WARC (March 3)
“US brands face a mixed reaction in China, as consumers react to the presidency of Donald Trump and his threat to impose tariffs on imports from that country.” Following his first month in office, “41.2% of Chinese consumers had a more negative view of the US.” while just “8.1% viewed the US more positively.” It remains to be seen whether American brands will face the intensely negative blowback that caused Japanese auto sales to contract by more than a third following the negative press surrounding a 2012 territorial dispute with Japan.
Tags: Auto sales, Blowback, Brands, China, Consumers, Imports, Japan, Tariffs, Territorial dispute, Threat, Trump, U.S.
Bloomberg (September 11)
“It’s called the U.S. Open, and the crowd is definitely from New York, but the clothing on the court is decidedly Japanese.” Asics, Yonex and Uniqlo were all the rage. “As the 2016 Grand Slam draws to a close, Japanese brands have far outpaced their Western competition.”
The Economist (July 9)
“Smaller rivals are assaulting the world’s biggest brands” causing some to wonder if billion dollar brands remain a viable strategy. Though “they make some of the world’s best-loved products,” large consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies are under assault. “For a time, size gave CPG companies a staggering advantage,” but their advantages are weakening and in some cases becoming Achilles heels. “The lumbering giants are finding it hard to keep up with fast-changing consumer markets.”
Tags: Advantage, Brands, Consumer markets, Consumer packaged goods, Fast changing, Lumbering, Rivals, Size, Strategy, Weakening
The Economist (June 7)
“Japan’s premium motor brands are still far behind their German rivals. The giant carmakers that own them are missing out on pots of potential profit.”
New York Times (June 27)
The outsourcing model is broken. “Most American and European brands and retailers use a rotating cast of hundreds of third-world suppliers, instead of establishing long-term relationships with fewer of them.” The result is a race to the bottom and horrid catastrophes like the building collapse in Bangladesh which killed more than 1,100 people. Things must change. Retailers should “contract with fewer factories and establish long-term relationships with them. If they did so, they would have to monitor fewer factories and would have greater influence over suppliers to demand upgrades and changes.”
Tags: Bangladesh, Brands, Collapse, Europe, Factories, Long-term relationships, Outsourcing, Retailers, Suppliers, Third world, U.S.
Bloomberg (June 2)
Another one bites the dust. By yearend, Ford will end its Mercury brand. Sales of the 77-year old brand peaked in 1978 at 579,498, but fell to 92,299 in 2009. Mercury joins other departed Detroit brands including Pontiac, Saturn, Oldsmobile and Plymouth. Going forward, Ford will focus on its namesake Ford brand and high-end Lincoln brand. The only U.S. automaker not to accept money from the government’s TARP program, Ford earned $2.7 billion in 2009 and expects to be solidly profitable in 2010.
