Free Idea Friday

Ideas are easy. Execution is hard. Every Friday I will share an idea that's been rolling around in my head that I have neither the time nor the where-with-all to execute. Remember, it's free, so take it for what it's worth.

When I was a kid the seatbelts in our Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser had a logo on the latch that read "GM Mark of Excellence." I've always wondered why that stuck with me, but now I think I know. It meant that GM stood for something. Which prompts the question, what does GM stand for now? (Insert bankruptcy joke here) No matter what they say GM stands for, it's meaningless unless it's manifested in the products. So, what can GM stand for that ranges across Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, GMC and, if they choose to keep them alive in some form, Pontiac and Saturn?

Here's a thought. What if GM stood for "est." No, I'm not talking about the crazy, quasi-religion founded by Werner Erhard in the '70s. What if every GM car and every GM brand was the "__est" of something? What if every Chevrolet model had the highest fuel economy in its class, every Buick the boldest styling, every Cadillac the latest technology, every GMC the strongest construction? Sure these may not be the right things, but the fundamental principle is the key. Each brand has to stand for one thing and then execute it flawlessly across all models. Right now their strategy feels like "good/better/best" and anything goes within that range. You don't get famous by being anything.

You get famous by being something.

Do More Than Give Thanks

According the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 45 million turkeys are cooked and eaten in the United States at Thanksgiving. That number represents one sixth of all the turkeys sold in the U.S. each year. Yet, even with so many turkeys being cooked, people still go hungry.

Please take a moment to help those who don't have enough and donate to your local food pantry or soup kitchen. Another option is to donate to Feeding America, an excellent national organization dedicated to helping people in need.

http://feedingamerica.org/take-action/donate.aspx

Happy Thanksgiving.

Toyota Makes A Withdrawal From Its Brand Equity Bank

Toyota announced a recall of 4 million vehicles today for sticky gas pedals and excessive frame rust. The good news for Toyota is that unlike GM or Chrysler, they have a ton of capital in their brand equity bank. So while this is a huge recall with some very serious safety implications it will have little effect on their overall brand image.

A strong brand can give you cover for a multitude of sins and Toyota certainly has done a lot of things right to earn it's reputation as a leader in quality and efficiency. It's interesting though, that in the 2009 JD Power study, Toyota was not in the top 5 of brands in initial quality behind both Cadillac and Hyundai. And while it boasts the Prius as a leader in fuel-efficiency, the Toyota Sequoia and Camry are no more efficient than a Chevy Tahoe and Malibu.

Toyota's strong brand will help them weather this storm. The question is, how many more hits can their brand take before they are seen as just another car company?