Branding Iron: Branding Lessons from the Meltdown of the US Auto Industry | 
 enlarge | Authors: Charlie Hughes, William Jeanes
Publisher: Racom Communications
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
Buy New: $18.91
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Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 454866
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 280
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.1
ISBN: 1933199040
Dewey Decimal Number: 670
EAN: 9781933199047
ASIN: 1933199040
Publication Date: August 31, 2006
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Product Description
About Branding Iron: Branding Lessons from the Meltdown of the U.S. Auto Industry Toyota will soon displace General Motors as the worlds largest automaker. Since 2000, GMs market cap fell from $66 billion to $15 billion. In 1980 GM sold 45 of every 100 cars that rolled out of showrooms in the U.S. It now sells 26. By any yardstick, that is a crisis. The root cause of this financial cataclysm mystifies many of the players in the industry. But the numbers tell a clear story. The headlines offer a simplistic interpretation. They say that legacy costs, poor cost control, ill-advised investments in other automakers and in undistinguished productsall of which are serious issuescaused the trouble. Thats wrong. Or, worse, incomplete and myopicthe same kind of myopia that created the problem in the first place. Like many a crisis, this one has been brewing for decades. And the cost-cutting quick fixes proposed by many industry experts wont solve it. Why not? Because its not the root cause. What is killing US automakers is their inability to attract growing numbers of customers to its numerous brands, many of which seem almost irrelevant today. In a few words: bad brand management. (Iron, if youre wondering, is what the auto industry calls its products.) What makes a world-class brand? The authors describe great brands as a promise wrapped in an experience. The best brands make a strong, clear commitment to stand for something, to do it better than anyone else, and orchestrate the entire ownership experience. This requires a level of courage beyond most executives. With wit and humor, Branding Iron uses lessons from the car business to guide readers in every business on a quest to build a world-beating brand that leaves a real mark, one made the old-fashioned wayburned in with a red hot iron. The authors do the tough analysis and ask tough questions that most Boards of Directors should be asking, and they give even tougher answers.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Culture Provides the Glue! December 3, 2007
A must read for business leaders looking to gain a full perspective of branding as a management strategy. The authors do a fantastic job leveraging expertise in the car industry to share insights and tons of examples of branding gone wrong and what it takes to do it right. What's great about this book is that the auto industry truly is a great benchmark and educational view for other industries to follow. My company is not in the auto industry, however, insights, suggestions and key learning's provided by Hughes and Jeanes are very much applicable to my company and most company's I know of. In particular the "strategic" Brand Triangle provides a logical view of how a company's brand image is driven by not only the product quality and retail experience but also how the organizational culture becomes the "glue that holds everything together". This book points out and provides examples to prove that "Culture, in the center of the triangle, drives the brand".
Leaders in virtually all industries will benefit from this read!
 OK but it feels like Monday Morning Quarterbacking February 22, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Reading this book was highly recommended by some associates. I was hoping for more other than recommending the domestic auto companies reduce the number of brands and dealers they carry. Or they should have more corporate courage. Having read it now I find it a bit too much like some of Tom Peters works which were prone to picking out outstanding companies that have since fallen or ignoring the global changes that caught the truck and SUV heavy domestic auto makers with their proverbial pants down.
I got more out of Barbarians to Bureaucrats Corporate Life Cycle Strategies.
An essential read for insiders, but less than it could have been. January 23, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This was a much anticipated read, as the topic is timely and the authors are known to have the auto industry experience necessary to produce an insightful book on car branding. While worth reading, at least for auto industry geeks like myself, Branding Iron suffers from three weaknesses. First, there are several editing gaffes (not unique in my recent reading experience). Second, the advice on getting from a poor branding situation to a strong one is thin at best. To be sure, the authors make clear recommendations on reducing brand count, especially in the case of Ford, but how to get from point A to point B is easier said than done. Perhaps that is why they shied away from offering definitive advice for GM, which has the most complex global brand situation of any auto company. Lastly, the authors state that they don't want to get into the economics aspect of branding, but by not doing so their theories have to be taken entirely on faith. Nice try, guys, but you came up a little short.
BRANDING IRON: BRANDING LESSONS FROM THE MELTDOWN OF THE US AUTO INDUSTRY January 23, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS BOOK AVAILABLE. YOU SAVED ME -IT WAS AN ASKED FOR CHRISTMAS GIFT
Solution-based Critique January 10, 2007
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This writing is the best prescription for a very sick patient. Surgery followed by very closely prescribed med's leads me to believe that all hope is not lost.
No nonsense analysis of the current state of affairs as it relates to the US auto industry. Very current and on-point. Anyone in the automobile business (especially those in the glass tower) should take a serious read.
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