Branding

Listening to a panel discussion on the importance of ‘branding’ to China’s economic clout, I harkened back to the municipal election three years ago. One of our marketing gurus stated how important it was to develop a ‘brand’ for our downtown and our waterfront. Apparently, neither could be sold as a destination unless it had a brand. Branding cattle used to show ownership and I suppose some bright light bulb figured that putting a name or design on a product would create product loyalty. We soon had those little annoying alligators on our shirts and now find a swish on far too many products.

Meanwhile we stopped burning the hides of live cows and began putting a tag on their ears. This is not so much for ownership, for cows like every product, change ownership either in the boardrooms or on the stock markets at the click of a keyboard. Those yellow ear tags also allow us to track problems, like BSE. No doubt this is good for our well-being, but some farmers may have hoped for anonymity when mad cow disease first appeared in North America.

Despite the aforementioned panel’s assertion that China will not be a player until it develops some brands, China seems to be going great guns in the supply of everything from cheap clothes to pirated software and look-alike electronics. China is about to put its brand on a cheap car that has some of the American motor moguls worried about competitive pricing. It will likely be a few years before we in the West see the Chinese version of the People’s Car and even a few more years before they become as popular as the Volkswagen.

People who bought the original Pony may have a hard time girding themselves to visit the Hyundai showroom to see the much-improved cars of today. The early Datsuns were so prone to rusting that the company changed its brand name to Nissan to get back into the market in North America. Before you brand, you need to get it right.

In the meantime, China is relying on other company’s brands to build and train their workforce. The recent recall of Dell and Sony laptop computers because of potential battery fires only tarnished the name of those two companies, not the nameless company in the People’s Republic. The underwear that disintegrated on the second washing is immediately tracked back to Wal-Mart, not the sweatshop in China.

Churchill had his Victory sign, Fidel his cigar, Trudeau his lapel rose and Victor has his tie. Whenever we saw Winston brandishing his two fingers, we knew that the war was as good as won; when Fidel flaunted his fine cigars in the face of the Americans, we knew his defiance would hold his little country together; when we saw Pierre Elliot with his lapel flora, we immediately saw him for the elitist he was.

In the upcoming mayoralty campaign, it will be interesting to see what brand Lawlor puts on the run for his old chair. As for the yellow tie, I am still not sure what it stands for, but it must be a branding of something. The previous council and mayor were branded for their waterfront/rail-lands debt, the current one may be branded for the Heritage Festival debt. Like Dell and Sony, the Waterfront and Festival are both good products, but suffered from faulty components. Neither Del or Sony blamed a factory in China, but councils of the day seem more than willing to point fingers at their predecessors.

Perhaps it is fitting or maybe just ironic that the old North Bay brand, the Gateway sign, is down for refurbishing just before the election.