An Olympic Fortnight, Vancouver!

For 17 days, Vancouver has treated the world to a showcase of the human spirit.

The Olympic Games have a habit of doing that. And these Winter Olympics were no different. (See http://www.vancouver2010.com/ for all the stories.)

The Games stated on a tragic note, with Georgian luge slider Nodar Kumaritashvili dying in a horrific training crash on the morning of the opening ceremony. Dodgy weather conditions conspired to further dampen the mood, with Cypress Mountain being forced to shut down portions of the spectator areas for safety reasons, and disappointing thousands of ticket-holders offered the scant consolation of a refund. A sizable section of Vancouver's population, too, were up in arms about the hefty tax bill that seem to be unjust desserts for all host nations of Olympic Games.

But the mood began to shift and the gloom began to lift when hearts and minds became captivated by the human stories of the Games:

American idols and skiers Lindsay Vonn and Bode Miller winning gold in dramatic fashion: Vonn pushing pain aside to capture the downhill title(she injured her shin a week before the Games and was a doubtful starter) and Miller clawing himself back from 7th position going into the second leg of the super-combined.

Slovenia's cross-country skier Petra Majdic displaying true grit after a warm-up tumble into a craggy creek bed, to ski four gruelling races before being stretchered off the course after the finals. A medical examination later revealed she had suffered five broken ribs and a collapsed lung.

Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette being knocked down by the sudden, unexpected death of her mother who had flown into town to cheer her on, then somehow channelling her emotions for a few critical minutes two days later to skate her heart out on the ice. The scoreboard showed bronze, but her performance was pure gold.

And of course, the Canadian men's hockey team who gave the nation the gold medal it craved the most badly, by winning a sudden-death playoff in the finals against a young but brilliant US team that had played above itself throughout the Games.

The closing celebrations had a magic moment of its own when a faux repairman, giant screwdriver hanging from his toolbelt, 'fixed' the mechanical arm of the Olympic cauldron that had infamously failed to rise during the opening ceremony. Nothing is as endearing as a host nation that can laugh at itself.

Canada ended the Games with a haul of 26 medals (including a superb 14 gold, the best-ever achievement by any country in a single Winter Olympics). On another level, perhaps even more significant was the way the whole nation came together as One after a lukewarm first week. VANOC chief John Furlong paid tribute to "the most beautiful kind of patriotism that (has) broken out all across our country." My niece and nephew are Canadians and performed in the opening ceremony; it's an indescribable experience they'll cherish for the rest of their lives.

I lived and worked in Canada myself for close to seven years, and can vouch that for the longet time, the country's sports psyche seemed to be best summed up by the mantra, "Go for the bronze!" Not anymore. Canada has found a new voice, a raison d'etre; and Canadians are becoming comfortable with making it visible.

Billions of dollars are spent on nation and city branding each year as countries strive to reinvent themselves for the 21st century. Very rarely does a vision capture the hearts and minds of a populace as completely and seamlessly as it appeals at the same time to a nation's visitors. With these Games, brand Canada has turned the pages and started on a new chapter in its history.

I'm looking forward to the unfolding story.

What Price Do You Put On A Reputation?

If you're in the market for a car or currently drive a Toyota, you'd have to be blind or deaf not to be aware of the problems the car-maker has been grappling with these past few months.

When a few isolated accidents involving Toyota vehicles caused by accelerator pedals 'sticking' to the floorboard increased to a statistically significant number, Toyota swung in action, issuing a series of vehicle recalls from November last year.

In the latest installment of this unfolding saga, Toyota announced on Wednesday this week that it would immediately stop building and selling the Camry, Corolla and Avalon sedans, Matrix wagon, RAV4 crossover, Tundra opickup, and Highlander and Sequoia SUVs. Beyond the USA and Canada, the recall will be extended to China and Europe (though it is currently unclear which models will be affected).

The accidents, and the deaths and injuries they have caused, are truly tragic. The root cause, whether it's a broken accelerator pedal or floor mat interference (as documented in this YouTube video clip: http://youtube.com/watch?v=VTOxYFt1yT8VTOxYFt1yT8), needs to be fixed, and quickly. Toyota is doing all in its power to address the swiftly situation and stem the body blows to its vaunted reputation for product quality. (See http://pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/toyota/toyota-consumer-safety-advisory-102572.aspx for details.)

According to some detractors, the Toyota brand is now in tatters, and the business will never recover from this, the largest product recall in its history. The vehicles being recalled account for 57% of the company's US sales; and it is estimated that Toyota will haemorrhage some US$400 million a week due to suspended production and sales. I note with a trace of distaste, however, some telling observations:

1. All the eight affected models in this recall exercise are assembled at five plants in the USA and Canada, with what I must assume to be a predominantly local workforce.

2. In its bid to become the world's #1 car-maker, Toyota moved away from some of the business practices that had served it well for the longest time. One example is its decision to buy parts from companies around the world, rather than from a small group of Japanese suppliers that had been long-time partners. The accelerator pedals in the vehicles affected by the recall come from a supplier's Canadian plant.

3. US Transportation Department officials have taken pains to point out that they had advised Toyota to act quickly. "The reason Toyota decided to do the recall and stop manufacturing is that we asked them to," said Raymond LaHood, the Transportation Secretary. "We were the ones that met with Toyota, our department, our safety folks, and told them, you've got to do the recall." (Ouch.)

4. Journalists say Toyota is almost certain to face lawsuits soon not just from people who claim injuries from the defects, but also -- get this -- class-action suits on behalf of consumers who will claim the crisis has damaged the value of their cars. (Only in America.)

Is it just me, or do some of these news tidbits merely reinforce the quality of Japanese engineering vis-a-viz the rest of the world? Toyota is a savvy organization. Not by accident (pun unintended) is it ranked amongst the world's most admired companies and the world's most respected brands. Granted, the company has skated close to the edge by risking its core brand attribute -- quality -- in its fixation on growth. Toyota now has to reconsider the wisdom of some of the operational decisions taken in its quest for global leadership in the automobile industry. But it would have executed these recalls, LaHood or no hood.

This crisis will likely cost them untold billions of dollars; but a principle isn't a principle until it costs you something.

Chin up, Toyota. You're doing the right thing.

[Disclosure: I have never owned a Toyota, nor shares in the company. But that doesn't stop me from respecting the brand.]

Creating a Lighthouse Identity

I lived and worked in Canada for a time in the early 1990s. For over six years, Vancouver was my home; and for a third of that time, I used to commute to work, an hour each way, along a coastal road to my office downtown. A lighthouse dotted a rocky outcrop along my route; and I remember wondering what it would be like to trade places with the lighthouse master for a week. After a month or so, I stopped gazing at the lighthouse as I drove past: I knew it was there, and I knew that it signalled I was only 10 minutes from home.

As we put to bed a tumultuous 2009 and gird ourselves for the year ahead, we should give a thought ourselves to polishing and projecting a Lighthouse Identity -- for the brands under our charge as well as our own personal brands. We should strive to be -- and care for -- brands with a clear sense of who they are, and what they stand for. Brands with a true north, that aren't swayed by market forces, that compel others to navigate by them because they are anchored in constancy and consistency.

Adam Morgan lays out the credo of building a lighthouse identity in his seminal book Eating The Big Fish. It's very good; read it.

2010 will usher in a sea of change. To survive and thrive, we need a firm foundation, a bedrock of values for ourselves and our brands that will stand the test of time.

Happy new year, and may your light shine as you strive to 'keep it visible'.