About the authors of

Branding Iron

Charlie Hughes, co-author of Branding Iron, is one of the few men alive who has created a car company that’s still in business. The New York native has worked for six automakers on eleven different brands that include Cadillac, AMC, Jeep, Fiat, Lancia, Ferrari, Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen, Range Rover, Land Rover, and Mazda. He headed three different automotive marketing groups and was CEO of two auto companies.

As founder and CEO of Range Rover of North America, which became Land Rover North America, he built a car company from scratch, beginning in 1986 with an investment of $7.5 million. Eight years later, this had grown to a market value of $200,000,000.

“In the car business, being head of Land Rover was like being the owner of a four acre ranch in Texas, ”Charlie told an interviewer, “But we built one of the strongest brands in the industry and had fun doing it. We were mavericks all the way.”

In 2000, Ford Motor Company hired Charlie as president and CEO of Mazda North American Operations. There, he revitalized the Mazda image and repositioned the brand in the crowded US market. When he arrived at Mazda, Charlie found a company with over $5 billion in sales but no profit. It was also lost in the marketplace. Mazda made a profit in his first year and a larger profit in his second—during the most cut-throat-discount market in modern memory.

Today, Charlie heads a marketing consulting consortium, Brand Rules. As its founding president, he describes the firm’s mission simply: “In an over-branded marketplace, we help you learn what sets you and your company apart...and how to cut yourself out ofthe herd.”

Mississippi native William Jeanes, co-author of Branding Iron, has spent the last three decades closely associated with the auto industry. A graduate of Millsaps College and a former Lieutenant in the US Navy, his first writing job was as feature editor at Car and Driver.

After three years at C/D, he left to become a copywriter at Campbell-Ewald (Chevrolet’s ad agency). He became an associate creative director and after two years moved to SSC&B:Lintas in New York (now Lowe & Partners). He remained there for five years, becoming a senior vice president and gained experience in packaged goods advertising and marketing. In 1982,he moved to J. Walter Thompson/Detroit as a senior vice president and director ofthe Ford Division account. There, he learned first-hand the research, marketing, and advertising decision-making processes at a majorauto company.

He quit JWT in 1985 and returned to writing.His writing has appeared in a score of the world’s automotive publications and in Sports Illustrated, American Heritage, Smithsonian Air & Space, Playboy, Parade, and The New York Times.

In 1987, he became editor-in-chief of Car and Driver. He led C/D to a million-plus circulation and made it the envy of the industry. During his six years as editor, he appeared regularly on “CBS This Morning” as its automotive expert, and his radio commentary on Detroit’s WJR reached 19 states each week. In 1993, he became a senior vice president and group publisher at Hachette Filipacchi Magazines.

Despite rising revenues, William forsook publishing to become the founding editor of Classic Automobile Register. Later, at American Media, he founded Auto World Weekly, the first US automotive magazine aimed directly at new-vehicle buyers.