Branding Iron: Branding Lessons from the Meltdown of the US Auto Industry [Hardcover]

Hughes (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1933199040 | ISBN-13: 978-1933199047 | Publication Date: August 31, 2006

About Branding Iron: Branding Lessons from the Meltdown of the U.S. Auto Industry Toyota will soon displace General Motors as the world’s largest automaker. Since 2000, GM’s 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 products—all of which are serious issues—caused the trouble. That’s wrong. Or, worse, incomplete and myopic—the 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” won’t solve it. Why not? Because it’s 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 you’re 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 way—burned 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.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Racom Communications (August 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933199040
• ISBN-13: 978-1933199047
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,370,420 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars necessary reading, September 17, 2006

By 

Eric V. Davison - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Branding Iron: Branding Lessons from the Meltdown of the US Auto Industry (Hardcover)

Messr. Hughes and Jeanes have had long and distinguished careers in automotive marketing. Their insights are keen and comments valid. Given the declining status of the so-called "Big 3" those charged with the resurection of the domestic auto industry should make this a must read. Anyone else with even the slightest interest in marketing will find this book delightful. It is well written and fun.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars OK but it feels like Monday Morning Quarterbacking, February 21, 2007

By 

Prof100 "I hate bad quality" (Canton, MI USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Branding Iron: Branding Lessons from the Meltdown of the US Auto Industry (Hardcover)

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mismanagement 101, June 24, 2010

By 

John Mccarrier (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Branding Iron: Branding Lessons from the Meltdown of the US Auto Industry (Hardcover)

Despite the title, this is really a book about management, especially executive leadership. One of the authors is an experienced auto industry executive who is following the example of people like Lee Iacocca who felt that their management insights needed to be shared with the world in a book. Charlie Hughes chose to hide his management insights behind the façade of a more interesting topic, product branding, apparently to promote his consulting business. To justify this pretense he proposes that corporate culture is a key part of branding and that corporate culture is created and guided by top management.

The content and structure of the book violate its own main message; that a brand needs to be clear and focused. This book could have been an interesting story of what one person learned in an interesting career with a number of major companies in the auto industry. Jim Wangers did that in his book Glory Days. It could have been an analysis of well known branding successes and failures in the auto industry over the last 50 years. That's what I thought I was buying. It could have been a straight forward book on management, focusing on corporate culture. Instead it is a muddled mishmash of all three.

The book does include a few stories of life in the executive suites of Land Rover, Porsche, and Mazda. It concludes with some good advice for Ford and GM on how to manage their brands, though it has been overtaken by recent events in the industry. Overall it was not worth the time or money.