans, Heinz Tomato Ketchup, Heinz Cream of Mushroom Soup etc.
What should be the visual size relationship between the two brands? This varies from one company to another depending on your objectives. Sometimes the corporate brand has equal prominence to the product name where the corporate brand is used very much as an identifier. Sometimes the corporate brand assumes a small size where it is used primarily as an endorsement.
Endorsement branding is increasingly used as a mechanism to integrate brand structure across country markets, providing a common element to unify product offerings. Sometimes different cultures, different consumer tastes and differing perception of the brands can dictate that the relationship must change from country to country.
A good example of this is leading coffee manufacturer Douwe Egbert with its ‘lady logo’ which appears on its coffee products worldwide. The size of the lady varies from country to country. The related positioning statement also changes so that in Spain the positioning emphasises coffee richness while in Holland, the association is with family values and comfort.
In conclusion, yes there can be considerable upside to corporate brand endorsement so long as you have confidence in the integrity of the product brand.
Tony Heywood is an international branding consultant and founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney and co-founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
View some of Heywood’s work on www.heywood.com.au
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What is the down side? What if the product bombs? The corporate brand may be tarnished for some time.
Virgin has used the corporate brand name across its entire product portfolio. The much publicised problems relating to its rail franchise could very well have tarnished the Virgin brand. The fact that it hasn’t is testament to the strength of the core brand.
Placing the corporate and product brands together allows the product brand to assume its own identity and positioning, but also source added strength from the corporate brand and its perceived qualities. This approach can help when a company wishes to introduce new products into a mature market, where it can be very difficult to gain penetration without the visual endorsement of a strong and credible corporate parental brand.
Cadbury does this very well with its many confectionery products – Cadbury’s Creme Egg, Cadbury’s Bournville, Cadbury’s Roses, Cadbury’s Caramello where each product name has assumed the role of product brand.
In the case of Heinz the corporate name endorses product descriptors as opposed to product brands eg Heinz Baked Beans, Heinz Tomato Ketchup, Heinz Cream of Mushroom Soup etc.
What should be the visual size relationship between the two brands? This varies from one company to another depending on your objectives. Sometimes the corporate brand has equal prominence to the product name where the corporate brand is used very much as an identifier. Sometimes the corporate brand assumes a small size where it is used primarily as an endorsement.
Endorsement branding is increasingly used as a mechanism to integrate brand structure across country markets, providing a common element to unify product offerings. Sometimes different cultures, different consumer tastes and differing perception of the brands can dictate that the relationship must change from country to country.
A good example of this is leading coffee manufacturer Douwe Egbert with its ‘lady logo’ which appears on its coffee products worldwide. The size of the lady varies from country to country. The related positioning statement also changes so that in Spain the positioning emphasises coffee richness while in Holland, the association is with family values and comfort.
In conclusion, yes there can be considerable upside to corporate brand endorsement so long as you have confidence in the integrity of the product brand.
Tony Heywood is an international branding consultant and founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney and co-founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
View some of Heywood’s work on www.heywood.com.au
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Thursday, April 09, 2009
What value brands now?
Brand valuation companies like Interbrand must be rubbing their hands with glee. All those brand valuations they did in 2007 and 2008 don’t exactly count for very much in 2009. They have to start all over again. All but the fortunate few companies will be shadows of their former selves. Many of these would have paid substantial sums to protect themselves with the brand valuation ‘comforter’, this calculation of brand value using complex and often incomprehensible methodologies lying somewhere between science, accountancy, higher mathematics and astrology. Was this also meant to be a reliable guide as to how the company would fare in future months and years? If so, I guess it didn’t work. The future is as unpredictable as ever, as anyone in the creative business will tell you. After 30+ years in the business my experience has been that you’re lucky to be able to predict two weeks ahead. I guess that’s what makes it exciting, and not the most stable of career paths.
I digress. Brands also are unpredictable. Take Pacific Brands here in Australia. An iconic suite of Australian brands that can trace their origins back to 1893, whose products were spruiked by the likes of Pat Rafter and billionaire Sarah Murdoch – Berlei, King Gee, Yakka to name a few. 1,850 jobs slashed, 200 brands being sold off, manufacturing being transferred overseas, share price at record low. I wonder what the brand value was in 2008 and what it is right now? Get my drift? Brands go out of fashion particularly when price is an issue. In the case of Pacific Brands, its demise has been centred for many years around its inability to manufacture at a price that could compete with overseas manufacturers.
You’d like to think share price comes into the valuation equation. Let’s take good old Royal Bank of Scotland. Back in 2007 shares were cruising around £6.30. At the beginning of this year they were dredging the bottom at 20p.
Controversy can contribute to a decline in brand value. The Satyam brand, yet to recover from the ‘cooking the books’ controversy, has recently been revalued at 87.8% less than its 2008 FY valuation. Brands such as these remain valuable assets but presently are damaged and don’t reflect their true value.
Brands have gotten onto companies’ balance sheets mainly through the efforts of accountants and some branding agencies. Complex formulae have been devised to demonstrate in a logical and rational way that brand value can stand up and be scrutinised along with all the other company assets. The brand is thereby given credibility in financial circles and also with shareholders, who now have something else to ponder over their tea and biscuit at the AGM.
Despite my critical stance, brand valuation does mean a great deal to those brands who maintain a high profile with the buying public eg airlines, fashion labels and alcoholic beverages. Here the brand is by far the most significant asset – as in the case of Pacific Brands, with outdated factories, machinery and manufacturing processes that have little value in the potential fire sale to come. But the brands can live on, providing they fall into safe hands who can revitalise and rebuild brand value.
At the end of the day real brand value is simply calculated as the amount the market will reasonably pay for the brand. There are plenty of examples of companies who have been sold for an amount far in excess of their accepted valuation, either because the purchaser could see new and better ways to leverage the asset or because they made a monumental cock-up.
Tony Heywood is an international branding consultant and founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney and co-founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
View some of Heywood’s work on www.heywood.com.au
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I digress. Brands also are unpredictable. Take Pacific Brands here in Australia. An iconic suite of Australian brands that can trace their origins back to 1893, whose products were spruiked by the likes of Pat Rafter and billionaire Sarah Murdoch – Berlei, King Gee, Yakka to name a few. 1,850 jobs slashed, 200 brands being sold off, manufacturing being transferred overseas, share price at record low. I wonder what the brand value was in 2008 and what it is right now? Get my drift? Brands go out of fashion particularly when price is an issue. In the case of Pacific Brands, its demise has been centred for many years around its inability to manufacture at a price that could compete with overseas manufacturers.
You’d like to think share price comes into the valuation equation. Let’s take good old Royal Bank of Scotland. Back in 2007 shares were cruising around £6.30. At the beginning of this year they were dredging the bottom at 20p.
Controversy can contribute to a decline in brand value. The Satyam brand, yet to recover from the ‘cooking the books’ controversy, has recently been revalued at 87.8% less than its 2008 FY valuation. Brands such as these remain valuable assets but presently are damaged and don’t reflect their true value.
Brands have gotten onto companies’ balance sheets mainly through the efforts of accountants and some branding agencies. Complex formulae have been devised to demonstrate in a logical and rational way that brand value can stand up and be scrutinised along with all the other company assets. The brand is thereby given credibility in financial circles and also with shareholders, who now have something else to ponder over their tea and biscuit at the AGM.
Despite my critical stance, brand valuation does mean a great deal to those brands who maintain a high profile with the buying public eg airlines, fashion labels and alcoholic beverages. Here the brand is by far the most significant asset – as in the case of Pacific Brands, with outdated factories, machinery and manufacturing processes that have little value in the potential fire sale to come. But the brands can live on, providing they fall into safe hands who can revitalise and rebuild brand value.
At the end of the day real brand value is simply calculated as the amount the market will reasonably pay for the brand. There are plenty of examples of companies who have been sold for an amount far in excess of their accepted valuation, either because the purchaser could see new and better ways to leverage the asset or because they made a monumental cock-up.
Tony Heywood is an international branding consultant and founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney and co-founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
View some of Heywood’s work on www.heywood.com.au
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Monday, April 06, 2009
Brand changing times
Yes, it’s getting really ugly out there. We all thought in our ignorance that this was just a passing phase, that a modest readjustment down on windy Wall Street was all it needed to fix a bit of greed and arrogance. Maybe just a six month thing, then we’d be back cruising the car show rooms, flocking to the open houses and living the social life fantastic. We got suckered in big time. This is for real. Real hurt. Reality do without. The beer ran out and the pub’s gone. Some people haven’t had to 'do without' before in their lives. I tell you there’s nothing like deprivation to bring out the best and worst in people. Truth is there’s no money left. This is change we can really believe in, like the man said. Bankers are copping the flack at the G20 meeting in London. Not a good time to wear a suit in the city. Empty bottle on the bowler time. A good time though for the anarchists to come out of hiding and flex their intellectual muscles with a brick or two. I digress. Who’d want to be in retail? Even retail king Gerry Harvey is crying over his unsold LCD screens and TomToms. The simple formula is: consumers don’t spend, so companies don’t spend. And if you’re in the service industry that sucks. Companies aren’t spending because they have no cash. It’s a consumers paradise if you have a bit of that fondly remembered stuff called cash lying around. Retailers will bite your arm off. Blood on the pavements. I never thought I’d see the day when shop windows would display loud signage proclaiming sales discounts of more than 50%... but they’re out there. Just like the mens fashion outlets, our trousers really are down. All this deprivation has heralded the Age of Big Emotional engagement. Brands have to work hard big time. They really do have to get inside your head and press those emotion buttons like never before. Big attraction and big differentiation are the big requirements for the New Brands. Forget the soppy Lovemarks and posturing in new age restaurants in Heysham. This is Brand Reality time over a pint of Boddingtons in Blackpool. Cut the crap time for products. Truth rules. No more romantic nonsense courtesy of big budgets and head-in-the-clouds admen. Good honest products for a good honest price accompanied by good honest 'emotions penetrating' sales patter. Yes, consumers still want the fancy stuff on which to spend their recession shrivelled funds. But they don’t want a multi million dollar ad campaign assaulting their senses, desperately persuading them to buy it. Now you can really choose what you want in your own time. It’s time to reconsider our approach. Yes, it’s time to beat the competition if there is any left, with innovative and cost-effective ideas to get inside consumers’ heads. It’s also a good time to get inside their heads anyway to find out what they’re thinking right now. Recessions can do strange things to consumer buying habits. What was good last year is now all stirred and shaken. It’s time to think differently. Tap into their present desires. Do they want more or less? Or more for less? Knowledge is king. The sobering thought is... get it wrong now and you won’t have a business left. Get it right and you’ll be laughing like never before. Recessions have a habit of spawning new brand heroes.
(with apologies to Kevin Roberts – he’s not a bad chap really for a north country man, just fell in with the wrong crowd)
Tony Heywood is an international branding consultant and founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney and co-founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
View some of Heywood’s work on www.heywood.com.au
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(with apologies to Kevin Roberts – he’s not a bad chap really for a north country man, just fell in with the wrong crowd)
Tony Heywood is an international branding consultant and founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney and co-founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
View some of Heywood’s work on www.heywood.com.au
Share on Facebook
Friday, March 20, 2009
Car brands fail the crash test
Oh no, not more recession stuff! ‘Fraid so.
These are extraordinary times we are going through and a total contrast to the free spending, confident and carefree times we were enjoying only a year ago. Following are some chilling statistics regarding the state of the world’s auto brands mixed with a bit of crystal ball gazing.
I predicted in this blog before Christmas 2008 that Chrysler would become a big casualty and it looks increasingly as though my prediction will come true. The company lacks the ability to secure sufficient finance to guarantee a future beyond the first few months of 2009 and has few new models with which to secure an ‘exciting’ rating and win back buyer interest and respect for the brand. GM on the other hand may just be saved by its radical restructuring of recent months into four core brands, its more adventurous new model line up and last minute dash for credibility in the hybrid stakes.
So which other car brands are in strife? Hummer is up for sale. Daimler has a (worthless) 20% stake in Chrysler and is struggling to make money as a result of model succession issues and having no small engines. Smart is down to one model and is losing sales to the Fiat 500 and Toyota’s newly released iQ city car. GM’s German brand Opel may be forced to consider an alliance with BMW and Daimler. Aston Martin’s sales down 28% and Land Rover sales down 30% in 2008. Will BMW be forced to collaborate with its arch enemy Daimler or will it look to Italy? In Australia the gas guzzling Holden Monaro is no more. Lancia’s much vaunted UK launch has been cancelled. Luxury brand Maybach is to be killed off in 2012. The hi-performance Dodge Viper sports car brand is up for sale and unwanted. Honda’s much publicised $200m annual budget Formula 1 team is no more. And Tesla, one of the electric technology saviours, is delaying a much needed new model as it struggles to find $400m in new funding.
But wait, haven’t we been here before? Memories come flooding back from 2005 when MG Rover in the UK went to the wall crippled by funding issues, serious mismanagement, unwanted cars and terminal clashes with unions, which tarnished forever the once illustrious BMC and Leyland brands. To add insult to injury MG, that most loved of British sports car brands, is now in Chinese hands, owned by Nanjing Automobile for which the media is not predicting much success.
And what happened to all those other UK car brands that disappeared over the years? – AC, Alvis, Armstrong Siddeley, Austin Healey, Berkeley, Bond, Daimler, Gilbern, Hillman, Humber, Jensen, Jowett, Morris, Reliant, Riley, Singer, Sunbeam, TVR, Wolseley and many more...
So what does all this mean? For the car industry brands it heralds a potentially lengthy period of brand rationalisation:
> Model brands will disappear eg Viper (Dodge), Solstice (Pontiac), Monaro (Holden), Fairlane (Ford Australia)
> Manufacturer brand mergers and acquisitions eg Tata take over of Land Rover and Jaguar, Nanjing Automobile acquisition of MG, Porsche take over of VW, BMW-Daimler merger?, Chrysler-GM merger?
...and some may go to that big car yard in the sky eg Maybach, Chrysler?, MG?
What does this mean for branding consultants? Probably a lot of work to reinvent/reposition car manufacturers, power up the electric/hydrogen/fuel cell revolution; create new super economy city car sub-brands; define the newly expanding hybrid sector; put new spin on economy motoring, green credentials and the new ‘post combustion engine’ lifestyle era, and rush out and buy an expensive carbon fibre road racing bicycle.
Tony Heywood is an international branding consultant and founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney and co-founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
View some of Heywood’s work on www.heywood.com.au
Share on Facebook
These are extraordinary times we are going through and a total contrast to the free spending, confident and carefree times we were enjoying only a year ago. Following are some chilling statistics regarding the state of the world’s auto brands mixed with a bit of crystal ball gazing.
I predicted in this blog before Christmas 2008 that Chrysler would become a big casualty and it looks increasingly as though my prediction will come true. The company lacks the ability to secure sufficient finance to guarantee a future beyond the first few months of 2009 and has few new models with which to secure an ‘exciting’ rating and win back buyer interest and respect for the brand. GM on the other hand may just be saved by its radical restructuring of recent months into four core brands, its more adventurous new model line up and last minute dash for credibility in the hybrid stakes.
So which other car brands are in strife? Hummer is up for sale. Daimler has a (worthless) 20% stake in Chrysler and is struggling to make money as a result of model succession issues and having no small engines. Smart is down to one model and is losing sales to the Fiat 500 and Toyota’s newly released iQ city car. GM’s German brand Opel may be forced to consider an alliance with BMW and Daimler. Aston Martin’s sales down 28% and Land Rover sales down 30% in 2008. Will BMW be forced to collaborate with its arch enemy Daimler or will it look to Italy? In Australia the gas guzzling Holden Monaro is no more. Lancia’s much vaunted UK launch has been cancelled. Luxury brand Maybach is to be killed off in 2012. The hi-performance Dodge Viper sports car brand is up for sale and unwanted. Honda’s much publicised $200m annual budget Formula 1 team is no more. And Tesla, one of the electric technology saviours, is delaying a much needed new model as it struggles to find $400m in new funding.
But wait, haven’t we been here before? Memories come flooding back from 2005 when MG Rover in the UK went to the wall crippled by funding issues, serious mismanagement, unwanted cars and terminal clashes with unions, which tarnished forever the once illustrious BMC and Leyland brands. To add insult to injury MG, that most loved of British sports car brands, is now in Chinese hands, owned by Nanjing Automobile for which the media is not predicting much success.
And what happened to all those other UK car brands that disappeared over the years? – AC, Alvis, Armstrong Siddeley, Austin Healey, Berkeley, Bond, Daimler, Gilbern, Hillman, Humber, Jensen, Jowett, Morris, Reliant, Riley, Singer, Sunbeam, TVR, Wolseley and many more...
So what does all this mean? For the car industry brands it heralds a potentially lengthy period of brand rationalisation:
> Model brands will disappear eg Viper (Dodge), Solstice (Pontiac), Monaro (Holden), Fairlane (Ford Australia)
> Manufacturer brand mergers and acquisitions eg Tata take over of Land Rover and Jaguar, Nanjing Automobile acquisition of MG, Porsche take over of VW, BMW-Daimler merger?, Chrysler-GM merger?
...and some may go to that big car yard in the sky eg Maybach, Chrysler?, MG?
What does this mean for branding consultants? Probably a lot of work to reinvent/reposition car manufacturers, power up the electric/hydrogen/fuel cell revolution; create new super economy city car sub-brands; define the newly expanding hybrid sector; put new spin on economy motoring, green credentials and the new ‘post combustion engine’ lifestyle era, and rush out and buy an expensive carbon fibre road racing bicycle.
Tony Heywood is an international branding consultant and founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney and co-founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
View some of Heywood’s work on www.heywood.com.au
Share on Facebook
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