A.G.E. Insurance, a Los Angeles based provider of niche insurance products for seniors living in assisted living facilities, is now a Daily brand. Strategic and creative services to include competitive analysis, brand positioning and the development of a unified sales and marketing communications platform that will be integrated into new collateral materials, corporate presentations, a tradeshow booth, the existing website and promotional items. Daily will also update and refine the company’s brand identity including logo, fonts and color palette.

About A.G.E. Insurance (www.age-insurance.com): Asset Guard Endorsement (A.G.E.) insurance is a preferred policy protection encouraged by senior living facilities. Without it, their assets are at risk. A.G.E. is underwritten by Philadelphia Insurance Company (“PIC”), a Pennsylvania-domiciled property and casualty insurance company approved in 49 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands as a surplus lines insurer. Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. is a Member of the Tokio Marine Group, a top-tier global insurance group with approximately $175 billion in assets and 28,000 employees in 36 countries.

Some additional thoughts on foreign market entries … we’ve discovered that whatever operations a US-headquartered company establishes in a BEM such as, for example, South Africa (where we’ve assisted in the development of two feature films) should be supported with training programs that not only provide career-building incentives for the workers, but also curry favor with the government in helping to educate and elevate the skills and marketability of the labor force however appropriately.

Further, it’s critical in most cases to set up joint ventures with in-country partners — for example, tightly integrated manufacturing operations (assuming a “product” orientation here) — even if only to a minor degree; the knowledge share alone can be a real boon, irrespective of actual profits. Also, engaging in-market distribution channel partners to move those products to consumers through established systems and storefronts is critical, and has proven a favorable path with a lot of companies using white- or private-label strategies. Which may sound obvious, but it’s easier said that done given a variety of factors, not the least of which are language barriers and cultural differences.

Posted by: Colin Mangham

When assessing global marketing strategies, as we did a couple of years ago with a mobile media company soft launch in Vietnam to be followed by rollouts in China and India, it’s useful to segment markets according to stages of economic development before digging in to assess real opportunities and challenges. This is particularly the case when endeavoring to leverage marketing efforts, brand positioning and operational practices proven successful in a company’s existing markets when expanding into new markets.

The World Bank provides some useful segmentation categories, with gross national product (GNP) providing a basis. The four key categories include Big Emerging Markets (BEMs), Least-Developed Countries (LDCs), Newly Industrializing Economies (NIEs) and The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) comprised of mature economies.

According to the United Nations, there are 50 countries in the low-income ranks that are considered “least developed” in terms of market potential. A key contrasting characteristic of these markets, particularly the case in China, is that market growth is largely driven by cheap but highly motivated labor forces serving international markets through trade/export activities. China is also categorized as a “Big Emerging Market” (as are India and Brazil), and what quite obviously makes these countries increasingly powerful are their large populations, which provide not only the opportunity to harness cheap labor in the manufacturing sectors, but also reach large numbers of consumers … a billion-plus in China alone. As if you haven’t already heard that a hundred times or more this year alone, eh?

Posted by: Colin Mangham

Remains one of my favorite books on the art and craft of the filmmaker’s visual narrative. Particularly like how it links the entire arc of Star Wars back to Greek mythological constructs. I’ve referenced this one repeatedly while writing three of my screenplays. A good read for not just writers but anyone with a love for film. ~Colin Mangham

Phillips Electronics, headquartered in Eindhoven, Netherlands, was until recently very much following a polycentric orientation, which assumes that each country is unique in terms of its target consumer behavior, as well as demos, psychographics, price elasticities, color affinities and associations, etc. Corresponding marketing approaches are intended to be unique and invariably led by in-country managers with a high-degree of autonomy. This worked well for Phillips until more globally/geocentrically oriented companies such as Japan’s Matsushita began competing with them atop multinational strategies that, as the RAI Foundation presents it, leveraged efficiencies enabled by the integration of marketing activities across borders.

I find it curious, especially with Marshall McLuhan’s global village cinched tighter and tighter every day by broadband strings of 0’s and 1’s, that ethnocentric orientations hold the perspective that one’s home country is superior to other countries. The managers of such strategic approaches tend to assume that the marketing that works at home will work abroad. Doesn’t take a c-level exec to recognize that’s a path to failure today, or at least stagnation, in most cases, particularly with the connectivity of the Internet effectively leveling the playing field for consumers with respect to product knowledge.

It should be noted, however, that Harley-Davidson is by most definitions an ethnocentric company, understandably with respect to its positioning as an ‘all-American’ brand holding a multinational appeal. Similarly, Mickey and Snoopy are as American as can be, but their red, white and blue heritage is rarely muted, infrequently compromised, mostly capitalized upon.

Another example I found reading Keegan and Green’s text on Global Marketing (2005: 17) cites Nissan’s early international operations as being ethnocentric, in that they did not design cars specifically for, say, the United States; they exported cars that were designed for use in Japan. The authors provide a humorous anecdote, wherein the automaker admitted that they thought that since Japanese owners would place blankets on their car hoods in the winter to keep them warm enough to start that Americans would do the same thing. Um, nuh-uh.

Posted by: Colin Mangham

Daily Brand Productions is set to begin principal photography for a 10-minute corporate video focused on the positive impact Huntington Beach based Meleesa the Salon has on its local community. Notably the production will not be the typical longform commercial sales video … instead, and in the Daily style, we will take more of a documentary approach focused predominantly on the people who comprise, inspire and sustain the business.

We’re all quite excited to capture and communicate the active positivity Meleesa and her team embrace and share on a daily basis. Our core team will include Colin Mangham (Producer), Dariush Khansari (Director), Mike Nedved (Director of Photography), Katherine Stein (Editor), Toby and Mike at Confidence Head (Music and Sound Design) and Elliott Stone (PA and Second Camera). We will post some “Dailies” here soon.