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133-639: Maisto is a brand of scale model vehicles introduced in 1990 and owned by May Cheong Group , a Chinese company founded in 1967 in Hong Kong by brothers P.Y. Ngan and Y.C Ngan. Headquartered in Hong Kong, the brand has its offices in the United States, France and China. MCG also owns other model car brands, such as the former Italian brand Bburago (whose assets and rights to whose brand name were acquired in 2006) and Polistil . The company has also manufactured

266-439: A target audience . Marketers tend to treat brands as more than the difference between the actual cost of a product and its selling price; rather brands represent the sum of all valuable qualities of a product to the consumer and are often treated as the total investment in brand building activities including marketing communications. Consumers may look on branding as an aspect of products or services, as it often serves to denote

399-469: A titulus pictus . The inscription typically specified information such as place of origin, destination, type of product and occasionally quality claims or the name of the manufacturer. Roman marks or inscriptions were applied to a very wide variety of goods, including, pots, ceramics, amphorae (storage/shipping containers) and on factory-produced oil-lamps. Carbonized loaves of bread , found at Herculaneum , indicate that some bakers stamped their bread with

532-425: A 50th Anniversary logo. Hot Wheels also launched several collector-focused lines for that year, including Favorites , which was a series that consisted of 11 highly detailed vehicles (which were based on real cars), all with metal bodies and rubber tires. For this year, Hot Wheels also launched a display case , which could hold up to 48 cars, and could either stand up on its own (via attachable "feet") or be mounted on

665-497: A Hot Wheels collectors website. Also in 2001, Mattel issued 240 mainline releases consisting of 12 Treasure Hunts , 36 First Editions , 12 Segment Series with four cars each, and 144 open stock cars. Popular models that debuted include the HyperMite and FrightBike . For 2002, the mainline consisted of 12 Treasure Hunts , 42 First Editions , 15 Segment Series of 4 cars each, and 126 open stock cars. Popular new models included

798-636: A brand may recognize that advertising touchpoints are most effective during the pre-purchase experience stage therefore they may target their advertisements to new customers rather than to existing customers. Overall, a brand has the ability to strengthen brand equity by using IMC branding communications through touchpoints. Brand communication is important in ensuring brand success in the business world and refers to how businesses transmit their brand messages, characteristics and attributes to their consumers . One method of brand communication that companies can exploit involves electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). eWOM

931-400: A brand may showcase its primary attribute as environmental friendliness. However, a brand's attributes alone are not enough to persuade a customer into purchasing the product. These attributes must be communicated through benefits , which are more emotional translations. If a brand's attribute is being environmentally friendly, customers will receive the benefit of feeling that they are helping

1064-403: A brand name is a "memory heuristic": a convenient way to remember preferred product choices. A brand name is not to be confused with a trademark which refers to the brand name or part of a brand that is legally protected. For example, Coca-Cola not only protects the brand name, Coca-Cola , but also protects the distinctive Spencerian script and the contoured shape of the bottle. Brand identity

1197-463: A brand with consumers. For example, a jingle or background music can have a positive effect on brand recognition, purchasing behaviour and brand recall. Therefore, when looking to communicate a brand with chosen consumers, companies should investigate a channel of communication that is most suitable for their short-term and long-term aims and should choose a method of communication that is most likely to reach their target consumers. The match-up between

1330-478: A brand, the more they trusted the brand. This suggests that a company could look to employ a social-media campaign to gain consumer trust and loyalty as well as in the pursuit of communicating brand messages. McKee (2014) also looked into brand communication and states that when communicating a brand, a company should look to simplify its message as this will lead to more value being portrayed as well as an increased chance of target consumers recalling and recognizing

1463-508: A broad range of goods. In 1266, makers' marks on bread became compulsory in England. The Italians used brands in the form of watermarks on paper in the 13th century. Blind stamps , hallmarks , and silver-makers' marks —all types of brand—became widely used across Europe during this period. Hallmarks, although known from the 4th-century, especially in Byzantium, only came into general use during

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1596-412: A category is differentiated from its competing brands, and thus the brand helps customers & potential customers understand which brand satisfies their needs. Thus, the brand offers the customer a short-cut to understanding the different product or service offerings that make up a particular category. Brand awareness is a key step in the customer's purchase decision process, since some kind of awareness

1729-417: A certain attractive quality or characteristic (see also brand promise). From the perspective of brand owners, branded products or services can command higher prices. Where two products resemble each other, but one of the products has no associated branding (such as a generic , store-branded product), potential purchasers may often select the more expensive branded product on the basis of the perceived quality of

1862-517: A change in the look of the packaging cards which includes a quartet of helmeted motorcycle riders standing behind the flame logo and the Treasure Hunt series cards no longer marked with a treasure chest . Some of those cars include Rodzilla , Fangula , Twin Mill III (3), Bone Shaker and Baja Bone Shaker . General Motors also released a special Chevrolet Camaro Hot Wheels Edition , which

1995-1021: A corporation hopes to accomplish, and to explain why customers should choose one brand over its competitors. Brand personality refers to "the set of human personality traits that are both applicable to and relevant for brands." Marketers and consumer researchers often argue that brands can be imbued with human-like characteristics which resonate with potential consumers. Such personality traits can assist marketers to create unique, brands that are differentiated from rival brands. Aaker conceptualized brand personality as consisting of five broad dimensions, namely: sincerity (down-to-earth, honest, wholesome, and cheerful), excitement (daring, spirited, imaginative, and up to date), competence (reliable, intelligent, and successful), sophistication (glamorous, upper class, charming), and ruggedness (outdoorsy and tough). Subsequent research studies have suggested that Aaker's dimensions of brand personality are relatively stable across different industries, market segments and over time. Much of

2128-490: A die-cast version of the 1984 Corvette. GM was angered and almost pulled its licensing with Mattel, but this controversy helped Corvette enthusiasts see what the new Corvette was going to look like. The 1984 Corvette production ran for 1.5 model years covering half of the remaining 1983 model year and ending on time for the 1985 model year. In conjunction with Epyx Software, Mattel released a computer game edition of Hot Wheels for various 8-bit platforms in 1985, as part of

2261-472: A different stage in a customer's cognitive ability to address the brand in a given circumstance. Marketers typically identify two distinct types of brand awareness; namely brand recall (also known as unaided recall or occasionally spontaneous recall ) and brand recognition (also known as aided brand recall ). These types of awareness operate in entirely different ways with important implications for marketing strategy and advertising. Brand recognition

2394-528: A gear shift of any type (even push button on the dash). Collectors wanting finer crafting in this size must look to AUTOart , CMC, or Exoto at the higher dollar end of miniature modeling. 1/64 scale Maisto die-cast models are comparable in quality and details to Matchbox , Hot Wheels and Johnny Lightning , but new models in this scale are not released very often. Even some models use similar castings from older Matchbox and Hot Wheels models. Newer lines offer vehicles in more customized themes. One such line

2527-462: A given category, when prompted with a brand name, a larger number of consumers are typically able to recognize it. Brand recognition is most successful when people can elicit recognition without being explicitly exposed to the company's name, but rather through visual signifiers like logos, slogans, and colors. For example, Disney successfully branded its particular script font (originally created for Walt Disney's "signature" logo ), which it used in

2660-498: A good friend, Ira Gilford. Gilford, who had just left Chrysler , quickly accepted the job of designing the next Hot Wheels models. Some of Hot Wheels' greatest cars, such as the Twin Mill and Splittin' Image , came from Ira Gilford's drawing board. The Twin Mill was introduced in 1969 and was used to create the company's first full-scale replica car in 2001. The success of the 1968 line

2793-493: A high level of brand equity. Brand owners manage their brands carefully to create shareholder value . Brand valuation is a management technique that ascribes a monetary value to a brand. The word brand , originally meaning a burning piece of wood, comes from a Middle English brand , meaning "torch", from an Old English brand . It became to also mean the mark from burning with a branding iron. Branding and labeling have an ancient history. Branding probably began with

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2926-496: A holiday based theme), Factory Fresh (a series including newer, sometimes older castings with fabric painting) and Camaro Fifty (a series dedicated to the Chevrolet Camaro , and its 50th anniversary). In 2018, Hot Wheels celebrated its 50th anniversary. The style of the blister cards were changed again, depicting a city in the background of the car, thus emulating a "Hot Wheels City" theme. For that year, each blister card had

3059-507: A low-involvement purchasing decision. Brand recognition is often the mode of brand awareness that operates in retail shopping environments. When presented with a product at the point-of-sale, or after viewing its visual packaging, consumers are able to recognize the brand and may be able to associate it with attributes or meanings acquired through exposure to promotion or word-of-mouth referrals. In contrast to brand recall, where few consumers are able to spontaneously recall brand names within

3192-430: A major change in casting numbering. Since that moment, recolors are named with a different number than the original, thus causing the number limit of cars to expand to 365. The idea of numbering a casting with a number corresponding to their own series was also aborted. There were also some new mainline series introduced, such as Experimotors (cars with moving parts, or a secondary purpose), Holiday Racers (cars that have

3325-666: A membership to the Hot Wheels Club. These three cars featured " supercharged " engines (featuring large Roots blowers ) without hoods, and open exhaust headers , after the style of drag racing cars of the era. Popular among children, these 'Silver Cars' were considered faster than the rest of the Hot Wheels lineup, because they were supposedly heavier than the other gravity models, but the accuracy of this claim has never been tested under scientific conditions. However, 1972 and 1973 were slow years. Only seven new models were made in 1972. Of

3458-583: A new advertising slogan for the cars: "Go With the Winner". 43 new cars appeared that year, including the Sizzlers and Heavyweights lines. Howard Rees, who worked with Ira Gilford, was tired of designing cars. He wanted to work on the Major Matt Mason action figure toy line-up. Rees had a good friend by the name of Larry Wood, whom he worked with at Ford designing cars. When Wood found out about Hot Wheels at

3591-536: A new style of wheel called Real Riders was introduced, which featured real rubber tires. Despite the fact that they were very popular, the Real Riders line was short-lived, because of high production costs. In the late 1980s, the so-called Blue Card blister pack color scheme was introduced, which would become the basis of Hot Wheels colors still used today (original blister packs were red and yellow). Two other innovations were introduced briefly in Hot Wheels cars in

3724-479: A number of Tonka products under license from Hasbro. Products under the Maisto brand include die-cast scale model cars . The company was established in Hong Kong in 1967 as "May Cheong Toy Company" by brothers P.Y. Ngan and Y.C Ngan. Products were initially commercialised under the "MC Toy" (using the initials of the company) brand. Some of the first MC Toys products were direct copies of Matchbox cars, although

3857-517: A party Rees was holding, Rees offered him the job of designing Hot Wheels models. Wood accepted, and, by the end of the week, Wood was working at Mattel, where his first design was the Tri-Baby . Larry Wood retired in 2019 after over 40 years of designing cars. Another designer, Paul Tam, joined Wood and Gilford. Tam's first design was the Whip Creamer . Tam continued to work for Mattel until 1973. Among

3990-506: A real VW Type 2 "bus" , and had two surfboards sticking out the back window, in a nod to the VW's perceived association with the surfing community and the slang term for a person who spends much time surfing—a " beach bum ". During the fledgling Hot Wheels era, Mattel wanted to make sure that each of the cars could be used with any of the playsets and stunt track sets. Unfortunately, testing showed that this early version (now known among collectors as

4123-399: A receiver, it runs the risk of the receiver incorrectly interpreting the message. Therefore, a brand should use appropriate communication channels to positively "…affect how the psychological and physical aspects of a brand are perceived". In order for brands to effectively communicate to customers, marketers must "…consider all touch point |s, or sources of contact, that a customer has with

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4256-538: A series called Modifighters , which are similar to Transformers except for the fact that they were originally cars and were modified into robots. The Modifighters names are: Streetwyse, Skullface, Live Wire, Bedlam, Nightlife, Mr. Big, and Quick-Tyme. In 2008, all the series and vehicles were relatively similar to 2007's cars. Approximately 180 to 200 new vehicles were released. In 2009, Mattel released 42 New Models , 12 Treasure Hunts , 12 Track Stars , 24 Mystery Cars , 10 Segment Series of 10 cars, and introduced

4389-450: A special mail-in promo. Each Mystery Car came with a special voucher. Upon collection of all 4 vouchers, one was able to send away for a special 13th Treasure Hunt , a VW Drag Bus. Hot Wheels also unveiled its new "Faster than Ever" line of cars, which had special nickel-plated axles , along with bronze-colored Open-Hole 5 Spoke wheels. These adjustments supposedly reduce friction dramatically, resulting in cars that are called

4522-414: A trademark from the late 1870s, with great success. Pears' soap , Campbell's soup , Coca-Cola , Juicy Fruit chewing gum and Aunt Jemima pancake mix were also among the first products to be "branded" in an effort to increase the consumer's familiarity with the product's merits. Other brands which date from that era, such as Ben's Original rice and Kellogg's breakfast cereal, furnish illustrations of

4655-407: A trademark in the form of a 'White Rabbit", which signified good luck and was particularly relevant to women, who were the primary purchasers. Details in the image show a white rabbit crushing herbs, and text includes advice to shoppers to look for the stone white rabbit in front of the maker's shop. In ancient Rome , a commercial brand or inscription applied to objects offered for sale was known as

4788-509: A visual or verbal cue. For example, when looking to satisfy a category need such as a toilet paper, the customer would firstly be presented with multiple brands to choose from. Once the customer is visually or verbally faced with a brand, they may remember being introduced to it before. When given a cue, consumers able to retrieve the memory node associated with the brand exhibit brand recognition. Often, this form of brand awareness assists customers in choosing one brand over another when faced with

4921-484: A wall. Each display case came with an exclusive car. On October 4, 2018, Hot Wheels filed a new trademark for the motto it's not the same without the flame . In 2019, a seal was added in the bottom left corner of the blister card with the motto. On February 18, 2021, the Hot Wheels Mars Perseverance Rover was released; a die-cast scale model latest vehicle in its Space mini-collections inspired by

5054-413: Is a brand's personality . Quite literally, one can easily describe a successful brand identity as if it were a person. This form of brand identity has proven to be the most advantageous in maintaining long-lasting relationships with consumers, as it gives them a sense of personal interaction with the brand Collectively, all four forms of brand identification help to deliver a powerful meaning behind what

5187-420: Is a collection of individual components, such as a name, a design, a set of images, a slogan, a vision, writing style, a particular font or a symbol etc. which sets the brand aside from others. For a company to exude a strong sense of brand identity, it must have an in-depth understanding of its target market, competitors and the surrounding business environment. Brand identity includes both the core identity and

5320-403: Is a fundamental asset to a brand's equity , the worth of a brand's identity would become obsolete without ongoing brand communication. Integrated marketing communications (IMC) relates to how a brand transmits a clear consistent message to its stakeholders . Five key components comprise IMC: The effectiveness of a brand's communication is determined by how accurately the customer perceives

5453-469: Is a precondition to purchasing. That is, customers will not consider a brand if they are not aware of it. Brand awareness is a key component in understanding the effectiveness both of a brand's identity and of its communication methods. Successful brands are those that consistently generate a high level of brand awareness, as this can be the pivotal factor in securing customer transactions. Various forms of brand awareness can be identified. Each form reflects

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5586-410: Is a relatively new approach [Phelps et al., 2004] identified to communicate with consumers. One popular method of eWOM involves social networking sites (SNSs) such as Twitter . A study found that consumers classed their relationship with a brand as closer if that brand was active on a specific social media site (Twitter). Research further found that the more consumers "retweeted" and communicated with

5719-421: Is often little to differentiate between several types of products in the 21st century, hence branding is among a few remaining forms of product differentiation . Brand equity is the measurable totality of a brand's worth and is validated by observing the effectiveness of these branding components. When a customer is familiar with a brand or favors it incomparably over its competitors, a corporation has reached

5852-442: Is one of the initial phases of brand awareness and validates whether or not a customer remembers being pre-exposed to the brand. Brand recognition (also known as aided brand recall ) refers to consumers' ability to correctly differentiate a brand when they come into contact with it. This does not necessarily require consumers to identify or recall the brand name. When customers experience brand recognition, they are triggered by either

5985-406: Is stronger than brand recognition, as the brand must be firmly cemented in the consumer's memory to enable unassisted remembrance. This gives the company huge advantage over its competitors because the customer is already willing to buy or at least know the company offering available in the market. Thus, brand recall is a confirmation that previous branding touchpoints have successfully fermented in

6118-540: Is the AllStarz which features custom rims, special paint jobs, lowered suspension and super upgraded in-car entertainment systems. Another line is Pro Rodz which uses the same themes but consists of classic American muscle cars. Both lines are in direct competition with ' Jada Toys ' 'Dub City' and 'Big Time Muscle' brands that started the 'bling' trends in auto toys. Around late 2010, Maisto toys sold in Wal-Mart stores took on

6251-564: Is the herbal paste known as chyawanprash , consumed for its purported health benefits and attributed to a revered rishi (or seer) named Chyawan. One well-documented early example of a highly developed brand is that of White Rabbit sewing needles, dating from China's Song dynasty (960 to 1127 CE). A copper printing plate used to print posters contained a message which roughly translates as: "Jinan Liu's Fine Needle Shop: We buy high-quality steel rods and make fine-quality needles, to be ready for use at home in no time." The plate also includes

6384-457: The Bonus Car program, causing stores across the nation to have shortages. Purchasing the four car sets and sending in the packaging backs plus a handling fee gave you the opportunity to collect the bonus cars, 1 each released for each quarter of the year starting in 1996 through at least 2000. Several new wheel designs were also introduced in the 1990s. Mattel bought Tyco Toys in 1997. Along with

6517-629: The DeLorean time machine from the Back to the Future series . This was followed by the 15-car Treasure Hunt series with 1957 Chevy and 1958 Chevy Impala , 15 Track Stars including the 2010 Formula Street series, the 10x10 series, the Thrill Racers series, and 22 HW Video Game Heroes which were packaged with codes for an internet computer game. The new series "Team Hot Wheels" appear in late 2011. 2012 saw

6650-610: The Indy Car Series drivers. Mattel released its first-ever animated episodic television series called Hot Wheels Battle Force 5 , which was a co-production between Canadian animation giants Nelvana and WildBrain . The US version of the series debuted on Cartoon Network on August 29, 2009. . 2011 saw the release of 244 cars beginning with the 2011 New Car Series which includes the Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera , Custom 2011 Camaro , and

6783-522: The Nerve Hammer , Pharodox , Semi-Psycho as well as the fan-favourite Bone Shaker , Larry Wood's most popular design to date. In 2007, Mattel released 36 New Models (formerly First Editions ), 12 Treasure Hunts (with a hard-to-find regular version and even rarer " Super Treasure Hunt " version of each with rubber Real Rider tires and Spectraflame paint), 12 'Teams' of 4 cars each (formerly Segment Series ), 24 Code Cars (codes imprinted inside

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6916-761: The Qin dynasty (221-206 BCE); large numbers of seals survive from the Harappan civilization of the Indus Valley (3,300–1,300 BCE) where the local community depended heavily on trade; cylinder seals came into use in Ur in Mesopotamia in around 3,000 BCE, and facilitated the labelling of goods and property; and the use of maker's marks on pottery was commonplace in both ancient Greece and Rome. Identity marks, such as stamps on ceramics, were also used in ancient Egypt. Diana Twede has argued that

7049-535: The Rear-Loader Beach Bomb , or "RLBB") was too narrow to roll effectively on Hot Wheels track or be powered by the Super Charger, and was too top-heavy to negotiate high-speed corners. Hot Wheels designers Howard Rees and Larry Wood modified the casting, extending the side fenders to accommodate the track width, as well as providing a new place on the vehicle to store each of the plastic surfboards. The roof

7182-434: The " Faster than Ever " series. The first run of these cars were available for a limited time only, from the beginning of October towards the end of November 2005. Also, a continuation of the movie Highway 35 called Hot Wheels AcceleRacers was created, taking place two years after the events of Highway 35 . It is featured in four movies and many short segments where the drivers (old ones, gangs, like Teku, Metal Maniacs,

7315-474: The "consumer packaging functions of protection, utility and communication have been necessary whenever packages were the object of transactions". She has shown that amphorae used in Mediterranean trade between 1,500 and 500 BCE exhibited a wide variety of shapes and markings, which consumers used to glean information about the type of goods and the quality. The systematic use of stamped labels dates from around

7448-478: The "cool" factor. This began the modern practice now known as branding , where the consumers buy the brand instead of the product and rely on the brand name instead of a retailer's recommendation. The process of giving a brand "human" characteristics represented, at least in part, a response to consumer concerns about mass-produced goods. The Quaker Oats Company began using the image of the Quaker Man in place of

7581-400: The "…potential to add positive – or suppress negative – associations to the brand's equity" Thus, a brand's IMC should cohesively deliver positive messages through appropriate touch points associated with its target market. One methodology involves using sensory stimuli touch points to activate customer emotion. For example, if a brand consistently uses a pleasant smell as a primary touchpoint,

7714-451: The 1980s – Thermal Color Change paint, and rotating 'crash panel' vehicles (" Crack-Ups "). The former was able to change color on exposure to hot or cold water, and there was an initial release of 20 different cars, available as sets of three vehicles. The latter were vehicles with a panel that, on contact, would rotate to reveal a reverse side that appeared to be heavily dented. Variations in crash panels included front, rear and side panels,

7847-510: The 1st century CE. The use of hallmarks , a type of brand, on precious metals dates to around the 4th century CE. A series of five marks occurs on Byzantine silver dating from this period. Some of the earliest use of maker's marks, dating to about 1,300 BCE, have been found in India. The oldest generic brand in continuous use, known in India since the Vedic period ( c.  1100 BCE to 500 BCE),

7980-413: The 2015 black Ferrari 599XX was the last Ferrari model appearing in mainstream, both regular model and its Treasure Hunt variant. 2016 lineup was similar to 2015 and 2014 in terms of segments, and the design of the card was overhauled. Some car names were TBD ( To Be Determined ) or 2016 (Coming Soon). They're now divided into mini collections with their corresponding segments and their icons printed on

8113-533: The 24 models appearing for 1973, only three were new models. Also the cars changed from Mattel's in-house Spectraflame colors to mostly drab, solid enamel colors, which mainstream Hot Wheels cars still use today. Due to low sales, and the fact that the majority of the castings were not re-used in later years, the 1972-3 models are known to be very collectible. In 1974, Hot Wheels introduced its ' Flying Colors ' line, and added flashy decals and "tampo-printed" paint designs which helped revitalize sales. As with

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8246-453: The 2nd year, debuting the Torpedoes line (skinny bodies and outboard wheels) and Drop Tops (flattened rooflines and wheel arches that extend above the car's roofline), in addition to 20 " Realistix " models. The rest of the line included the standard 12 Treasure Hunts , 10 Track Aces , 50 Segment Series Cars , and 50 Open Stock Models . Four Volkswagen " Mystery Cars " were offered as

8379-606: The 6th century BCE. A vase manufactured around 490 BCE bears the inscription " Sophilos painted me", indicating that the object was both fabricated and painted by a single potter. Branding may have been necessary to support the extensive trade in such pots. For example, 3rd-century Gaulish pots bearing the names of well-known potters and the place of manufacture (such as Attianus of Lezoux , Tetturo of Lezoux and Cinnamus of Vichy ) have been found as far away as Essex and Hadrian's Wall in England. English potters based at Colchester and Chichester used stamps on their ceramic wares by

8512-485: The Computer Activity Toys series. In 1989, Mattel released collector numbers. Each car had its own number. The cards were all blue, for all blister packs released from 1989 to 1994. Numbers included went as high as 274; however, these were skip numbered, and numbers such as 48, 61, and 173 were not used. The year 1995 brought a major change to the Hot Wheels line, where the cars were split up into series. One

8645-634: The Hot Wheels formula. The US warehouse and distribution center, aka Maisto International, Inc, is located in Fontana, California . In 2006, the May Cheong Group acquired the assets of the Italian brand Bburago . Later, the firm also obtained the Polistil name, another Italian scale model manufacturer that had previously gone bankrupt in 1993. Maisto mainly competed in 1:18 scale with Italian Bburago, Polistil and

8778-524: The Medieval period. British silversmiths introduced hallmarks for silver in 1300. Some brands still in existence as of 2018 date from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries' period of mass-production. Bass Brewery , the British brewery founded in 1777, became a pioneer in international brand marketing. Many years before 1855, Bass applied a red triangle to casks of its pale ale. In 1876, its red-triangle brand became

8911-566: The PT Cruiser (stock, sport and panel) made available first to auto journalists, but later sold normally in Walmart and other stores. The brand is popularly seen in Sam's Club and often makes exclusive editions of its model cars intended to be sold at the store which feature special paint schemes not commonly found on the regular variations of the model. Footnotes Brand The practice of branding—in

9044-750: The `68 Cougar and the Nissan Skyline GT-R . Some cars from the first editions series are the Backdraft , Overbored 454 , and Super Tsunami . Hot Wheels celebrated its 35th anniversary with a full-length animated film called Hot Wheels Highway 35 World Race . This movie tied into the Highway 35 line of cars that featured 35 classic Hot Wheels cars with special graphics and co-molded wheels. In 2004, Hot Wheels unveiled its "Hot 100" line of 100 new models. These included mostly short-lived lines of cartoonish vehicles such as ' Tooned (vehicles based on

9177-407: The all-new C4 Corvette but had assembly line problems which pushed production back 6 months causing GM's Marketing Department to label all 1983s as 1984s once they got production perfected so it would seem to the public that the all-new C4 Corvette came out early rather than late. But Hot Wheels saw what the new model of Corvette was going to look like before GM's official unveiling, and they designed

9310-476: The atrium, and bearing labels as follows: Scaurus' fish sauce was known by people across the Mediterranean to be of very high quality, and its reputation traveled as far away as modern France. In both Pompeii and nearby Herculaneum, archaeological evidence also points to evidence of branding and labeling in relatively common use across a broad range of goods. Wine jars, for example, were stamped with names, such as "Lassius" and "L. Eumachius"; probably references to

9443-515: The barrels used, effectively using a corporate trademark as a quasi-brand. Factories established following the Industrial Revolution introduced mass-produced goods and needed to sell their products to a wider market—that is, to customers previously familiar only with locally produced goods. It became apparent that a generic package of soap had difficulty competing with familiar, local products. Packaged-goods manufacturers needed to convince

9576-427: The beginnings of brand management. This trend continued to the 1980s, and as of 2018 is quantified by marketers in concepts such as brand value and brand equity . Naomi Klein has described this development as "brand equity mania". In 1988, for example, Philip Morris Companies purchased Kraft Foods Inc. for six times what the company was worth on paper. Business analysts reported that what they really purchased

9709-401: The brand and is termed the consumer's brand experience . The brand is often intended to create an emotional response and recognition, leading to potential loyalty and repeat purchases. The brand experience is a brand's action perceived by a person. The psychological aspect, sometimes referred to as the brand image , is a symbolic construct created within the minds of people, consisting of all

9842-412: The brand has a much higher chance of creating a positive lasting effect on its customers' senses as well as memory. Another way a brand can ensure that it is utilizing the best communication channel is by focusing on touchpoints that suit particular areas associated with customer experience . As suggested Figure 2, certain touch points link with a specific stage in customer-brand-involvement. For example,

9975-413: The brand or on the basis of the reputation of the brand owner. Brand awareness involves a customer's ability to recall and/or recognize brands, logos, and branded advertising. Brands help customers to understand which brands or products belong to which product or service category. Brands assist customers to understand the constellation of benefits offered by individual brands, and how a given brand within

10108-425: The brand". Touch points represent the channel stage in the traditional communication model, where a message travels from the sender to the receiver. Any point where a customer has an interaction with the brand - whether watching a television advertisement, hearing about a brand through word of mouth or even noticing a branded license plate – defines a touchpoint. According to Dahlen et al. (2010), every touchpoint has

10241-400: The brand's intended message through its IMC. Although IMC is a broad strategic concept, the most crucial brand communication elements are pinpointed to how the brand sends a message and what touch points the brand uses to connect with its customers [Chitty 2005]. One can analyze the traditional communication model into several consecutive steps: When a brand communicates a brand identity to

10374-509: The brand, he or she is more likely to try other products offered by the company – such as chocolate-chip cookies, for example. Brand development, often performed by a design team , takes time to produce. A brand name is the part of a brand that can be spoken or written and identifies a product, service or company and sets it apart from other comparable products within a category. A brand name may include words, phrases, signs, symbols, designs, or any combination of these elements. For consumers,

10507-455: The brand. In 2012 Riefler stated that if the company communicating a brand is a global organization or has future global aims, that company should look to employ a method of communication that is globally appealing to their consumers, and subsequently choose a method of communication with will be internationally understood. One way a company can do this involves choosing a product or service's brand name, as this name will need to be suitable for

10640-482: The card. Some of them include HW Showroom , BMW (100th anniversary of BMW), HW Screen Time (Cars and characters seen on television, video games, and movies), and HW Snow Stormers . New models include the Cruise Bruiser , Side Ripper , Grass Chomper , and the ' 16 Acura NSX , while other models first see their release in the mainline series, such as the ' 52 Hudson Hornet . 2017 saw

10773-568: The cars with assistance from fellow engineer Jack Ryan . The flame logo was designed by Rick Irons, an art director working at Mattel at the time. The first line of Hot Wheels cars, known as The Original Sweet 16 was manufactured in 1967. These were the first of the Red Line Series, named for the tires which had a red pin stripe on their sides. There were sixteen castings released, eleven of them designed by Harry Bentley Bradley with assistance from Handler and Ryan. The first one produced

10906-576: The cast alloy wheels found on a 1980s-era high-trim Renault Fuego or a Mazda 626 , with three parallel dark lines cutting diagonally across the flat chrome face of the wheel, all three broken in the center to form six individual shorter lines. These new " Ultra Hots " claimed further speed improvements. Hot Wheels started offering models based on 1980s-era sports and economy cars , like the Pontiac Fiero or Dodge Omni 024 , in addition to their typical ' hot rod ' and muscle car style offerings. In 1983,

11039-501: The consumer through branding. Producers began by attaching simple stone seals to products which, over time, gave way to clay seals bearing impressed images, often associated with the producer's personal identity thus giving the product a personality. Not all historians agree that these markings are comparable with modern brands or labels, with some suggesting that the early pictorial brands or simple thumbprints used in pottery should be termed proto-brands while other historians argue that

11172-516: The environment by associating with the brand. Aside from attributes and benefits, a brand's identity may also involve branding to focus on representing its core set of values . If a company is seen to symbolize specific values, it will, in turn, attract customers who also believe in these values. For example, Nike's brand represents the value of a " just do it " attitude. Thus, this form of brand identification attracts customers who also share this same value. Even more extensive than its perceived values

11305-463: The evil Racing Drones, and the stealthy Silencerz). All of the shorts and previews of the movies were placed on a temporary website that was deleted shortly after the last movie. 2006 was the final year of the First Editions series consisting of 38 cars for that year including a Toyota AE86 , 2006 Honda Civic Si , Plymouth Superbird and 2007 Cadillac Escalade alongside with fantasy models like

11438-414: The extended identity. The core identity reflects consistent long-term associations with the brand; whereas the extended identity involves the intricate details of the brand that help generate a constant motif. According to Kotler et al. (2009), a brand's identity may deliver four levels of meaning: A brand's attributes are a set of labels with which the corporation wishes to be associated. For example,

11571-469: The firm had original designs as well. Soon after, European cars were added to its range of products. MC produced models of European cars which were not made by Matchbox or Hot Wheels , and the brand became popular for providing the same quality as its contemporaries at cheap prices. In the mid-1980s, Intex Recreation introduced MC Toy products to the US market with some of the die-cast cars being labeled as Intex. In

11704-426: The first registered trademark issued by the British government. Guinness World Records recognizes Tate & Lyle (of Lyle's Golden Syrup ) as Britain's, and the world's, oldest branding and packaging, with its green-and-gold packaging having remained almost unchanged since 1885. Twinings tea has used the same logo – capitalized font beneath a lion crest – since 1787, making it

11837-524: The five-figure plateau, ranging from $ 70,000 to $ 120,000. The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles had a pink RLBB in its Hot Wheels exhibit, displayed alone on a rotating platform under glass. The Hot Wheels Collectors Club released a new, updated version of the Rear Loading Beach Bomb in 2002 as a limited edition . 1970 was a very successful year for Hot Wheels, so Mattel came up with

11970-642: The fourth century BCE. In largely pre-literate society, the shape of the amphora and its pictorial markings conveyed information about the contents, region of origin and even the identity of the producer, which were understood to convey information about product quality. David Wengrow has argued that branding became necessary following the urban revolution in ancient Mesopotamia in the 4th century BCE, when large-scale economies started mass-producing commodities such as alcoholic drinks, cosmetics and textiles. These ancient societies imposed strict forms of quality-control over commodities, and also needed to convey value to

12103-436: The information and expectations associated with a product, with a service, or with the companies providing them. Marketers or product managers that responsible for branding, seek to develop or align the expectations behind the brand experience, creating the impression that a brand associated with a product or service has certain qualities or characteristics, which make it special or unique. A brand can, therefore, become one of

12236-693: The larger Hot Tunerz line of Hot Wheels created by Eric Tscherne ), Blings (boxy bodies and big wheels), Hardnoze (enlarged fronts), Crooze (stretched out bodies), and Fatbax (super-wide rear wheels and short bodies). Fatbax models included vehicles such as the Toyota Supra and Corvette C6 . These vehicles did not sell as well as Mattel expected, and many could still be found in stores throughout 2005. Mattel also released 2004 First Editions cars with unpainted Zamac bodies. They were sold through Toys 'R' Us and were made in limited numbers. In 2005, Hot Wheels continued with new "extreme" castings for

12369-510: The last of whose mechanism has proven to be the most durable. In the 1980s, Hot Wheels had gotten into a controversy with General Motors ' Chevrolet Motors Division . In 1982, the Chevrolet Corvette had ended the curvaceous " Mako Shark " body style that had been in production for almost 15 years, and GM announced that the Corvette would be redesigned. In 1983, Chevrolet started to produce

12502-839: The late 1980s, MC Toys' vehicles increased their quality, becoming more realistic and accurate to real models, in contrast with other counterpart companies that produced toy-like cars. In 1990, the company introduced the "Maisto" brand of diecast cars. Through the 1990s, Maisto was considered the US division of Master Toy Co. Ltd. of Thailand with May Cheong being the Kowloon, Hong Kong, subsidiary. The May Cheong Group products are made in China and Thailand . The factories in China and Thailand manufacture 1:12, 1:18, 1:24, 1:25, 1:27, 1:43, 1:31 and 1:64 scale replicas. Most models are officially licensed products, based on popular vehicles. Some models, however, are fantastical hot-rod and custom creations more in line with

12635-430: The literature on branding suggests that consumers prefer brands with personalities that are congruent with their own. Consumers may distinguish the psychological aspect (brand associations like thoughts, feelings, perceptions, images, experiences, beliefs, attitudes, and so on that become linked to the brand) of a brand from the experiential aspect. The experiential aspect consists of the sum of all points of contact with

12768-419: The logo for go.com . Unlike brand recognition, brand recall (also known as unaided brand recall or spontaneous brand recall ) is the ability of the customer retrieving the brand correctly from memory. Rather than being given a choice of multiple brands to satisfy a need, consumers are faced with a need first, and then must recall a brand from their memory to satisfy that need. This level of brand awareness

12901-405: The lower-friction wheels in 1968, this innovation was revolutionary in the industry, and—although far less effective in terms of sales impact than in 1968—was copied by the competition, who did not want to be outmaneuvered again by Mattel product strategists. In 1977, the 'Redline Wheel' was phased out, with the red lines no longer being printed on the wheels. This cut costs, but also reflected that

13034-636: The many fantastic designs Tam thought up for Hot Wheels, some of the collector's favorites include Evil Weevil (a Volkswagen Beetle with two engines), Open Fire (an AMC Gremlin with six wheels), Six Shooter (another six-wheeled car), and the rare Double Header (co-designed with Larry Wood). The year 1970 introduced " the Snake and the Mongoose ", a manufactured 'rivalry' between two professional drag racers calling themselves "the Snake" and "the Mongoose " for

13167-473: The market that the public could place just as much trust in the non-local product. Gradually, manufacturers began using personal identifiers to differentiate their goods from generic products on the market. Marketers generally began to realize that brands, to which personalities were attached, outsold rival brands. By the 1880s, large manufacturers had learned to imbue their brands' identity with personality traits such as youthfulness, fun, sex appeal, luxury or

13300-540: The marketplace that it aims to enter. It is important that if a company wishes to develop a global market, the company name will also need to be suitable in different cultures and not cause offense or be misunderstood. When communicating a brand, a company needs to be aware that they must not just visually communicate their brand message and should take advantage of portraying their message through multi-sensory information. One article suggests that other senses, apart from vision, need to be targeted when trying to communicate

13433-424: The mass manufacturing nature of the models, there are some inconsistencies and omission of finer details such as the paint application, which might be too thick or not uniform, and details that should be chrome are often painted silver. Body panels may be uneven, lights unrealistic, and the trim rather thick and gaudy. Muscle Machines magazine noted that the 1963 Dodge 330 Hemi was completely devoid of any indication of

13566-400: The minds of its consumers. Marketing-mix modeling can help marketing leaders optimize how they spend marketing budgets to maximize the impact on brand awareness or on sales. Managing brands for value creation will often involve applying marketing-mix modeling techniques in conjunction with brand valuation . Brands typically comprise various elements, such as: Although brand identity

13699-569: The modern era, the concept of branding has expanded to include deployment by a manager of the marketing and communication techniques and tools that help to distinguish a company or products from competitors, aiming to create a lasting impression in the minds of customers . The key components that form a brand's toolbox include a brand's identity, personality, product design , brand communication (such as by logos and trademarks ), brand awareness , brand loyalty , and various branding ( brand management ) strategies. Many companies believe that there

13832-446: The more commonly available Premiere and Special Edition lines. Maisto scale models in 1:18 scale usually have opening features all around with adequately appointed engines and interiors. The models have nearly perfectly proportioned bodies and usually have excellently researched detail considering models are mass-produced in the hundreds of thousands and the fact that the brand belongs to the budget category of diecast scale models. Due to

13965-556: The more expensive Franklin Mint Precision Models . By 2000, a whole host of companies like Yatming , Ertl , AUTOart and even Mattel 's Hot Wheels had entered the larger scale 1:18 fray and the market segment became more saturated and competitive. In the budget 1:18 scale category, many competitors left the market after the mid-2000s and Maisto faced little to no competition with the company moving upmarket itself with its Exclusive line of model cars featuring finer details than

14098-433: The most enduring campaigns of the 20th-century. Brand advertisers began to imbue goods and services with a personality, based on the insight that consumers searched for brands with personalities that matched their own. Effective branding, attached to strong brand values, can result in higher sales of not only one product, but of other products associated with that brand. If a customer loves Pillsbury biscuits and trusts

14231-579: The most valuable elements in an advertising theme, as it demonstrates what the brand owner is able to offer in the marketplace . This means that building a strong brand helps to distinguish a product from similar ones and differentiate it from competitors. The art of creating and maintaining a brand is called brand management . The orientation of an entire organization towards its brand is called brand orientation . Brand orientation develops in response to market intelligence . Careful brand management seeks to make products or services relevant and meaningful to

14364-423: The name 'Adventure Wheels' on all Maisto packaging with red-orange and yellow gold box and blister pack colors with black trim. Maisto produces many licensed properties that reflected contemporary promotional and industry trends. For example, it is an official licensee of Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Company. Chrysler is a big user of Maisto for promo models - one example was the offering of three different versions of

14497-549: The name of the producer. The use of identity marks on products declined following the fall of the Roman Empire . In the European Middle Ages , heraldry developed a language of visual symbolism which would feed into the evolution of branding, and with the rise of the merchant guilds the use of marks resurfaced and was applied to specific types of goods. By the 13th century, the use of maker's marks had become evident on

14630-421: The original literal sense of marking by burning—is thought to have begun with the ancient Egyptians , who are known to have engaged in livestock branding and branded slaves as early as 2,700 BCE. Branding was used to differentiate one person's cattle from another's by means of a distinctive symbol burned into the animal's skin with a hot branding iron . If a person stole any of the cattle, anyone else who saw

14763-430: The packaging that can be used to unlock web content), 12 Track Stars (formerly Track Aces ), 24 Mystery Cars (packaged on a card with an opaque blister, so the buyer cannot see which car is inside without opening it), and 24 All-Stars (formerly Open Stock ). In late 2006, a new package design for 2007 was released. Some 2006 cars and all 2007 cars are packaged on a blister card with the new design. Hot Wheels released

14896-657: The practice of branding livestock to deter theft. Images of the branding of cattle occur in ancient Egyptian tombs dating to around 2,700 BCE. Over time, purchasers realized that the brand provided information about origin as well as about ownership, and could serve as a guide to quality. Branding was adapted by farmers, potters, and traders for use on other types of goods such as pottery and ceramics. Forms of branding or proto-branding emerged spontaneously and independently throughout Africa, Asia and Europe at different times, depending on local conditions. Seals , which acted as quasi-brands, have been found on early Chinese products of

15029-473: The presence of these simple markings does not imply that mature brand management practices operated. Scholarly studies have found evidence of branding, packaging, and labeling in antiquity. Archaeological evidence of potters' stamps has been found across the breadth of the Roman Empire and in ancient Greece . Stamps were used on bricks, pottery, and storage containers as well as on fine ceramics. Pottery marking had become commonplace in ancient Greece by

15162-513: The producer's name. Roman glassmakers branded their works, with the name of Ennion appearing most prominently. One merchant that made good use of the titulus pictus was Umbricius Scaurus, a manufacturer of fish sauce (also known as garum ) in Pompeii, c.  35 CE . Mosaic patterns in the atrium of his house feature images of amphorae bearing his personal brand and quality claims. The mosaic depicts four different amphora, one at each corner of

15295-509: The product, the consumer lifestyle, and the endorser is important for the effectiveness of brand communication. Hot Wheels Hot Wheels is an American media franchise and brand of scale model cars invented by Elliot Handler and introduced by his company Mattel on May 18, 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until Mattel bought Matchbox owner Tyco Toys in 1997. Many automobile manufacturers have since licensed Hot Wheels to make scale models of their cars, allowing

15428-600: The prototypical "red line tires" popular on high-speed-rated automotive tires during the era of muscle cars and Polyglas tires were no longer popular. During this period, there was a trend away from wild hot rods and fantastic cars, and a move to more realistic cars and trucks, like the competitor Matchbox. In 1981, Hot Ones wheels were introduced, which had gold-painted hubs, and claimed to have thinner axles for greater speed, along with additional suspension compliance that older production Hot Wheels lacked. Ultra Hot Wheels were introduced in 1984, and looked something like

15561-399: The purchase came the company's old competitor Matchbox. Arguably the two dominant companies in matchbox-sized cars were now under one roof. In 1998, Mattel celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Hot Wheels brand by replicating various cars and individual packaging from its 30-year history and packaging these replicated vehicles in special 30th Anniversary boxes. In 1999, Hot Wheels Interactive

15694-619: The purposes of publicity. This was notably drag racing's first major non-automotive corporate sponsor , and the beginning of the NHRA 's booming popularity with large-budget teams and championships. 1970 also introduced the first 'Silver Series', which contained three silver-painted models: the Boss Hoss , the Heavy Chevy , and the King ' Kuda , which were only obtainable through a mail-in offer that included

15827-685: The release of 247 cars, beginning with the 2012 New Car Series which includes the Lamborghini Aventador , Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca , KITT from Knight Rider , and the ever-popular Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine . 2012 also saw the release of two vehicles from the Angry Birds video game franchise, consisting of the Red Bird and the green Minion Pig. 2013 saw the release of 250 cars including Stunt , Racing , Imagination , City , and Showroom , all of which contain sub-series. 2013 also saw

15960-550: The symbol could deduce the actual owner. The term has been extended to mean a strategic personality for a product or company, so that "brand" now suggests the values and promises that a consumer may perceive and buy into. Over time, the practice of branding objects extended to a broader range of packaging and goods offered for sale including oil , wine , cosmetics , and fish sauce and, in the 21st century, extends even further into services (such as legal , financial and medical ), political parties and people 's stage names. In

16093-406: The tracks, featuring battery-powered spinning wheels, which would propel the cars along the tracks). Hot Wheels' use of wide, hard-plastic tires created much less friction and tracked more smoothly than the narrow metal or plastic wheels used on contemporary Matchbox cars. Hot Wheels cars were designed to roll easily and at high speeds, which was a great innovation at the time. The Hot Wheels brand

16226-476: The trend. By the early 1900s, trade press publications, advertising agencies , and advertising experts began producing books and pamphlets exhorting manufacturers to bypass retailers and to advertise directly to consumers with strongly branded messages. Around 1900, advertising guru James Walter Thompson published a housing advertisement explaining trademark advertising. This was an early commercial explanation of what scholars now recognize as modern branding and

16359-772: The use of original design blueprints and detailing. Although Hot Wheels were originally intended to be children's toys, they have become popular with adult collectors, for whom limited edition models are now made available. The original Hot Wheels were made by Elliot Handler . Handler discovered his son Kenneth playing with Matchbox cars and decided to create a line to compete with Matchbox. Hot Wheels were originally conceived by Handler to be more like " hot rod " cars (i.e., customized /modified or even caricaturized or fantasy cars, often with big rear tires , superchargers , flame paint-jobs, outlandish proportions, hood blowers, etc.), as compared to Matchbox cars which were generally small-scale models of production cars. He began producing

16492-400: The way in which consumers had started to develop relationships with their brands in a social/psychological/anthropological sense. Advertisers began to use motivational research and consumer research to gather insights into consumer purchasing. Strong branded campaigns for Chrysler and Exxon /Esso, using insights drawn from research into psychology and cultural anthropology , led to some of

16625-417: The world's oldest in continuous use. A characteristic feature of 19th-century mass-marketing was the widespread use of branding, originating with the advent of packaged goods . Industrialization moved the production of many household items, such as soap , from local communities to centralized factories . When shipping their items, the factories would literally brand their logo or company insignia on

16758-404: Was a blue convertible that offered various Hot-Wheels-themed decorations throughout the car. 2014 saw 250 mainstream cars released with similar segments to 2013. Various playsets and other non-car merchandise were also released this year. 2014 also marked the end of the license agreement between Mattel and Ferrari , meaning the 2014 release of Ferrari 5 Pack would be the last for Mattel, and

16891-646: Was a dark blue " Custom Camaro ". Bradley was from the car industry and had designed the body for the (full-sized) Dodge Deora concept car and the Custom Fleetside , (based on his own customized 1966 El Camino). In addition to the cars themselves, Mattel produced a racing track set (sold separately). Though it would be updated throughout the years, the original track set consists of a series of bright orange road sections (pieced together to form an oblong, circular race track), with one (or sometimes two) "superchargers" (faux service stations through which cars passed on

17024-424: Was a staggering success. The series completely disrupted the industry for small die-cast car models from 1968 onward, forcing the competition at Matchbox and elsewhere to completely rethink their concepts, and to scramble to try to recover lost ground. Harry Bentley Bradley did not think that would be the case and had quit Mattel to go back to the car industry. When the company asked him to come back, he recommended

17157-628: Was also cut away and replaced by a full-length sunroof , to lower the center of gravity . Nicknamed the Side-loader by collectors, this was the production version of the Beach Bomb. The Rear-Loader Beach Bomb is widely considered the " Holy Grail ", or ultimate pinnacle, of a serious Hot Wheels collection. An unknown number were made as test subjects and given to employees. A regular production Beach Bomb may be worth up to $ 600, depending on condition. Market prices on RLBBs however, have easily reached

17290-431: Was launched. A new generation of Hot Wheels Designers came in. Eric Tscherne and Fraser Campbell along with former designer Paul Tam's son, Alec Tam, joined the design team. Tscherne's Seared Tuner (formerly Sho-Stopper ) graced the mainline packaging from 2000 to 2003. The Deora II , one of only two Hot Wheels concept cars ever made into full-size, functional cars, was also released this year. In 2001, Mattel created

17423-502: Was solidified and consolidated with the 1969 releases, with which Hot Wheels effectively established itself as the hottest brand of small toy car models in the USA. Splittin' Image , Torero , Turbofire , and Twin Mill were part of the "Show & Go" series and are the very first original in-house designs by Hot Wheels. The initial prototypes of the Beach Bomb were faithful to the shape of

17556-617: Was the 1995 Model Series, which included all of that year's new castings. In 1996, the Model Series was renamed to First Editions. 1995 also saw the introduction of the Treasure Hunt Series (see below). The rest of the series included four cars with paint schemes that followed a theme. For example, the Pearl Driver cars all had pearlescent paint. Sales for the series models soared with another program also introduced that year called

17689-435: Was the brand name. With the rise of mass media in the early 20th century, companies adopted techniques that allowed their messages to stand out. Slogans , mascots , and jingles began to appear on radio in the 1920s and in early television in the 1930s . Soap manufacturers sponsored many of the earliest radio drama series, and the genre became known as soap opera . By the 1940s, manufacturers began to recognize

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