Kevin Harrington // marketing // blog

Yamaha West London

It’s funny when you spot a brand. We all tend to make assumptions based on our experiences.

When I saw Yamaha West London I immediately thought it was a keyboard or guitar shop. I then wondered why there was an MOT sign on the front of the building. It turned out it was a motorbike retailer.

Full marks to Yamaha for the consistent presentation of their brand.

How many consumer brands have product ranges as diverse as guitars and motorbikes? Loads when you start thinking about it: Hitachi (nuclear power stations to clock radios); GE; Sony. I think the difference with Yamaha is that they hold such strong brand positions with consumers in vastly different sectors.

BTW … West London Yamaha can be found at 138 Twickenham Road, Hanworth, Middlesex, TW13 6HD. www.westlondonyamaha.co.uk

Google Phone

I’m rather excited by the pending arrival of the Google Phone, G1. But it will be a quandary for me.

Out of principal I would not buy an iPhone as I find their distribution approach offensive. I don’t want to move to O2 and I don’t want a new phone number. These are both things that were demanded at the UK launch of the iPhone.

This resulted in me finally abandoning Sony handsets (having worked for them in the 80s and 90s there was a bit of a loyalty) to get the functionality I wanted. I migrated to Blackberry Pearl 8100.

But the Google Phone is looking very exciting. That said, there are mixed views about the launch. Do I depart from Blackberry in favour of Google?

Building on a post I made yesterday, I was pleased to see this article as it shows my ex-employer Sony rated tops on ‘brands most respecting the environment‘. See http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/item/56488/259/263/0?eid=e04&ln=greenweek03

When I was with Sony (1985 – 1996) we were already developing packaging and recycling initiatives to address the environmental issues facing the business.