High growth globalizing companies often find it difficult and unprofitable to enter the U.S. and other developed markets. To achieve the turnover and ROI they seek, they are finding that it is the brand asset that differentiates an offering and drives higher margins and profitability. Particularly for companies in China, India, Brazil and other high growth countries, successfully expanding their global footprint is an enviable objective, but more difficult to achieve than ever. Many seek to minimize risk and expand with a price entry. However, unless corporations recognize and act upon the importance of building strong “brands”, they will most likely fail to achieve their U.S. objectives.

Mega-trend shift
The mega-trend shift towards high growth market-based companies who have been successful in their home countries trying to expand to the U.S. is based on sound logic:

• Drive for greater revenues and profits
• Appeal of the large middle class with strong per capita income
• High number of diaspora living in the U.S. that often become the first wave of “acceptors”
• Recognition that the U.S. ensures a stable government and significant economic incentives
• Access to skilled labor forces, technology, and strong distribution channels.

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The Wall Street Journal feature about the Mac landing on more corporate desks is more than just an opportunity… it is a tectonic shift that will open up the business market for Apple in amazing new ways. It is truly a tipping point of amazing proportions.

If I were you, I’d buy Apple stock today… believe it or not, it’s just a leap to another plateau.

The Tipping Point, best known from Malcom Gladwell’s 2000 book of that name, is defined as “the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point.” The very public acknowledgement by GE that it is making Apple products available to GE employees is, in our opinion, a “tipping point”. [Read more →]

Sports teams can select names and identities that really are often interesting and intriguing. Some time ago I learned that University of California Santa Cruz had selected the banana slug as a mascot, and I took pause. They describe their mascot as “a bright yellow, slimy, shell-less mollusk commonly found on the redwood forest floor…” Certainly this brand is unique and memorable, but is it positive for the school?

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The acquisition of Businessweek by Bloomberg created a natural reason to put both brands together… and it is a good example of when a co-brand strategy can really work. It may seem obvious where it all ended up, but I am sure there was some serious consideration before the dual brand name was engraved in the masthead. Kudos to Bloomberg.

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Google has been able to cancel shipments of its new Andriod phone, the Nexus One, and they managed the termination in such a way that the Google brand did not get significantly damaged. This is pretty amazing given the stature of Google and the significant energy they put into launching the Nexus One in January 2010… only 200 days ago. It was to be the “smartphone that might save the world.”

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It looks like Hertz will be buying Dollar Thrifty. This presents a number of challenges related to which brands they keep, and whether the jettison any. The market leader Hertz in now in 146 countries with 8,200 locations, and this is what is attractive to Dollar Thrifty. Access to better systems and more locations. So from an operational standpoint, there are valuable synergies.

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I love it when a brand says it like it is. Today, Tropicana announced that they would reduce the container size of orange juice to hold the cost. They also announced a price increase of the gallon-sized containers. These changes will happen two months from now. And I am not an upset consumer. Here’s why… [Read more →]

From a marketer’s standpoint, the resurgence of the Ford brand is a monumental success. It wasn’t but a few decades ago when Ford was viewed just like the other big three auto manufacturers. [Read more →]