Fisher-Price Game Plan: Pursue Toy Sales in Developing Markets†

Wall Street Journal, May 29, 2008 — In developing a line of talking toys aimed at children in China, engineers at Fisher-Price had to struggle to perfect the Mandarin "Sh" sound, which involves a soft hiss that was difficult to encode on sound-data chips embedded in the toys.

Developers finally solved the problem of recording the phrase "It's learning time!" in Mandarin, but new challenges are ahead. (Listen to the phrase.) The company will soon be examining the LCD screens on learning toys to determine whether Chinese characters can be displayed clearly.

Getting such details right is increasingly important as Fisher-Price and its parent company, Mattel Inc., try to attract more customers overseas.

All Systems Go

How General Electric's jet-engine division in Ohio is boosting the company's business in China. A case study in advanced global strategy

Fast Company, April 11, 2008 — More than a billion people were watching late last year when the first commercial airliner ever built by a Chinese firm rolled off the assembly line in Shanghai. China's state network, CCTV, broadcast it live, a proud symbol of the country's rising technical prowess. Yet if you looked closely, there was another peacock preening. Of the 19 suppliers that collaborated on the 90-passenger regional jet, only one had its logo on the plane: General Electric, which built the engine. No surprise, perhaps, that GE subsidiary CNBC was the only foreign network permitted to cover the event.

There is no company on the globe that's better at leveraging the multiple parts of its business to feed growth than GE.

Gen Y Unravels Global Branding Efforts, But Apple, Nike Triumph

MediaPost Publications, February 12, 2008 — WHILE IT WOULD BE EASY to blame the world's increasingly negative view of America and its brands on politics, a new report from consumer research firm Iconoculture says that Gen Y is also part of the unraveling.

Bidding for brands: India and China acquire a taste for luxury†

Financial Times, January 10, 2008 — Hotel managers, particularly those in the luxury business, are generally polite folk. But last month, when India’s Taj Hotels chain made what it said was a friendly approach to Orient Express Hotels, Trains & Cruises, the luxury hospitality group, the ensuing dialogue quickly degenerated into an uncharacteristically public spat.

Selling P&G

How do you sell $76 billion of consumer goods? One brand at a time. Fortune's Geoff Colvin talks with Jim Stengel.

FORTUNE, September 5, 2007 — In the vast world of marketing and advertising, James Stengel just may be the king. He is Procter & Gamble's global marketing officer, and thus commands the world's largest ad budget - about $6.7 billion. It's an enviable position, but uneasy lies the head that wears an ad king's crown. The Digital Age is revolutionizing the way consumers use media, though no one yet knows what the new model will be or if it will last longer than an eye-blink. Product innovation happens faster than ever.

U.S. Weakly: American Brands Take Hits†

Gfk Roper Study Shows Coke and Other Giants Losing Likability Abroad

Advertising Age, August 27, 2007 — Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Colgate-Palmolive and Kodak are among blue-chip U.S. brands taking a beating when it comes to how liked they are around the world, according to a study by GfK Roper Consulting, in part because of their country of origin. Attitudes toward Americans and their culture are increasingly negative, said Jennifer James, senior consultant at Roper. "Our foreign policy has contributed."

Taiwan's top companies try to burst brand barrier†

Financial Times, August 21, 2007 — When Taiwanese smart-phone maker HTC launched its first own-brand phone in Asia this summer, it had professionals running the show: a dance theatre troupe was hired to perform the story of HTC's rapid rise from a tiny contract manufacturing outfit in 1997 to the world market leader for Windows-based smart- phones today. But the company unwittingly gave a demonstration of just how big a leap it was taking in building its own brand. When the troupe led chief executive Peter Chou on to the stage, he looked slightly awkward - an engineer among dancers.

The Many Faces of China

Grabbing the tiger by its Internet.

eMarketer, July 25, 2007 — "It is no exaggeration to say that the Beijing Olympics in 2008 represent the 'coming out' party of China," says Ben Macklin, eMarketer Senior Analyst and the author of the new report, China Internet Audience. "While China has enjoyed terrific economic growth over the last 20 years, and now is the fourth-largest economy in the world — and the second-largest in terms of purchasing-power parity — its international influence and reputation have not matched its burgeoning economic power. But all that is changing."

Children Of The Web

How the second-generation Internet is spawning a global youth culture--and what business can do to cash in

BusinessWeek, July 2, 2007 — It's a simple sales pitch, really: Hey, dude, spray Axe deodorant all over your body, and you will become irresistible to beautiful young women. But what Russell Taylor, the Axe vice-president, proposed doing with that straightforward idea was ambitious. He wanted to turn it into a truly global marketing message, one that would work in all 75 countries where Unilever (UN ) sells Axe.

Disney Rewrites Script to Win Fans in India†

China, Latin America Are Also in Turnaround; A "Princess" in Mumbai

Wall Street Journal, June 11, 2007 — Disney has struggled to make big money in India with its classic American fare. Now it has persuaded Yash Raj to make Disney-branded animated films, with the voices of Bollywood stars.