Hi there,
I would like to find out about foreign companies who have successfully
entered the US with a consumer brand for example: Sony, Toyota,
Altoids, Philips and Toshiba. I want to know how they became a success
in the US - was it their marketing, their products, their pricing,
their service, their positioning in the market etc. Are there
commonalities between the cases that can be used to improve the
chances of success when it comes to launching a consumer brand in the
US? I realise this is a big question - but if there are any case
studies out there, or press reports, articles etc. I'd love to find
them.

Cheers

Dave

Hi! Thanks for the very interesting and important question!

Getting to be a business success is indeed tough but duplicating or
even surpassing the success you had in a foreign land is even tougher.

In the auto industry, the reason why foreign car makers are more
successful than American cars is because they have high quality
homegrown engineering which translates into better products.

“What do the successful carmakers do? They build good cars that their
countrymen like--and if they are good enough, drivers like them
elsewhere in the world, too. BMWs aren't global, they're German.
Successful foreign companies don't outsource their basic engineering
to a foreign engineering establishment.”
Domestic Autos, Foreign Parts 
Jerry Flint, 07.22.02, 8:00 AM ET
http://www.forbes.com/columnists/2002/07/22/0722flint.html

Still on the topic of automobiles this time on trucks, foreign
companies are also bringing headaches to US based manufacturers
because of the following reasons:

1. Foreign auto makers like Honda has avoided the mistakes its
American predecessors have done.

2. “The leading foreign brands also have a strong customer base--all
those folks who bought their cars or who admire a quality reputation,
particularly that of Honda and Toyota. High quality keeps resale value
strong, which brings lower leasing costs.”

3. “Also, the cheap yen, won and euro allow the foreigners to hold
their prices down and keep profits up. Many of these foreign-nameplate
trucks are built in the U.S., in new non-union plants.”

4. “Another advantage: a cooperative non-union attitude, which permits
greater production flexibility.”

5. Foreign companies are also taking great risks by continuously
building plants in the US.

In this case study of Mercedes Benz, it provides a description on how
the company promoted its M-Class vehicles in a crowded US market.

Branding Case Study - Mercedes Benz
http://www.brandingasia.com/cases/mercedes-case.htm

The next link brings us to a detailed case study of the successful
Korean company, Acer.

ACER: AN IT COMPANY LEARNING TO USE INFORMATION TO COMPETE
http://www.crito.uci.edu/itr/publications/pdf/acer_case_10-99.pdf

Looking at the history of successful foreign companies gives us a
proper perspective of how they became hits in the US.

------------------
SONY was already successful in Japan and had been in operation for 15
years before they decided to enter the US. The page contains links for
the chapters of SONY’s history. But if you want only to see their
history when they entered America then go to Chapter 8 onwards.

SONY History
http://www.sony.co.jp/en/Fun/SH/index.html

SONY Corporation of America
http://www.sony.co.jp/en/Fun/SH/1-8/h1.html


Please click on the links below of each page to get more of SONY’s
early stories in America.
---------------------

Other foreign company histories we could learn from:

Nintendo
http://www.nintendo.com/corp/history.html

Roche
http://www.roche.com/home/company/com_hist_intro.htm

HONDA History and Investment in America
http://www.hondacorporate.com/america/index.html?subsection=operations

 
-------------------
The next article provides comprehensive tips for international
companies which wants to enter the US market.
Staying Out of International Hot Water
http://www.rowbotham.com/articles/International/staying.htm

Search terms used:
Successful foreign companies 
Case study history
Sony, Philips, Mercedes Benz, Acer

I hope this is what you were looking for. Please ask for a
clarification if you have a question or if you would need further
information. Good luck on your future endeavors and thanks for being a
part of Google Answers!

Regards,
Easterangel-ga

Thanks for the info - very helpful

Harvard Business School uses the "Case Study" method of teaching and
has 7,500 case studies compiled, including a number on foreign
companies which have successfully entered the U.S. market.

However, these are not free so I can't provide any more information
than a good place to begin:
http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b02/en/cases/cases_collections.jhtml

I have posted this because, given the relatively high price you have
offered for this question, you are obviously serious about this and
therefore might be interested in contacting the business school about
purchasing one or more appropriate case studies.

I feel certain some researcher will also post a good answer to this
question, probably providing all the information you need, this is
merely offered as an additional lead which may prove helpful for
further research at a considerably higher cost.

Good luck.