Buy Dell shares.

You can’t keep a good man down for very long. First SONY and now DELL is on a comeback trail. I can feel it and see it. The focus on basics – good product design, excellent customer service and relevant innovation – is showing. Read here about how they are listening to the consumer, turning complaints/problems into a positive opportunity for the brand and harnessing the “wisdom of the crowds” to develop new products or improve existing ones. 

I love L’Occitane.

I love the products and the packaging. I love the retail experience and marketing. I love the story. I love my latest (and most expensive ever) £12 shower gel. I loathe the thought that L’Oreal will buy the company sooner or later.

Insights on “guru”-ism

An excellent reminder on the dangers of starting to “live in your head”. Read here : Stay hungry, Stay foolish. Nice post with an interesting video from the TED conference.

“P&G doesn’t understand brands”.

What? The company which pioneered brand management doesn’t understand brands. You must be joking? Provoked? So was I. But then I saw reason.

P&G rocks, Others shake.

Since the small stutter in 1999-2000, which led to the resignation of the then CEO (Durk Jager), P&G has been on a roll delivering stellar growth quarter after quarter.Here is an ex-Proctroid’s take on what has been driving this performance.

Fortune at the top of the (age) pyramid.

For over  5 years now, there has been lots of talk in the marketing press about  the “mature” or “grey” segment and how it is an under exploited opportunity given the spending power within that age group. Here are 2 good articles on mature marketing .

Louis Vuitton – Color, Agassi, Gorbachev.

        

I have never quite liked Louis Vuitton bags ( thankfully my wife agrees) because of their staid designing.  I am sure the craftsmanship is outstanding but I never got close enough to admire it as the look was not appealing enough.  I am referring to the classic brown monogram canvas with beige trimmings which is still the most dominant style ( and perhaps the most counterfeited design in the world) in their range.

SONY: Getting the Mojo back?

I wrote earlier about SONY losing ground in key categories. There are some signs that the company is starting to get some traction in regaining its technology edge.

mini3: Renault -Brilliant film, Average marketing?

Renault’s latest ad – auto ballet of destruction-is a brilliant piece of film-making. It is already becoming a viral video with 180,000 views in 2 weeks on YOU TUBE. Question is : Is it good communication i.e will it drive sales?

Renault has much to flaunt when it comes to safety. More Renault models have been awarded the maximum Five-Star safety rating for impact protection by Euro NCAP than any other carmaker, including Mercedes and Volvo. That is impressive. Well done, R&D boys.

The ad does a great job of communicating a serious message like safety with flair and style. It stands out within the category. It is clutter breaking. Full marks to the creative team. I hope they are not spending too much money on media as this film should generate some free PR.

So, lots of positives. The question I have is about the communication strategy i.e a focus on safety. Presumably, they have solid data to suggest that ,

1.”Safety” is (still) one of the top attributes affecting  car purchase decision.

2. Significant number of target consumers don’t consider buying Renault because their perception of Renault’s safety is lower than other brands, which is factually not correct.

I thought “safety” was a hygiene factor and no longer a differentiator. Having said that, assuming all other attributes ( styling, reliability, drive quality, pricing, mileage etc)  being equal the advertisement does drive Renault into the consideration set, with its brilliantly executed safety message. But when did all other attributes really become parity??

I am fully entertained, I am impressed, but not completely convinced.

Japanese women are beautiful.

It is not often that a local brand achieves market leadership within a year in a developed market competing with the likes of P&G and Unilever. Tsubaki shampoo from Shiseido launched in mid-2006 is now the top selling shampoo in Japan, leaving behind titanic brands from P&G and Unilever. What is behind the success? A magical product? Ultra low pricing ?