SwelledHead.com

How to sell a French car? Tell everyone it's German

Credit where it's due to Citroen's advertising agency, Euro RSCG Worldwide, and those at the car company with the balls to buy into some incredibly bold and brave creative.

Citroen's ad for it's latest mid-sized family car, the C5, uses every stereotype in the book (well, the generally positive ones at least) to give the tongue-in-cheek suggestion that the car you're looking at is 100% Deutsch. Only at the end, as the camera revels the Citroen double-chevron grille, are we told that this "unmistakeably German" car is actually "made in France".

The ad acknowledges what everyone thinks and says already; German cars are superior. Citroen has played the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" game, and SwelledHead think's it's a smart move. Car buyers may not be convinced that any nation's cars are as good as those from Germany, but if they're as good then that's praise indeed.

The relevance of this to transatlantic marketing. Well, it's an interesting demonstration of the value that cultural identity brings to a brand. That applies well beyond the auto industry. Would you prefer French or Bulgarian Champagne? English or American tea? Nepalese or Scottish whisky? Might you try the unconventional alternative that promises to be at least as good? You might, which is what Citroen is betting on.

Personally, I think the C5 is an appealing new model that deserves success. It will be interesting to see how the market responds.

Tesco has a sensible strategy for US success

This is an interesting article by Tony Jackson for the Financial Times, which relates to a previous SwelledHead post about Tesco entering the US market. He looks at whether UK business really is as bad as it appears at buying and successfully operating businesses in the US, or if the true culprit are the US companies themselves.

He notes that "While there have been some very successful foreign acquisitions of US companies, the US is a harder place to make money than it looks." He sees sense in Tesco building its US business "the slow, persevering way".

Tesco has proven to be very good at adapting to local markets in many countries around the world, and its US plan would appear to be another well thought out way to succeed in the US for the long term.

Transatlantic expansion can set your brand free

One of the great things about traveling or moving to a new city is that you can be who you wish you were; a reinvention is possible.  The same can be true for transatlantic brand expansion.  Some midrange brands in their home markets have been successfully able to go upscale as they were exported. 

During recent trips to London and Bogota, Colombia, I noticed standalone Samsonite stores – designed to support Samsonite as a near-luxury brand.  Some are branded Samsonite Black Label, but all sport a high-end image and design I wouldn’t have previously associated with the brand. 

Samsonite is a midrange brand in the U.S.  Its line is generally considered well made, but not in the league of a Tumi or Louis Vuitton (check out the BusinessWeek story link below for an interesting career change for Samsonite’s current CEO who is ex-LV).  But that’s just where management seems headed with Samsonite Black Label.  And if my very informal poll is any gauge, this strategy could very well be successful – with benefits that accrue to the core brand as well.

The company is opening its Black Label stores in fashion centers in the U.S. and Europe to help propel the brand (see the list of stores here) as well as hiring noted designers to generate excitement for what was a moribund brand and category.  In addition, its acquisition of a majority interest in premium handbag designer Lambertson Truex provides a platform for believable expansion into the true luxury segment of the luggage category.  Visitors to the Samsonite Black Label web site are treated to imagery and layout that seem inspired by  Agent Provacateur lingerie more than its luggage industry cohort.

While it’s too early to tell if the Black Label brand will take off (see below for figures from fiscal year 2006), management’s focus on moving the brand up-market via dedicated retail outlets and brand showcases in top cities makes a lot of sense. 

Interestingly, for an American brand, Samsonite derives more than 48 percent of revenues from the U.K. and Europe and just 38 percent from the U.S. (the balance is from Asia, Latin America and corporate/incentive sales).
 
TipTree is another case of a brand moving up-market by becoming a transatlantic brand.  At home, this maker of preserves is considered solidly middle market.  In the U.S., it is merchandised alongside other imported jams and jellies such as Bon Maman, all positioned as high-end brands for  our market.  Readers in the U.K. might think Bon Maman also a mid-market brand and dismiss the notion that it has moved upmarket at all.  But it is important to recognize that U.S. supermarket shelves are generally stocked with mass market brands such as Smuckers and Welch's that cater to the majority of our 300 million consumers.  So when an import of any kind secures shelf space at many of our supermarkets, that’s a significant success for the brand and its distributor.

Unlike Samsonite, Tiptree’s success seems a case of sticking to its knitting.  Samsonite’s new management team has brought with it a sweeping strategy change.  But they are more alike than you might imagine.  Both have leveraged their core strengths to attack a new market.  Samsonite has brand recognition and management depth (along with knowledge of the market and its potential).  Tiptree has its English heritage that makes it generally attractive to us here in the U.S. (and if you check out Tiptree’s Web site, it would appear that the appetite for its preserves is truly global).  What Tiptree needed was good distribution for a product that had the right basic attributes.  Samsonite, however, was a much bigger project – but seems like it is also headed for very large rewards.

Article links:

BusinessWeek Online Feb 2007 on Samsonite (overview)

India’s Business Standard, Jan 2007 on outsourcing of manufacturing 

Hartford Courant Jan 2007 on Alexander McQueen as luggage designer

Forbes June 2005