Branding Iron: The Meltdown of the US Auto Industry

A Podcast with industry veteran and brand guru, Charlie Hughes

Charlie Hughes

According to our guest today, Charlie Hughes, "It is amusing and painful to see the people who most decry the Cerberus purchase of Chrysler are all part of the Detroit problem. Unions, analysts, local press, and domestic auto execs all seem to believe that a private equity company is in it for the short haul. Have any companies in the US demonstrated a shorter fuse or more self-destructive behavior over the past five years than the Detroit gang?"

Welcome to a big picture edition of Total Picture Radio. Charlie Hughes is co-author of Branding Iron - Branding Lessons from the Meltdown of the US Auto Industry published by Racom Books. Charlie knows of which he speaks - and writes - Charlie has worked on 11 automotive brands, both domestic and import as well as at the Doyle Dane Bernbach advertising agency. He has headed marketing for U.S. operations of Fiat, Lancia, Porsche-Audi and Volkswagen. 

However, Charlie is best known for his successes with Land Rover and Mazda. As the founding CEO of Land Rover in North America, Charlie built a fully operational organization and dealer body in 15 months. He grew the business from 0 units in 1986 to 22,000 in 1998 and in so doing created the luxury sport utility segment by successfully introduced Range Rover and then Land Rover to Americans. Along the way Land Rover broke new ground in automotive retailing by creating Land Rover Centers, a truly branded retail experience, and founded Land Rover University to create passionate retail associates to staff Land Rover Centers.

3 Minutes with Charlie Hughes:

45 Min :

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Now at the helm of Brand Rules, LLC, Charles "Charlie" Hughes is considered one of the nation's foremost experts on branding, marketing and organizational culture.  Brand Rules, a consulting consortium Hughes founded in 1999, harnesses his decades of experience in shaping, building, and sustaining great brands.  He describes the firm's mission simply: "To set our clients apart in an over crowded marketplace. We help cut you out of the herd."

To spell out how to and how not to do that, Charlie and co-author William Jeanes published their first book, Branding Iron, in September 2006. Subtitled "Branding Lessons from the Meltdown of the US Auto Industry," Branding Iron has earned critical acclaim both in and outside of the Auto Industry. Ad Age selected it number two on their ten books you should have read in 2006.
Charlie holds a Master's of Business Administration in Marketing from Simon School of Business, University of Rochester and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. He has served on the Board of Directors for Land Rover North America; Dillard University, Board of Trustees; Chairman, Mazda Foundation; St. Francis Medical Center Foundation Board; UCI, Graduate School of Management Advisory Board; Simon School Executive Advisory Committee at University of Rochester, and Chairman of the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers. He recently has joined the Board of Advisors of Mooney Aircraft Company, Inc. and Nerium Biotechnology, Inc.

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