Planned scarcity is a classic marketing trick for high-end goods. And if luxury fare isn't just difficult enough to get, then many of the most discriminating consumers don't want it anyway.

Ferrari's vehicles have been relatively inattainable forever largely by dint of their six-figure pricetags (and the brand unveiled a new, $1.3 million LaFerrari hybrid model at the Geneva auto show in March). But now Ferrari wants to make its goods even more exclusive by beginning to limit production. It's hoping a new tie-in with Apple will boost Ferrari's rarefied cachet even more.

The company plans to scale back sales to fewer than 7,000 vehicles this year to "maintain the exclusivity" of the brand. Ferrari sold 7,318 cars last year, and revenues so far this year have grown by about 4 percent over a year earlier.Continue reading...

Volkswagen raised a lot of eyebrows five years ago when it vowed to become the world's No. 1 car maker, as measured by sales, by 2018. General Motors was still very much on the global throne then, and Toyota was its No. 1 threat.

But VW got with it and has become an extremely credible bet to carry out its pledge. It's even possible that — depending on how the three companies measure sales from their joint ventures in China — Volkswagen already could threaten to become the world's largest auto maker this year. VW certainly is vying with a resurgent GM and a wounded Toyota to meet its goal seven years early, as each of them closes in this month on around 8 million sales for the year.

VW has leapt ahead of expectations on the strength of a sales boom in China and in other emerging markets in recent years, acquisitions of other brands such as the Czech bargain-price marque Skoda, and a better-than-predicted surge back into the U.S. market with new products and VW's first U.S. assembly plant in decades, which makes the Passat in Chattanooga, Tenn. And let's not forget the well-oiled marketing buzz around the new Beetle.Continue reading...

In a development that will be appreciated by male football fans everywhere, "The Diamond Store" Zales has a new holiday season ad campaign.

And… it's actually not that bad. But the campaign message is nearly the same as two years ago, what changed?Continue reading...

Ketchup. This ever-present condiment is found in 97 percent of American households, according to market research firm Mintel. Heinz has snared 59 percent of the ketchup market, estimates Symphony IRI Group (whose figures do not include Walmart). Hunt is a distant second among brand names, with about 15 percent market share, while store brands make up close to 22 percent.

That's why one might consider Heinz the Coca-Cola of ketchup — and why Heinz is consciously cautious about brand extensions, especially those that tamper with its original formula. Clearly, the company does not want to repeat the colossal branding mistake made by Coca-Cola in the 1980s when it introduced newly flavored "New Coke" and, after consumer outrage, was forced to bring back the "old" Coke.

Founded in 1869, Heinz Ketchup remains true to its roots, with its original flavor still dominant. In recent years, the company has conservatively expanded its line to include No Salt Added, Organic, and "Simply Heinz" (no high fructose corn syrup) versions. Heinz has also added one flavor enhancement — a "Hot & Spicy" variety that includes a touch of Tabasco sauce.

Yet Heinz has stayed away from any dramatic departure from its landmark flavor, toying instead with packaging, such as wide-mouth bottles, plastic bottles and its newest "Dip & Squeeze" container, with three times as much ketchup as regular packets. Previously restricted to restaurants, Dip & Squeeze now sells in 10-packs at stores.Continue reading...

Next time you are in Australia and a multicolored truck rolls by, don’t worry. It’s probably just the phone company.

Telstra, the nation’s largest telco and provider of voice, mobile, video (pay TV) and broadband Internet services (via its BigPond ISP), is in the midst of a major branding initiative with a new tagline that announces “Welcome to Life in Full Colour” and an advertising push whose song includes the line, "Get out your rainbow colors."

According to Telstra's press release, the company is wrapping itself in six colors (orange, green, turquoise, blue, purple and magenta) to symbolize "the diversity" of its customers and services.Continue reading...

General Motors CEO Joel Ewanick has generated both praise and smirks by going public recently with the idea that Chevy should emulate Apple. But that worthy goal may not be as far-fetched as some allege.

It turns out that Apple isn't the only premier consumer brand inspiring Chevy these days. The brand and its dealers also are "partnering with [Walt] Disney around the customer experience," Alan Batey, Chevy's vice president of U.S. sales and service, told brandchannel. Chevrolet sales execs and a select group of 50 dealers just concluded a two-day leadership conference under the famous tutelage of Disney brand experts in Orlando, where the automotive folks learned -- as many thousands have done at Disney seminars before them -- how to spread figurative pixie dust over everything they do, particularly when it comes to actually retailing Chevy vehicles.Continue reading...

Was it an accident that Ford chose to make a presentation to the investment community on the same day – today – that arch-rival General Motors held its annual meeting? Probably not.

Both the revived GM and the steady Ford are looking toward the future more than ever, having survived the Great Recession by somewhat different means. And that involves persuading investors, suppliers, customers, governments and other constituencies that each is a “new” entity now able to realize high-flying dreams of increasingly global success.

That’s why GM CEO Dan Akerson told shareholders this morning in Detroit that the company’s global manufacturing footprint gives it a “legendary” advantage in emerging markets – including China, India and South America – that will be crucial for future growth. And indeed, in China for example, GM now challenges Volkswagen for leading market share, while it’s got about four times the share there of Ford.Continue reading...

Fresh from a rare interview as one of Oprah Winfrey's last guests and seeing First Lady Michelle Obama dazzle this week in one of his couture designs, American fashion icon Ralph Lauren is in the spotlight this week.

His Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. may have had its net income decline almost 36%, bringing in “only” $73.2 million, in the fourth quarter that ended April 2nd (prompting at least one analyst to issue a 'buy' recommendation for its stock), but that isn’t stopping the company from investing a cool $1 billion to expand its global retail operation, according to Women’s Wear Daily.

Roger Farah, president and COO of Polo Ralph Lauren, told WWD that in the next fiscal year, $325 million of that would be laid out, with 70% of the cash would go to “growing the company’s store base internationally, particularly in Europe and through concession shops in China and Hong Kong.” But Polo won’t be just throwing money new retail locations.Continue reading...