I havenât missed the sale of Volvo to Geely, but it wasnât as momentous as the rebirth of Saab. We knew the deal was coming and the rest were formalities.
The company has said there will be no Geelys badged as Volvos and vice versa. It recognizes the Volvo brand is too valuable to tinker withâsomething Ford did, too, even if it starved the company of smaller models that could have helped kept its market share strong in Sweden.
Important for Geely is the innovative technology that Volvo possesses that could make the younger company a world-class player. Itâs common knowledge that Volvo provided Ford with some of its better present platforms, and that as a centre of excellence, it worked on safety systems for all Ford units.
Geely gets access to the lot, which improves its own productâwhile arguably helping Volvo realize economies of scale in the Red Chinese market. It only sells a seventh of what Audi does in the growing market, and Geely could instantly help improve that.
The deal makes sense. One only needs to take a look at how quickly Geely has grown in Chinaâwithout pirating othersâ designsâto know that itâs not in the business of asset-stripping or ripping off its Swedish unit. Of the Chinese firms, itâs operated far more ethically than, say, BYD, with its too-close-to-Toyota designs.
And will we see Geely outside China? You bet we willâbut only when the cars are up to snuff. If Ford can build a Taurus on a Volvo S80 platform, then look out for world-class small- to mid-sized Geelys hitting international markets on future Volvo ones.
Archive for the ‘Sweden’ category
Volvo Cars, a unit of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co.
31.03.2010Tags: branding, China, engineering, Ford, Geely, globalization, intellectual property, marketing, Red China, Sweden, Volvo
Posted in China, Sweden, USA, branding, business, cars, design, marketing | No Comments »
Trading identities in the personal branding space
05.03.2010The day the current mayor, Kerry Prendergast, announced her intention to stand for a fourth term, I was asked by a few media colleagues what I thought. The wittiest reply I gave to Salient, as it was an email interview, and I seem to be cheekier in writing than I am in speaking. I wonât spoil it yet, but letâs just say one learns an awful lot from television.
This morning was a very good start to the day, giving a guest lecture at my Alma Mater, Victoria University, thanks to my friend Helen Baxter, who has begun teaching there. In fact, I taught out of the same building in 2000 when the campus was shared with Massey University, and the A on the front was not mounted backwards (typography students must have taken note by now).
One thing I hit upon, and I donât think I have shared with readers, is the concept of personal branding taking on corporate behaviours. We know that corporations and countries have been swapping roles a bit in the 1990s (Wally Olins wrote a book on it, called Trading Identities), but I donât think it has been properly addressed at the personal sphere (corrections welcome).
We have corporations trying to look mean and responsive, and speak with a personal voiceâthe One principles that Stefan Engeseth has talked about, and the idea of one-to-one from Christian Grönroos. They are trying to look like individuals, so the person in charge of the Tweetstream is the âvoiceâ of the organization.
Meanwhile, people are becoming aware of branding themselves, of differentiating who they are, and finding the right things to align with in order to make themselves employable. Of course, such efforts must still remain authentic, as we can see through the spin, but it would not surprise me if the nascent ideas of personal branding in the 1990s become formalized in to whole courses on personal brand management.
I refer not just to styling, of course, but making sure embarrassing stuff is taken off Facebook (I believe my words were along the lines of, âBy all means, party and show youâre human. But photos of you doing a powerchuck: maybe notâ), of figuring out what your vision is from a very early stage, of engaging with your audiences, and, if I may be so bold, living your brand as part of living your life.
The cynic in me recognizes that last phrase sounds dodgy because it cheapens the whole experience of life into a brand event, which is not precisely what I mean. But it is important to have some idea of a personal direction in mind and doing things that are compatible with that. This is, in some respects, no different to some of the self-help claptrap out there, explained in corporate branding language as opposed to spiritual fulfilment.
However, itâs not altogether a bad way to think. Iâm willing to bet some of us have done exactly this, perhaps unconsciously or informally. We all have some purpose, some raison dâĂȘtre, and whether we like thinking about it in branding terms or some other method is up to us. Brand, at least, provides a framework and some boxes to tick, and if they help people get a personal advantage and get the job of their dreams, then why not?
Note to self: Keeley Hawes jokes work a lot better with heaps of Brits or Anglophiles in the room.
PS.: I got one post-lecture question, to which the answer is: yes, I am the guy opposing the liquor ban.âJY
Tags: 2010, academia, Aotearoa, branding, Christian Grönroos, Helen Baxter, humour, Jack Yan, mayoralty, New Zealand, personal branding, politics, Stefan Engeseth, Sweden, TV, UK, Victoria University of Wellington, Wally Olins, Wellington, Whanganui-a-Tara
Posted in New Zealand, Sweden, UK, Wellington, branding, business, humour, marketing, politics | No Comments »
Saab promises new generation of cars will have original DNA
26.02.2010Rumour has it that the new Saabâa small car (finally)âwill resemble the ur-Saab, the 92. In fact, inside Saab, it has the codename 92.
Where have I heard this one before? I know. Stefan Engesethâs Detective Marketing, 2001 edition. And from what I understand, since in 1999 I could not read much Swedish, it featured in the original Swedish edition, too.
While I am no fan of retro design, a modern one that has strong inspiration from Saabâs roots could go down well with the marketâespecially if the new 9-1 model had some advanced, non-fossil-fuel powertrains.
A car tied to Saabâs roots as an airplane manufacturer could reinvigorate passion for the brand in the same way as the Jaguar mascot unveiling under John Egan in the 1980s. And new boss Victor Muller, CEO of Spyker, has wasted no time getting Saab loyalists excited about the brand again. He has not set his sights on brand-new customers: he wants the old Saab buyers back.
While it might have Opel underpinnings, it at least gets Saab into the European premium compact car game, one which GM denied it, probably due to overlap with its mainstream brands. It was an opportunity missed as BMW, Audi and others broke in to the compact and supermini game.
I know at least one Swede who finds Mullerâs promises exciting, and I sincerely hope to be proven wrong when I expressed doubts about bringing a 40,000-sales-per-year company back from the brink. Below is the announcement of Spyker finalizing its purchase (via Detective Marketing).
When he talks about âDNAâ, Muller really means brand: it will rediscover and redefine that brand and its entrepreneurial spirit, using it to fuel the corporate culture, and having that drive product quality, R&D and other functions. If he succeeds in reaching his 100,000-per-year goal, then we can say that brand loyalty was a huge driver.
His first announcement alone has been praised, Saabâs 100-day plan gives distributors and loyalists some certainty, and the folks in this video actually look enthusedâalready this is not like a tired, Rover-style attempt at getting the company back on its feet, even if the annual salesâ figures are far worse than what the English company had prior to its collapse.
Tags: 2010, brand, brand strategy, branding, car industry, cars, corporate culture, leadership, management, Saab, Spyker, Stefan Engeseth, strategy, Sweden, TrollhÀttan, values
Posted in Sweden, branding, business, cars, culture, design, leadership, marketing | No Comments »
When Swedes say it’s too cold, they mean –30°C
26.02.2010I thought it was cold enough in Stockholm when I hit town a month ago, and temperatures were in the â9°C to â15°C region most days (with a high of around â2°C). But, Stefan tells me, temperatures plummeted greatly over the past week, down into the â30°C region in some parts. Stockholm was in the minus 20s, but when you add the wind chill, we are talking â30°C, too. When the trains stop running in Sweden (though Rogernomics-style cutbacks on staff who would normally have cleared the snow have not helped), you know itâs frighteningly cold. These folks donât panic at the first sign of snow and things ran as normal when I was there, but not with this sort of blizzard.
Stefan does not know this but on the last day, I took a pic outside his window as a memento. He took one on the 24th to show me how cold it got. Here is a comparison (both are cropped to give roughly the same frame):

January 27, 9.34 a.m.

February 24, 10.16 a.m.
Minus 15 is still cold enough for me, and if I am willing to brave that for Wellington (on my own money, incidentally) to study the public transport and meet with companies that can help us on the environmental angle, then Iâm willing to do a lot for my city. Iâd do â30°C if I have to, but bear in mind, such a trip would not have been terribly productive if everyoneâs stuck at home and thereâs 50 cm of snow at your door.
Tags: 2010, Jack Yan, mayoralty, Stefan Engeseth, Stockholm, weather, winter
Posted in Sweden, Wellington, general | No Comments »
A belated thank-you to independent software creators
18.02.2010When I had to reinstall everything late last year, I didnât thank the software developers for making it easy for me to get a new ID. I got personal replies from the programmers behind Barcode Maker 3 and SayNow, and found it relatively easy to sort out registration for FontLab and Gammadyne Mailer. The rest of the programs were straightforward with their licence numbers, but I have to give props to the independentsâpeople who still give a damn about their creations. Thank you.
Tags: computing, FontLab, software
Posted in Sweden, USA, internet, technology | No Comments »
Taxis signal how a local car industry is going
04.02.2010
When Fiat was in the poo, I remember heading in to Italy and the cabs were a mixture of German and French cars, with a few Italian ones. Generally, it was a reïŹection of the state of the local motor industry: cab drivers are, perhaps subconsciously, patriotic and quite traditional. If they reject the local product, then that means trouble. (Look at New York: Toyota Siennas and Ford Escapes, which were originally engineered by Mazda, have an ever-increasing share of the market; compare that to when Checkers and Big Four brands dominated.)
During my ïŹrst visit to Sweden, most cabbies drove Volvo S80s, S90s and 960s. A few went for Saab 9-5s. Now, the home brands share space with Toyota Priuses and Mercedes-Benz B-Klasses. Again, itâs a reïŹection of the state of the Swedish car industry, with its American owners insisting Volvo and Saab sell large cars that did not conïŹict with their offerings from their sister Opel and Ford brands. The consequence is that as the world moved to small cars, Volvo and Saab had relatively little to offer. Even the patriotic cabbies had to buy foreign.
It seems Spyker realizes the folly of this policy as it takes over Saab and vows to make the company a leader in automotive environmental technology, but the compact 9-1 still does not figure in its business plan formally. Will Geely realize the same when it comes to Volvo?
Tags: car industry, cars, GM, nationalism, patriotism, Saab, Spyker, Stockholm, Sweden, Volvo
Posted in Sweden, business, cars, interests | 2 Comments »
Rasrisk?!
03.02.2010
This is a punny one for my Swedish friends. I know this is an innocent warning sign, but when a foreigner comes and he has a different skin colour, his mind wanders on what it could mean!
Hereâs a bit of humorous context about a very inappropriate sign at the National Bank in Wellington, New Zealand.
Tags: humour, language, race, signage, Stockholm, Sweden
Posted in Sweden, humour | No Comments »







































