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Showing posts with label Brand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brand. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Book Review: How Toyota Became #1: Leadership Lessons From the World's Greatest Car Company

How Toyota Became #1
Book Review:       How Toyota Became #1: Leadership Lessons From the World's Greatest Car Company
Author:       David Magee
Language:    English
Format:        Hardcover
ISBN-10:    1591841798
ISBN-13:    9781591841791
Topic:          Business Management


SPONSOR:  Business Books


Publisher's Note:
What we can all learn from the strategies that have made Toyota the world’s best car company

Everyone who follows the auto industry knows that Toyota has had an amazing twenty-five-year run, rising from humble Japanese start-up to thriving global giant. But the big puzzle is how Toyota did it while so many other car companies have struggled or failed.

Journalist David Magee dug deeply into Toyota’s past and present, interviewing senior executives who rarely talk to the press, along with many other sources. And he found that the company’s famous mastery of lean production is only part of the story. Magee explains the surprising power of Toyota’s corporate culture, which includes:

• Focusing on the long term: While most companies worry about the next quarter, Toyota is thinking about the next quarter century

• Jumping beyond the current trend: When Ford was still ramping up its gas-guzzling SUVs, Toyota was very quietly taking a huge lead on hybrids

• Making quality everyone’s responsibility: Toyota expects people at every level to think and act like quality-control inspectors

• Managing individual strengths: Toyota is revolutionizing the way people are managed, to maximize their strengths instead of criticizing their weaknesses

The lessons that Magee explains here will be valuable for managers in all disciplines and industries.

REVIEW:

This is book designed to help the management student (employed or otherwise) develop along their skills to achieve success.  If you aren't already a student of Toyota and its production system or the principles that make up its culture, you will find this book an informative and well written overview of what the company is trying to do each and every day. There are indeed dozens of valuable and useful leadership lessons for the reader to learn from the material the author shares.  I found it fascinating the way Toyota introduced the philosophy of Buddhism and implemented it into the company.  Toyota calls this kaizen and the aim is to continually correct and improve the system an incentive program was created to reinforce kaizen.  Toyota refers to this as a self-regenerating internally combustive enterprise.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Saddam Hussein on eBay - Looted Loot gets Returned to Original Looters

Officials in New York have returned to Iraqi diplomats dinnerware once belonging to Saddam Hussein and the family of King Faisal II that was looted, then illegally imported to the United States and sold on eBay.

Looted Plates
Nineteen dinner and salad plates, some which contained the official seal of Iraq, were being used at the Park Avenue Autumn restaurant as part of an art exhibit. The plates, officials say, were returned to Iraqi representatives at the United Nations on Tuesday.

"After being advised of the illegal status of the Iraqi Plates, Creative Time, the owner of the Iraqi Plates, agreed to voluntarily relinquish them to the custody of the United States Attorney's Office, so they could be returned to their rightful owner, the Republic of Iraq," the office of Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Wednesday.

News of the discovery comes on the same day President Obama marked the end of the war in Iraq with an address to troops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Wednesday also marks eight years to the day that Saddam Hussein was discovered hiding in a spider hole and captured by U.S. forces.

The items are just a few among a large collection of artifacts that were stolen from Baghdad palaces and museums when U.S. tanks rumbled into the country's capital back in early 2003.

For some legal plates and glassware go here

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Book Review: Ogilvy on Advertising

OGILVY ON ADVERTISING
Book Review: Ogilvy on Advertising
Author: David Ogilvy
ISBN-13:  9780394729039
Topic:  Advertising
Format:  Paperback
Language:  English
Publication Year:  1987



Business Books

REVIEW:

The premise of Ogilvy on Advertising can be summed up with a quote from Claude Hopkins 80 years ago, "Advertising is salesmanship."

Ogilvy teaches the selling aspect of an ad.  Too often advertisers get confused, send an unclear message and confuse the buyer.

Although this book is dated, it was written before the internet, the concepts expressed are still applicable.  We advertise to sell and, Ogilvy on Advertising, delivers.  Be advised, the materials featured in the book are from the 1970s.

BUSINESS BOOKS

Friday, May 20, 2011

Book Review: Brands, Trademarks and Good Will: The Story of the Quaker Oats Company

BRANDS TRADEMARKS AND GOOD WILL


Author: Arthur F. Marquette
ISBN-13: 
First Edition 
Topic:  Early American Brand Marketing
Format:  Hard Cover Book
Language:  English
Publication Year:  1967

REVIEW:


The story of the Quaker Oats company.  Easy to read recounting of how Quaker Oats came to be what it is. Marks one of the first attempts to explore and study brands and the good will associated with them. 

It is amazing how far we have come.  In 1875 a branded approach was rare except for Bon Ami or Bull Durham, now everything seems to be branded.  This book puts together how a vast network of independent mills and distributors were put together in an empire that achieved global dominance.  An excellent foundation of knowledge book if you are involved in marketing or branding.

CONTROVERSY:  The sometimes disturbing look into how brands like "Aunt Jemima" came into being.  The history is, St. Joseph Gazette editor Chris L. Rutt of St. Joseph, Missouri and his friend Charles G. Underwood bought a flour mill in 1888. Rutt and Underwood's Pearl Milling Company faced a glutted flour market, so they sold their excess flour as a ready-made pancake mix in white paper sacks with a trade name (which Arthur F. Marquette dubbed the "last ready-mix"). 
Photographs from the History of Quaker Oats

Rutt reportedly saw a minstrel show featuring the "Old Jemima" song in the fall of 1889 presented by blackface performers identified by Marquette as "Baker & Farrell". However, Doris Witt was unable to confirm Marquette's account. Witt suggests that Rutt might have witnessed a vaudeville performance byPete F. Baker, who played a character described in newspapers of that era as "Aunt Jemima". If this is correct, the original inspiration for the Aunt Jemima character was a white male in whiten face, who some have described as a German immigrant.

Marquette recounts that the actor playing Aunt Jemima wore an apron and kerchief, and Rutt appropriated this Aunt Jemima character to market the Pearl Milling Company pancake mix in late 1889 after viewing a minstrel show. However, Rutt and Underwood were unable to make the project work, so they sold their company to the R.T. Davis Milling Company in St. Joseph, Missouri in 1890.

BUY IT NOW - RARE First Edition.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Book Review: BRAND REWIRED

Brand Rewired


Author: Anne Chasser & Jennifer Wolfe
ISBN-13: 9780470575420
Topic:  Business & Economics - Marketing
Format:  Hardcover
Language:  English
Publication Year:  2010


Publisher's Note:

Discover how the world's leading companies have added value to their company by rewiring the brand creation process
Brand Rewired showcases the world's leading companies in branding and how they have added value to their company by rewiring the brand creation process to intersect strategic thinking about intellectual property without stifling creativity.

           Features interviews with executives from leading worldwide companies including: Kodak, Yahoo,   Kraft, J.Walter Thompson, Kimberly Clark, Scripps Networks Interactive, the Kroger Company, GE, Procter & Gamble, LPK, Northlich and more
           Highlights how to maximize return on investment in creating a powerful brand and intellectual property portfolio that can be leveraged economically for many years to come
           Reveals how to reduce costs in the brand creation and legal process
           Illustrates how a brand strategy intersecting with an equally powerful intellectual property strategy produces a greater economic return and more rewards for the brand project leaders. 

Innovative in its approach, Brand Rewired shows you how leading companies are abandoning the old school research-and-development-driven innovation philosophy and evolving to a Brand Rewired approach of innovating at the consumer level, using multi-disciplinary teams to build a powerful brand and intellectual asset to maximize return on investment.

Review:

A striking cover got me into the mood for an analysis of marketing.  Brand Rewired does a good job of relating the importance of intellectual property, branding and creative strategy.  The interesting point made by Chasser and Wolfe was that some brands are more valuable than the actual products. 

Every nuance and aspect of the brand experience is an intellectual asset that must be protected.  Brand Rewired outlines several processes, collaborative in nature that need to be followed.  The teams that need to work together are the marketing and legal teams.  By doing so, the book puts forth, intellectual property garners protection brand value is maximized. This book provides the steps in clear terms and is relevant to what my company experienced recently.  I am confident other companies are dealing with similar issues.

The major lesson for me in this book was the advice for the marketing department to include the legal team early in strategy and planning. Also, the advice for the legal team to function as growth minded partners and not as if they are a regulatory commission with outside the company allegiance.  Intellectual property is a valuable asset to the company and should be safeguarded, recognized, understood and respected. This book is a good way to introduce a partnership between legal and marketing. 
It would make sense for law firms that present branded companies to read this book.

About the Authors
ANNE H. CHASSER was named one of the fifty most influential people in the intellectual property world by Managing Intellectual Property magazine and served as commissioner of trademarks for the United States Patent & Trademark Office and president of the International Trademark Association. As Associate Vice President for Intellectual Property at the University of Cincinnati and Director of Trademarks and Licensing at The Ohio State University, she has achieved top-level executive experience in both government and higher education administration. Chasser is widely recognized as a visionary thought leader in intellectual property.

JENNIFER C. WOLFE, Esq., APR, is the founder of Wolfe LPA, one of the fastest growing woman-owned intellectual property and corporate counsel law firms. Clients have included Kraft Foods, Scripps Networks Interactive, The Kroger Co., Luxottica Retail, and many emerging media and technology companies. One of the only attorneys also nationally accredited in public relations, Wolfe is widely known for her unique and outside-the-box thinking. She is certified as a Six Sigma Black Belt and has been a regular contributor to national legal and technology publications.

Chapter 1 The Billion-Dollar Question.
The Evolution of the Silo—Rewired.
What’s Ahead?
Chapter Highlights.

Chapter 2 Value Is in the Eye of the Beholder.
Driving Trends in Intellectual Asset Valuation—Why it Matters to You.
When and How Intellectual Assets are Valued.
Increasing the Return on Investment of Your Next Project.
Want Your Brand Listed as a Top 100 Brand?
Chapter Highlights.

Chapter 3 Designing in IP.
The Creative Process.
Product Packaging and Product Design.
Name and Logo Design.
Campaign and Connection to the Consumer.
Culture.
Chapter Highlights.

Chapter 4 The Influencers.
Consumer-Based Insights.
Content as Marketing.
Cost of Litigation, Risk, and Uncertainty.
The Dilution Dilemma.
Limited Budgets.
Chapter Highlights.

Chapter 5 The Black Box.
A Fictional Case Study—Emerson Jones.
Research and Development.
Marketing and Advertising Campaign.
Public Relations and Investor Relations.
Avoiding Costly Lawsuits.
Return on Investment.
Chapter Highlights.

Chapter 6 Integrating a Brand Rewired Process.
The Environment and Incentives.
The Innovation Process.
Implementation.
A Do-Over for Emerson Jones.
The Leadership.
Chapter Highlights.

Chapter 7 The Brand Maestro.
The Brand Maestro Job Description.
The Intellectual Asset Strategy.
How to Get Started in Your Organization.
Chapter Highlights.

Chapter 8 The Thought Leaders.
General Mills.
Procter & Gamble.
Kraft Foods.
Kimberly-Clark.
Kodak.
Harley-Davidson.
Yahoo!
Intel.
Scripps Networks Interactive.
Libby Persyk Kathman (LPK).
Northlich (Brand Engagement Agency).
Interbrand (Branding Consultancy).
The Entrepreneurial Journey.

Epilogue Brand Capitol and Brand Maestro.
Did You Know?

Appendix A Discussion Questions.
Appendix B About the People Interviewed in This Book.
Appendix C Mutual Nondisclosure Agreement.
Appendix D Sample Questionnaire for Planning Sessions.
Appendix E Team Meeting Agenda.
Appendix F Sample Intellectual Asset Strategy Document.
Appendix G List of Trademarks.
References.
About the Authors

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Book Review: SOCIAL NATION – How To Harness Social Media

Social Nation
SOCIAL NATION – How To Harness Social Media
Author:  Barry Libert
ISBN-13: 9780470599266
Topic:  Business & Economics
Format:  Hardcover
Language:  English
Publication Year:  2010


Sponsor:  Andy Warhol Ten Foot Flower Melamine Plates

REVIEW:
It's time to join Social Nation and prosper! This book will show you, as an employee, customer or partner, how to use new social technologies, make yourself heard, and produce better products and services. As a leader and manager, you'll find out how to use these tools to harness social interactions to improve your business and to create your own social nation. The book provides a social assessment for leaders, managers and employees to scientifically evaluate your individual social skills and competencies. This book relies on well-known case studies about businesses that illustrate how social principles and strategies can help organizations to:
Integrate social skills into existing managerial and leadership practices
Overcome some of the common risks and objections that are often cited as obstacles to becoming a successful social enterprise
Adopt new forms of social leadership across the entire organization
Attain social intelligence by listening, understanding, and measuring outcomes of your investment in relationships with customers, employees and partners
Realize tangible economic benefits and ROI from new product and service offerings Social Nation provides readers with an opportunity to join the Social Nation community and share experiences with other leaders and social individuals.
About the Author
BARRY LIBERT is the founder and CEO of Mzinga, a company that provides social software that manages two billion conversations a month for 15,000 communities on behalf of 300 well-known companies. He has coauthored four popular business books on information and social networks.
.
Lesson Learned
The author uses real-life situations and opens our eyes to how we must take advantage of everything our new Social Nation has to offer. Libert appears to have written the book to help preserve what is good in American business, from large corporations to mom and pop stores to being a consumer of both.
 Social Nation is written for employers, employees, and customers. The book has a fast pace and is positive that the social nation can fix the things that are/were great about American capitalism.
The concept of the “suggestion box” has been lacking over the previous half century, customers and employees voices are seemingly lost on bosses and managers.  Social Nation prescribes social media as a cure to improving and streamlining the feedback process.  Those that take advantage of the feedback and improve their products, services and workplaces will be the winners.
Libert does not use scare tactics, he uses facts and case studies.  Businesses have been out of touch, caring more about assets and cash on hand, "than they did people and their relationships." Libert suggests an economy where through social media, companies would offer specials directly to the customer and not through a blaring commercial. This would all be done on an opt in basis, no push advertising. The customer receives a genuine invitation to be a part of that business.
Libert in Social Nation suggests that employees and employers can rebuild the relationship that has eroded over the past 50 years.  Social Nation illustrates that what our kids take as just part of life, business can use to listen to employees and what they have to say, the good, the bad, the great suggestion which may be a company's best selling product the next year. All of it is possible. Just as important, the employees will feel part of something, because they are part of something.