Volvo Cars, a unit of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co.

I haven’t missed the sale of Volvo to Geely, but it wasn’t 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 […]

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Metro gives thumbs-up to Stefan Engeseth’s Unplugged Speeches

This is rather heartening to see, from the Metro freebie in Stockholm (the below is copied from the online edition):    What’s in: Stefan Engeseth’s Unplugged Speeches series at the Regina Stockholms Operamathus (where yours truly gave the first edition).    What’s out: the growing mounds of paper (rather appropriate in an eco-conscious nation).   […]

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The rise of the city brand

I don’t have the other writers’ permission to show their side of this Facebook dialogue, but we had been chatting about growing the creative clusters here in Wellington as one of my mayoral policies.    I wrote: Mostly by focusing on growing creative clusters and taking a bigger slice of the cake. So it is […]

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Toyota’s recent “30-degree” scandal in China

Sam Flemming in Advertising Age mentioned the scandal that Toyota has been embroiled in inside China, before a lot of the bad press it received in the occident over “unintended acceleration”.    This involved a netizen, an owner of a Toyota Highlander Sport, filming that his SUV was unable to get up a 30-degree incline, […]

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Did I mention I dislike junk faxes?

I received yet another junk fax today, which I believe are not permitted under the Telecommunications Act. My enquiries to Telecom suggest that this is the case.    This time, it’s a well known business based in town and in the Hutt. And you know what? I’ve now made a mental note not to go […]

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Funny how the war keeps coming up

I could guess the entire storyline but my goodness, I still think this is hilarious. (Courtesy Chris Young at C7 Design in New Plymouth.) You may also like Steve McQueen, advertising spokesman, 1980 to date On the subject of copying Doctor Who’s Christmas ’10 special: US trailer Is your favourite 1980s’ celeb here? The TV […]

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Toyota’s troubles stem from forgetting its principles

I was surprised to learn that Toyota still has not issued a worldwide recall of its troublesome Prius NHW30 model, even though one had gone out in New Zealand.    In layman’s terms, the brakes allegedly don’t work when you want them to. In more complex terms, the software has trouble distinguishing between different types […]

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On the subject of copying

Saw this old Mikado commercial a few days back: and, after searching on YouTube, it appears that it was repurposed in Germany for a completely different product. Either that, or this came first:    The top one seems to work better, probably because of the idea we have about conservative Japanese management.    Any idea […]

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The advertising career of Audrey Hepburn

I can’t explain why I like the Steve McQueen Ford Puma ad and dislike this one with Audrey Hepburn, even though I think the world of both actors. In terms of tacky, I reckon this one takes the cake as a celebrity endorsement: Come to think of it, this is worse. I believe the original […]

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Steve McQueen, advertising spokesman, 1980 to date

Found on Pete’s Tumblr today. Can you believe it’s been 30 years since the man died? A few weeks later, John Lennon was murdered. Very enjoyable, though I still like the old Ford Puma ad from a decade ago: My American friends prefer a later Steve McQueen ad promoting the Mustang:    I still think […]

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