Toyota executives are trying to stop the brand bleeding as they deal with safety recalls and attempt to jump-start sales with a new incentive program and a fresh TV-advertising campaign aimed at shoring up consumers’ overall confidence in the company. But at the same time, Toyota also has been launching an important new product, a completely made-over, 2011 version of the Sienna minivan. The long-derided minivan segment has been showing some signs of life lately, and Toyota still sees it as an important category for the long term, as its Generation X customers move through parenthood.
From Faking It To Making It: China's "Bandit" Brands
Written by Webmaster
Sunday, 21 February 2010
What happens when the producers of knock-off products become so adept at manufacturing that they become, well, legitimate? The Financial Times reports this is exactly what is happening in the knock-off cell phone industry – in China, unsurprisingly. In fact, “bandit” phone makers are becoming increasingly worried about customer satisfaction, quality, and how their imitation brands are perceived. “We are legitimate handset makers now. We are building our own brand,” explains Jin Hongxiang, president of SOP, the parent company of “bandit” electronics brand Xinghuabao. “Chinese handsets have a very bad reputation in export markets....
China, a country known for counterfeiting, has graduated to imitating the Internet. When Google threatened and then left China after tensions rose over censorship and hacking issues, the still-Communist nation took matters into its own hands with Goojje.com. YouTube, the Google-owned video site also blocked in China, was recreated as YouTubecn.com. Google, known for taking a passive stance, had little to say about its unofficial brand extension. "The only comment I can give you right now is just to confirm that we’re not affiliated," responded Jessica Powell, a spokeswoman for the site. Throughout the last decade, China's counterfeit industry has flourished
P&G Embraces Facebook as Big Part of Its Marketing Plan
Written by Webmaster
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Procter & Gamble Co. loves Facebook after all, and besides encouraging brands to develop a presence there, the world's biggest marketer has opened an office in Silicon Valley to help develop social-networking systems and digital-marketing capabilities with the website. P&G's outlook on Facebook and social media as marketing tools appears rosier. Those messages came in a meeting last week between P&G executives and venture capitalists, recounted by David Hornik on VentureBlog in a post that quickly picked up currency over the weekend on, of all places, Twitter. "P&G's explicit goal for 2010 is to assure that each of its brands
Toyota executives are trying to stop the brand bleeding as they deal with safety recalls and attempt to jump-start sales with a new incentive program and a fresh TV-advertising campaign aimed at shoring up consumers’ overall confidence in the company. But at the same time, Toyota also has been launching an important new product, a completely made-over, 2011 version of the Sienna minivan. The long-derided minivan segment has been showing some signs of life lately, and Toyota still sees it as an important category for the long term, as its Generation X customers move through parenthood.
What happens when the producers of knock-off products become so adept at manufacturing that they become, well, legitimate? The Financial Times reports this is exactly what is happening in the knock-off cell phone industry – in China, unsurprisingly. In fact, “bandit” phone makers are becoming increasingly worried about customer satisfaction, quality, and how their imitation brands are perceived. “We are legitimate handset makers now. We are building our own brand,” explains Jin Hongxiang, president of SOP, the parent company of “bandit” electronics brand Xinghuabao. “Chinese handsets have a very bad reputation in export markets.... 
China, a country known for counterfeiting, has graduated to imitating the Internet. When Google threatened and then left China after tensions rose over censorship and hacking issues, the still-Communist nation took matters into its own hands with Goojje.com. YouTube, the Google-owned video site also blocked in China, was recreated as YouTubecn.com. Google, known for taking a passive stance, had little to say about its unofficial brand extension. "The only comment I can give you right now is just to confirm that we’re not affiliated," responded Jessica Powell, a spokeswoman for the site. Throughout the last decade, China's counterfeit industry has flourished 
Procter & Gamble Co. loves Facebook after all, and besides encouraging brands to develop a presence there, the world's biggest marketer has opened an office in Silicon Valley to help develop social-networking systems and digital-marketing capabilities with the website. P&G's outlook on Facebook and social media as marketing tools appears rosier. Those messages came in a meeting last week between P&G executives and venture capitalists, recounted by David Hornik on VentureBlog in a post that quickly picked up currency over the weekend on, of all places, Twitter. "P&G's explicit goal for 2010 is to assure that each of its brands 
