Macro-Level Trends - UK Industrial Strategy - Manufacturing Culture.

The effective production of 'Culture' - in the broad sense - inevitably sits on a spectrum that ranges from Cultural Pastiche through to Cultural Appropriation.

It operates in seemingly all fields and Britain has been a past master; in its efforts to appear both timeless (via pastiche) and current (via re-appropriation).

So whilst the then jobbing Venetian 'star-chitect' Palladio may have re-invented the rustic Italian farmhouse in the Neo-Classical manner in the 16th century, the style itself drew greatest appreciation when applied to the 18th century grandiose Manor Houses built across Britain.

That Palladian facade adopted yet again by Rolls and Royce in the early 20th century upon the original 'Manchester Works' 10 - 30 hp models and most famously on the Derby Works 'Silver Ghost'.

As with any super-power of any period, Britain - as with the Dutch previously and Americans latterly - had recognised the enormity of Cultural 'Soft-Power' when seeking global influence.

Such efforts continued via mass media of radio, with of course the BBC World Service of 1932 reboosted in 2016 with various new Sub-Saharan African tribal languages to maintain a worldwide reach and influence.

But more than simply speaking the local language and dialect, all soft-power players have sought to be seen to lead the spread of that which can be regarded as 'High Culture'.

 The very recent Cardiff Singer of the World Competition seeks to do just that. Wherein St David's Hall itself acts as a centrifugal hub for increasingly diverse nationalities and ethnicities. A young Chinese opera singers able to echo the distant voices once heard Italian, German, Austrian and French Opera Houses to an ever increasing worldwide audience, and without being type-cast as Turandot or Liu (as Anna May Wong had been).

The world is today their oyster as more old and new opera houses seek increased diversity to create their own out-reach programmes into the BRICS, CIVETS and Pioneer regions.

Thus Internationalist High Culture is constantly re-manufactured by all to their own advantage. And whereas the opera buffo 'Il Turco in Italia' was once a tainted slight from Italy toward Turkey, it is now regarded as useful diplomatic linchpin.

Today, in a world increasingly cynical of the broadspread and homogenous, for Wales it is the very essence of being small that allows it to momentarily put its own language front of stage. Its own niche historic authenticity gives it an inverted gravitas (yet definitely not inverted snobbery).

So, whilst in our media-saturated, digitally pluggin-in zeitgeist, the fame of The Eisteddfod has shrunk across Britain to largely only well known in Wales (and ironically Argentine Patigonia - where yesteryear settlers migrated), Cardiff Singer of the World operates as an international beacon of High Art.

And as we subsume into the digitally driven Industry 4.0, in which the manufacture of culture plays such an important role, it is humourosly ironic that the name of one TV presenter Josie D'Arby (female and black), echoes the name Joseph Derby (male and white), the 19th century painter who with absolute virtuosity depicted the science and manufacturing might behind the first Industrial Revolution.

That serendipitous juxtaposition may raise a simple smile, but it harks to a future world increasingly devoid of the identity politics that has wrought so much harm, a world where female and black, and white and male, (vice-versa, or any other ethnic combination) need not be set against eachother as socio-political foes.

And as if to highlight the very notion of Manufacturing Culture,  it was enthusing to hear a singer and guest-speaker Rebecca Evans use the automotive metaphors of Ferraris and Lamborghinis when describing the raw power of the voice. Just as it is often said that certain  engines - not just Colombo's V12s - are operatic.

The small town of St Athen, near Cardiff, recently saw Aston Martin's first pre-production DBX model roll-off the line. And no doubt Wales's 4th generation Italians will be delighted when the new Lagonda EV appears; given the brand's obfiscated Latin-Italian derivation; (from La Gondola and romance of buoyed and easy travel over Venetian waterways).

Birmingham may have once had more miles of canals than Venice, but it is Wales that has 'la voce'....eh Sir David and Sir Tom?

Now this all may seem rather esoteric, but the fact is that culture is born from materialism, and materialism is born from culture.

This very well explained over the centuries, from Thorstein Veblen's 1899 work today re-titled as 'Conspicuous Consumption', to the observations of Roland Barthes when equating the wonderment of the Citroen DS to that of a Gothic Cathedral, to the efforts of Jacques Derrida and Jean Baudrillard expanding insight into 'Semiotics' (the study of non-linguistic physical signifiers).

In essence tribal codification, that runs across all societies and increasingly blended; from the 'colours' or chosen branding of an youth street gang..... to the obviously visible age-worn cuffs, shirt collar or jacket by the notional intellectual who displays an inverted snobbery....to long since in the mainstream, the blending of both signifiers by the specific colour, fit and 'distress' of a new pair of jeans made to look old.

For decades if not centuries and eons, mankind has been Manufacturing Culture and Re-Manufacturing Culture; from the wooden spirit masks of byegone Pacific Islanders and African Tribes to the re-imaginings of those totems in the 20th century by the likes of Picasso; and later featured in TV adverts when he himself became a brand.

And well illustrated by the original experimental Expressionism of Vincent van Gogh, through to its deployment as a Cultural Signifier itself on a series Louis Vuitton handbags.

These sold as knowing pastiche for those who wish simultaneously display humouristic self-mockery whilst also enjoying the adoration of others in the know, or not in the know, but without the money to join the exclusive clique.
The psychology of modern materialism runs rings around itself and its avid consumers.

[NB the nuances of hyper-materialism, inverted snobbery and much between always well depicted by the FT's Weekend Magazine's 'Wry Society' column.
A great panacea of a world awash in trends and one-up(wo)manship].

Music, Language, Clothing and other levers of visual and audible social signification, invariably see the niche expanded to mainstream, because when previously niche the specific look or brand reflected specific  associations, whether from social set or technical superiority or invariably a construct of the two; as we saw in the 1980s with German car marques.

But what is interesting is the way that once 'top-down' social signification that is still present, as per the middle-class Boating shoes that never step foot on a boat, or the Aston Martin grille grafted onto mainstream Fords; has long been accompanied by the counter-point of 'bottom-up' trends.

Designer label clothes brands utilising 'urban' fashions to create new more affordable off-shoot sub-brands. Or the way originally subversive Street Art has been incorporated into their retail settings.

The worst elements of urban inner-city centres extracted and the best clinicised into the essence and made hyper-real. In Los Angeles, Compton is re-imagined on Rodeo Drive, whilst in London the once decrepit Kingsland Road is recast as the Kings Road.

And of course the trend of Hybridisation continues, not simply in the powertrains of vehicles, but long seen in much of the fashion world; from impractical crystal-laden Wedge-healed Designer Trainers, to Military Parker coats depicting delicate hand-embroidery.

To keep all levels of the fashion industries going, inspiration must be had from everywhere, forever playing with various complementary and opposing combinations.

But is this fashion-led trend for numerous multiplicities simply a social veneer, or in an on-demand, visually-led cyber-society, was it a precursor to a 'pick and mix' existance, whereby the once Grande Narratives have ended once and for all?

Or, as seems so, do the Grande Narratives continue to adapt (as per the BBC's output, 'British' Opera and the Royal Family) to lead our changing world?

And to what degree by evolutionary or more radical transformation.

These the obvious Cultural compasses that delineated Britishness.
But what of the less immediately obvious, but but more invisibly powerful that increasingly melds the physically manufactured world, as we've known it to date, with the cyber-space realms of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality.

To be part of that future - given the immense popularity of on-line Games Watching - certain Formula One race teams took the step of creating an on-line championship that have made a crop of young people effective celebrities in their right. As to whether they eventually move into the real machines remains highly debateable; but what has emerged has been The seed of a parallel universe, that complements the original.

The same of a new crop of female racing drivers in the 2019 W-Series, long after names like Michelle Mouton in ARC rallying. And the breakthrough of women's football presently seen in the WWC in France 2019. And inevitably likewise for those physically less able, who through new scientific prosthetics and Bio-Smart cyber-assistance will be able to do what previously could not or would not be done.

The arrival of Marshal McLuhan's "global village" was previously recognised by investment bankers, Corporate Boards and Politicians alike, as that watershed era evolved from enabling Capitalism was just as monumental for commerce as for the uplifted populations. The multiplicity of digital media and Big Data capture, meant that what was Niche  or barely visible had become a more easily identified as simply a Sub-Set of the overall expanded Mainstream.

Previously this web-log highlighted the how the Governmental White Paper on Industrial Strategy sought to simplistically relay the primary 'Challenges' and so opportunities that Britain and much of the rest of the Developed and Developing world faces.

Within an entrenched cyber-age, much of that seeks to utilise the generation and capture of Big Data so as to drive the Internet of Things to meet those main themes, from Ageing to Mobility to Clean Energy, to creation of a Circular Economy, and else besides.

The renewed importance of Eco-Engineering far beyond the 1970s version as described by Victor Papanak et el, to now become married to an expanding Electric and Digital Infrastructure so as to produce Smart Products. Products that could theorectically span all facets of people's physical and psychological lives.

From Autonomous Cars (giving the elderly and infirm new independence, aswell as becoming component parts of an efficient multi-modal transport network) to 'Robo-Pets' (far more sophisticated adult version of the old Tamagotchi) for those on their own who want an pseudo-emotional connection.  

Hence, given the digital advances seen over the last 3 decades, Industry 4.0 promises to offer much, from Energy Use Efficiences to slow Global Warming, to 'Robot Relatonships' (starting with 'Digital Assistants such as 'Alexa') for what appears singulary positive uni-directional Emotional Attachment to the familiar and that which serves our needs. (Thus without the negatives and 'psychological trauma' of real sub-standard human relationships).

Whether those cyber-enabled promises as perceived actually come to fruition awaits to be seen. But let us not be naive or ignorant of ultimate possible social isolation even in a MegaCity and electronic systems dependency.

[Graham Greene's novel 'The Machine Stops' depicts such a distopian world of e-connected single occupant pods, devoid of physical human relations and any interaction with nature...until the machine itself malfunctions and stops].

Massively costly and disruptive Grand Scheme Infrastructures, (the likes of which rarely appear in Britain unless built into a New Town Plan), have never been successful; so it is short-sighted to believe Tomorrow's World arrives in short transition. It was tried in the 1970s (eg Birmingham's Bull Ring Area) and that 'Future' was only made all the more ridiculous by an aftermath of local industry and so local economic stagnation and decline.

Thus, as shown previously, invariably better to base and create national, regional and global technical progress upon 'Rational Futurism' tied to a reality of well established practical and psychological needs.

As the country seeks its own New Future, better to get there through many achievable small steps that make fundamental differences to the quality of life, rather than the rhetoric of overtly theorectical 'high-impact/low-probability' socio-economic 'Moonshots'; that are more akin to yesteryear Sci-Fi comics.

Let the Chinese and Japanese develop the magnetically levatating Maglev train to overcome rail friction, and let the Californians develop the vacuum-based Vactrain to overcome drag;; both China and the USA are immense land masses. And once HS2 is completed at enormous cost, it will deliver little comparative gain over todays train travel times.

The same reasoning about the application of future innovation needs to be applied in all aspects of life, a Cost/Benefit Analaysis from State level down to that of the individual.

When is New Invention truly required to meaningfully re-invourgate, and when should evolutionary Improvement be retained as the expected norm?
For the most part the future path of Britain's Future Industrial Strategy is in the balanced hands of seasoned industrialists and Whitehall stewards, who well recognise the role that macro-economics of the State has upon the micro-economics of the Firm and Households.

As to how many truly experienced and insightful people play such roles is unknown, but there may need to be a stronger connection between intelligent national and regional planning and nation focused corporate strategy and budgeting.

Britain should never again experience the painful and disasterous negotiations seen at the time between BMW and Whitehall in the mid 1990s over Rover Group. Yet that is potentially being played-out again to a lesser degree regards German and Japanese Automotive FDI issues today. Then it was about the strength of Stirling, today it is about Brexit and possible trade tariffs, barriers and a devalued Stirling, which raised the cost of imported materials, components and sub-assemblies.

The depth of reasoned, joined-up thinking behind Rational Futurism needs to in principle span much that is technical. From leading Research Centres such as the Warwick Manufacturing Group, to Start-Ups such as Grenadier (4x4), to New-Sector Entrants such as Dyson (Premium EV) or Gordon Murray's T-series City cars, to Segment Expanders (such as Aston Martin's Lagonda (Premium EV), or the large foreign multi-nationals that steer their own paths and in doing so are such large FDI Providers when necessary, such as TATA Motors (Jaguar Land Rover) or PSA (Vauxhall) today during the recent TIV sales slowdown.

And of course beyond Autos, there are other industrial sectors based around mobility that can utilise the accuracy and efficiencies by data driven cyber-enabled efficiencies, together with Advanced Eco-Propulsion methods and reduced energy use advantages of strong and lightweight Advanced Materials. From Agriculture (field yield maximisation to anaerobic  composting for bio-fuels) to Defence (robot vehicles deployed beyond present mine-clearing, to permanent use at 'The Front-line', 'On Patrol' and in Logistics).

The White Paper's National Industrial Strategy suggests much - far beyond mobility - to regenerate socio-economic improvement.

It encompasses Health (Pharmaceuticals, Bio-Engineering etc), Eco-Construction (through various methods), Eco-Living (our own carbon foot-prints), Food Production and Security (per grains, dairy and meats), Re-cycling (Waste Reduction and Repair to Re-Purposing), Advanced Manufacturing for Mass-Customisation (3D printing deployed for much between surgical implants, to re-manufacture of yesteryear componnets for classic cars or machine parts and 3D scanning and cutting for perfect fit, 'robo-tailored' clothes).

This is then involves all that is Material, all that is tangible; but it is also obviously all that creates a Culture.

By its very nature, it is Manufacturing Culture.

To re-state,, what is now called the Culture Industry has been with us effectively from the beginning of human existance. It was critical to creation and maintaining social structure; most obviously seen by the Egyptian (and other) pyramids, and seen 4,000 years later with today's internet-spread Culture Wars between Left and Right, and idealised cultural multiplicity versus pragmatic cultural unification.

It spans every dimension of life; from the sound-bites that 'earworm' their ways into people's minds (fro yesteryear comedic catchphrases to today's ideological memes).....to the words invented/re-ivented to create sub-texts for specific groups (so creating their own new sub-cultures).....to the clothing, cars and buildings that are created in retro, mainstream or progressive manners, influenced by culture but also massively influencing national and international culture.

Mainstream culture is of course the dominant culture. And that typically and inevitably comprises of slowly absorbed aspects of the new to become influential (to varying degrees) the slowly evolving and adopted norm.

Again to re-state, for much of history mass adoption was that of top-down (ie mimicry of the elite) right up to the death of Queen Victoria. Thereafter, whilst lifetyle aspiration still played a large par for those wishing to be viewed as such at what ever true level (1910s Cordings to 1980s Laura Ashley), the rise of Youth inspired Popular Culture from the 1950s onward, forever altering as each clique and generation sought its own specific idenity.

The obvious late 20th century example being the influx of urbanite sportswear; and the obvious paradox and irony being the way in which expensive designer sportswear has become so prolific, in the bid to be perceived as having greater social value because of premium branding; and the rise of fake 'Pirate' immitions, whose own quality has had to become good to appear convincing to be bought. So raising the question, why a very good quality fake, should not be considered almost as good as the real item?

[NB the irony again being that the creation of quality fakes also creates a skills-base that can be bought by a Designer Label firm when seeking international production expansion].

And though seen as a late 20th century phenomina, that trend toward informality actually started at the beginning of the 20th century amongst the Nouvaeu-Riche, when the American 3-piece suit overtook formal 'Coats'  and when  sports orientated clothes from Tennis, Cricket and Rowing ('Whites'- Jumpers, Trousers) became increasingly de-rigeur to inform the world that a person (male and female) was of the 'leisure class'.

That Oxbridge and Ivy League connected informality was later regenerated as the open-collar shirt and chinos in the early 1990s in Tech-ville, California, which formed the adoption of 'dress down Friday' in so many wanna-be progressive organisations to appear 'Tech-hip'.

And with that continued globalisation, BRIC countries and beyond the younger generations were became 'Codification-Consumers' of their supposed success, from drinking a costly Starbucks drink, to unisex Dockers pants or a 'hand-finished' (not hand-made bespoke) suit to 'any size fits' assortment of BMWs / Audi's / Porsche's, from iPods and iPhones to AppleWatches. All the while job titles became ever more self-inflated and grandiose, until the terms V-P were applied to any middle-ranking manager to attract or keep him/her and the term CEO was self-applied to a one person Start-Up for any one of a million ephemeral 'solutions' or trends.
Global Capitalism became writ-large by efforts to replicate the US West-Coast Entrepreneurialism whose success enabled purchase of Euro-premium products. By the early 2000s, that idiom had become the global mainstream, from San Francisco bay with new Apps based start-ups, to Bombay with much expanded IT Service firms .
And whilst there was the obviously notional Counter-Culture between the 1950s - 1990s, the 1980s Green Entrepreneurs (Anita Roddick et al) meant that corporates had seen the value of 'Shifting Left' almost 3 decades ago, to diversify the workplace, create new consumers from ethnic groups and create the apparent values-driven friendly products and services they sell.

It all meant that what had been an under-current of a possible 'Radical Left' was effectively absorbed into the everyday and became a satiated, satisfied consumer.

As Slavoj Zizek has been saying for years, the 'values moulded' person readily mentally buys into the corporate do-gooding story (eg FairTrade coffee to Charity sponsorhip, the banning of plastic straws or a purchase tax put onto a once free plastic bag so as to 'Save the Planet' (whilst also reducing Overhead costs).

And whilst the zeitgeist is that of "multi-culturalism", it's notion per skin-tone, ethnic background, religion or gender-identity; the apparent diversity of multi-culturalism is channelled into what is in reality normative consumerism and social codification.
And that is the only possible way the social spehere can operate without constant friction since it needs behavioural synergies (norms) for people of different backgrounds and experiences to operate in any kind of harmonious way.

[NB that said, there is still immense friction between different ethnic groups amongst the poorest and wealthiest. For the poor it becomes quickly obvious. For the rich, masked in socialised hyprocrasy  but seen in nepotism and inevitable 'quid pro quo' social interaction].

What is interesting, though not in the edicts of the Industrial Strategy White Paper, yet very pertinent to Britain's place in the world - more than ever after the Brexit Party's EU Parliament seat Wins - is the way Britain now sits outwardly to that world as beyond  atypical White and Christian, so as to reflect the Emerging and Rising nations amongst the Rest of the World.

So, whilst questions regards Britain's Industrial Future are being asked and moulded via new inventions and innovations developed, the answers sought are inevitably connected to  the Culture Industry.

The example of the re-invigorated Rolls Royce and Bentley marques pandering to their newer Arab, Russian and Chinese customers over the last 20 years, aswell as re-connecting with their traditional British, American and European clients, illustrates the dynamic perfectly.

Increasingly Bespoke commissioned cars that meld both British and Foreign National visual identities and cultural stories; from allusion to Arabic Pearl Diving in dash-panel marquetry and exterior paintwork to Chinese Lacquers and Motifs. Whilst the latest R-R Phantom has an 'Art Gallery' situated in the dashboard; so that clients can commission artworks from an array of brand-sanctioned artists that seek to merge British cues and inspirations, with other foreign cultural connotations, or simply focus on the centrality of Britishness as a time-proven cultural export.

As regards that Global Outlook, Britain appears essentially focused upon China, India, Middle East and  Africa; aswell as Australia as a regional springboard.whilst the USA looks to Central-South America, Africa; aswell the strategically important Japan and Pacific Rim.

So, whilst the larger indigenous population of both USA and Britain have for years decried wave after wave of immigration from (respectively) Mexico, Asia and India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and latterly Eastern Europe, (and whilst much of the US is still realistically 'black' and 'white' living very different lives), the fact is that much of the West's future growth path relies upon the growth paths of EM nations; given the West's own aged, comparitively more poorly productive and heavily debt-induced (ie non-wealth creating) societies.

The true economic future has long been recognised as outside of the West, and long before Jim O'Neil mentioned the 'BRIC' economies when at GS.

It was plain to see by the British public when China's SAIC bought Rover and NAG bought MG (for the press tools, 'Blueprints'), when India's TATA Motors bought JLR (for eventual domestic duplication of engineering prowess aswell as premium brands), why Unilever and other FMCGs adopted the early phase sales ploys seen years ago in poorer  'DM' countries and applied them to decliningb'AM' countries, whilst with 'global convergence' growing product selections and sizes in 'EM' countries; and why Boeing created the more recent Alliance with Embraer (to grow USA-Brazilian reciprical FDI, have access to cheaper Engineering Development rates, and gain Latin American airline and military contracts).

Thus, in a 'Converging World' there is an obvious need for distinct in-house and Alliance merged Marketing Strategies and Technical Transfers.
But what of the very essence of Culture?

America, the UK and Europe have of course for decades been exporting various forms of local culture though radio, film, TV  and the internet.

Disney and the BBC long ago became 'worldwide- players promoting a vast plethora of characters, news channels and magazine programmes. Whilst BT sought to stretch its reach to Australia to be able to offer cable services in the late 1990s.
Virtually all Hollywood movies have been shown worldwide (exempting old Communist blocs) since the 1930s and 1940s, with Super Heroes and similar scripts regurgitated time and again, whilst that is British from Fleming's James Bond to Mr Bean to Harry Potter to Downton Abbey to  JRR Tolkein's The Hobbit.

Thus American output typically seen as populist, escapist and comedic whilst British output is seen as rooted in either high-class intrigue (even if inverted for comedy effect) or more high-brow literature-born moralistic tropes.

All well and good, and internationally amongst EM countries, since often starved of any or decent local populist output - much has been devoured both visually on screen and audibly through music, from Glenn Miller and his 'Big Band' to Glenn Close and her 'Fatal Attraction'.

Yet seen from today, such musical and cinema omnipotence seems a long time ago, and whilst undoubtedly Western Culture Industries have maintained global reach, the rise of  national and local productions elsewhere by the late 1980s, prompted a re-think about the Cultural Relationship between the West and the Rest.

What had been very fringe 'hippy music' (ie World Music) became increasingly heard to Anglo ears, whether Paul Simon's 1986 Graceland- so raising the international profile of Ladysmith Black Mambazo - or a decade later in 1996 the Cuban sounds of Buena Vista Social Club.

Although for exploratory and ultimately money-making reasons, the Music Industry was at its fringes connecting the West with either unknown, overlooked or forgotten music  from other nations and ethnicities, it was recognising the depth and breadth of other musical cultures.

The same had happened in the Fine Arts previously with Gaugin portraying Pacific Islanders or Picasso re-interpreting African forms. But unlike the small gallery viewings and high price tags, World Music was (if only very periodically) entering the mainstream of popular radio and the music dedicated MTV channel.  

Yet this was all happening through what was ostensibly American routes as part of its soft-power efforts.

(NB Highly likely as knowing precursors to a) the abandonment of Apartheid in South Africa and the eventual opening-up of Cuba after the fall of Soviet Communism and the death of Castro).

Yet Britain - compared to was arguably in the slow-lane of such all too few efforts. The closest it came to in the 1980s was John Peel's late night BBC1 radio programme that influenced music afficianados. Whilst very localised efforts had been made since the late 1960s for very specific minority audiences, on late night slots, It was not until the late 1990s that such special interest magazine programmes were developed for specific minorities (eg Asian Network, 1976-2002, local radio and regional radio, 2002 on national radio)        

That said, the change in broadcast geographic coverage only really reflected the socio-economic change of Asians, growing wealthier and moving outside Leicester etc into nicer neighbourhoods. And similarly was really only of interest to that ethnic group.

In London and other major cities, what had been unofficial 'pirate' radio stations of amateur broadcasters became formalised, as local sponsors became involved to buoy and grow profiles, with what became partly formalised radio-stations from the 1990s on, offering music and debate from the immigrant's homeland.

[NB the effects were obviously good and bad: maintaining cultural identity but also maintaining the social rifts of homeland problems regards opposing cultures. The problems of 1947 India and Pakistan and 1960s-1970s Cyprus replicated again by the Balkan nations in the 1990s until today.

Many immigrants, first and second generation never left their animosity behind, and retained in, and actually fermented it in, their national culture, even though in another country and generations later].

The coming of satellite TV allowed for more immediate contact with their homelands, accompanying and substituting what had been dedicated weekly and daily newspapers. News then from 'the horses mouth' regards typically the problems and issues there, which all too often (in Europe through the 1990s and 2000s) reflected the property price gains and consumeristic lifestyles of infrastructure and new enterprise spending from governments weaned on what was to become the EU 'sovereign crisis' credit bubble. Balanced with ever more liberal (ie sexualised) entertainment programmes, ironically offset by earnest debates and religious programmes.  

Thus for decades - beyond the Asian Network (given Britain's previous colonial attachment to India) -  no formal policy setting was created, allowing lassez-faire approach to the issue and growth of Ethnicity.

This likely because:
1. The UK based immigrant populations had little wealth / influence (with few esceptions)
2. The specific Mediteranean countries were too small to bother with
3. The Asian countries had yet to start to realise their potential and open-up to British FDI.

Hence, without impetus or prompt, for many decades from the 1950s onward, the topic of global markets had disintegrated with the end of Colonialism and the uncertainty of the Commonwealth. After country by country Independence (from Asia to Africa and into the Carribean, the Land Rovers, Morris's, Austins, Rovers and Jaguars that were at first bought as goodwill gestures by new governments or as Consular vehicles diminished. Often replaced by 'homegrown' CKD vehicles - as part of Import Substition policy - for which the British had to tender.

And as such economies grew and faltered from the 1950s onward - typically with commodity under-capacity, then over-investment and so over-capacity for wavering export markets and so currency crisis - so their own attempts at fast-paced or misconceived industrialisation faltered in turn.  

Thus, quite obviously without integrala and permanent trade relations, Britain (and likewise the USA and European countries) dipped in and out of such 2nd world entities. Such countries blamed the Advanced world for not regulating domestic demand well enough to stabilise international demand for commodities and part-finished goods and so diplomatic relations for decades were loose and on/off.

Without any real imperative, Western governments saw no or little reasons to support any kind of ethno-cultural flourishment within its own borders for typically a small ethnic population, of little material consequence either at home or (often as willing migrants) abroad.

That in part has changed in the last 20 years - especially so concerning the yet further Anglicised Anglo-Indian and Anglo-Afro-Carribean communities, and latterly the the relatively fewer Anglo-Asian communities.

Since the mid 1990s more and more ethnic voices and faces have appeared on radio, TV and film, with the very obvious intention of commercially re-connecting with those EM countries, regions and continents.

Whether that be to set-up new factories in China (eg Hornby and so many others), to attract FDI (as stated) or to produce media programming for export in both English and/or dubbed into the national or local language.

That's why so much from the BBC's Eastenders and Holby City have had an increasing ethnic mix in the cast members, why News slots have more diverse Newscasters, why daytime quiz shows see more and more Afro-Carribean and Indian or Pakistani participants; why ITV's and Channel 4's programming has been much more 'inclusive' and very specifically why each channels high ratings Talent Shows have so many black entrants (seeking their own way to fame).

And perhaps more obviously given greater direct international interaction, why many Premier League, Championship League, League One and League Two football teams have so much ethnic diversity.

Firstly to grow the international viewing audience for UK football by creating domestic player interests, and secondly to, with return of such players, improved footballing standards of those specific EM countries so as to create a growing meaningul football economy.

None of what has been enablers and promoters of 'Diversity', (ie proactive ethnic  placement) which supports local interest from immigrant communities at the home stadium and promotes British football viewing and so commercial demand abroad.
The soft-power capabilities of the UK, so as to become relavant to the EM World - have been operating well for the last 2 decades.

Yes the BBC operating as a .co.uk entity increasingly illustrates its worldwide commercial agenda, as does ITV, Channel 4 and the myriad of other channels designed to create an advertising platform in the UK and to be sold abroad as packaged programming unde rthe guise of a specific brand; whether old drama and comedy series or newer specialist idioms targeted at specific interests groups (eg old classic motorcycles and cars). Or the manner in which the likes of QVC expanded from the USA, soon into the UK, Germany, Japan, Italy, France, China (with CNR), will inevitably expand into the feasibly remaining EM global space organically or via alliances.

But can more be done to export (even what might seem and formulaic) specifically British Culture, and 'Hybridised Culture' beyond what we've established already?
Or does Internationalism inevitably equal an increasingly non-descript mono-culture of global brands that occupy a specific market space? After all the near clone-like visual designs of much of todays premium products - from Apple products to varioulsy sized Range-Rover's - sell on what they represent, can do and assisted by much Technical Marketing to support the premium standing.

Or has the recent greater comparative success of Samsung in the smartphone market demonstrated that everything has an innate price elasticity and subsititional product?

And to that end, does Britain have as much of an International Identity as it previously did? And is it in itself a tradable commodity of quality and superior perfomance; as it once was for Land Rovers in the 1950s and Range Rovers in the 1970s?

es, Rolls Royce Motor Cars to Bentleys to Harris Tweed to the world class Engineering Services of Rolls Royce Aero (and much else) represent 'the Best of British'. But what stops the continual improvement by EM nations regards in nigh-on direct replication and betterment? The Japanese did it tol British elemotorcycles, motorcycles and mainstream cars; just as the Koreans have to the Japanese in the electronics and infotainment content in the automotive realm. And just as the Chinese and Russians have done in creating their own Rolls-Royce interpretations in 2009 and a decade later in 2019....not there yet, but with strategic aim to do so.

Britain can and does capitalise on its soft-power Culture Industries, from the repackaging of old TV shows into new formats for cheap export sales to high art time consuming film-making for those who appreciate quirkiness and character.

And Britain obviously capitalises on its Service Industries, from advanced micro-chip developments by the likes of ARM to the creation of iconic skyscrapers and eco-cities by the likes of Foster and Partners.

But even as the imagineers and creators, should it simply stand 'behind the scenes' of what is done for others in their own national image, or should Britain seek to formulate its own international standing in other countries.

The fleet of purple London Taxis ordered for Baku in 2012 effectively transposed the heart of London into Azerbaijan for the then Eurovision Song Contest. (Itself an EU soft-power exercise to stretch its own influence).

And whilst China's Thamestown sought to replicate all that is British (and other countries), it was overtly hyper-realistic, almost 'Toon-Town like'  in its execution.
Britain - the home of the Industrial Revolution (1.0), and originator in so much that build the modern world from early wrought and cast iron and then Bessimer-process early steel structures through to float-process expansive plate glass. From compact transverse FWD cars to commercialisation of cross-Channel hovercrafts. From a delta-wing, speed of sound passenger aircraft (with France as industrial partner) to advanced crystal-blade jet engines, from the deconstruction of DNA to construction of the internet.

Britain must consider long and hard about how it should self-seed and shape its innate national character, with at its heart a more comprehensive and insightful plan for innovation and invention within domestic and international alliance frameworks.

To better appreciate what should be a recognisable manifestation of Britishness across the world for the 21st century.

The Germanic Bauhaus was recast as 'Internationalist' when it was popularised from Chicago to Brazilia; but that was a manifesto of Modernism and radical shift, in design aswell as typically Republicanism.

Clearly Britain does not seek to cast an ideology, no formulaic industrial style to reflect a shift in the times. The Lessons from Colonialism that in India saw mid-Victorian cottages and houses of the British-Raj in Shimla and Pondicherry and the building of 'Lutyens Delhi' will never again be repeated.

Yet so much more has been culturally planted there and elsewhere, even with a previous tide ofAnti-Colonialism led by the likes of Gandhi and Tagore, from now preserved Morris Oxfords reborn as Hindustan Ambassadors as the heart of the yesteryear taxi fleet, to obviously Cricket and a recognition of how India (and other colonies) was systemised to assist economic output, efficiency and people's quality of life.

And with that improvement went the traditional Saville Row suit, in cut, quality and durability, and the notion of professionalism and officiousness. India's Nehru would contrast that with his own Communist infleunced Mao-like suit. But through cultural appropriation in a very short time, the pop group The Beatles would adopt the Nehru suit with a Mop Top by the mid 1960s.

And because music was and is such a culturally influential medium, the Beatles would relay a new youthful spirit for Britain by fusing the old and formal with the new and informal, as part of the Counter-Culture of the period. As seen on the cover of the Sgt. Pepper album, formal antique military clothing  from shops like 'Lord Kitchener's Valet' would be juxtaposed with psychodelic graphics, so as to create what today are termed 'Mash-Ups'.

That spirit of amalgamaton and re-invention was as obviously seen with John Lennon's psychodelic-painted Rolls Royce Phantom V and his likewise re-painted Radford-Mini Cooper.

Those vehicles at the time were the archetypes of Engineering Excellence and Engineering Innovation. Yet also themselves depicting a veneer (near marquetry) of juxtaposed cultural infuences; from Japanese to Tibetan iconography.

Some years ago the old Top Gear team enacted a 'diplomatic mission' to India with a Mini, Rolls-Royce and Jaguar. It had its own manufactured faux-pas, to play down the past and so its own charm; having team's characters mimic more of Wallace and Grommit's lovable and cooperative values, than those of the Victorian names engraved on weather-worn statues and memorials.

And yesterday, the current Top Gear (Harris, McGuinnes and Flintoff) had the Director and Star of the new film 'Yesterday' (centred on Beatles discography) as guests for the 'Star in a Car' lap-time spot. That film itself is - whilst no doubt highly enjoyable - also an obvious soft-power mechanism by Britain to retain strong relations with the likes of India, in a world that long ago shifted Eastwards.

Yet arguably it was John Lennon - by virtue of his own naivete and authenticity for a better world - that had inadvertently (or as a power-play pawn) achieved more to open the eyes of British public to what was then a still highly exotic and (surface seen) humanely driven values-system that at the time of Korea and Viet Nam appeared more alive in the esoteric Far East .

When viewed from both physical and metaphysical angles, Lennon's cars offer might be the simplistic iconic totems  that today enthuses Britain to once  again meld excellence, innovation and 'glocal' cultural sensitivity on the global stage.

Now able to deploy the methods from all four Industrial Revolutions.

From economically feasible specialist low-batch aluminium-alloy smelting reflective of Industry 1.0. Scalable  manufacture of DFM high value goods in Industry 2.0. The ongoing deployment of IT and robotics for intelligent/reconfigurable manufacture. To now the big-data sets that span many activities from product marketing research for a singular product, to the enormous infrastruture efficiencies and so energy gains.

The world-wide-web essentially created the 'Global Village' that John Lennon and Yoko Ono craved (and helped sell Japanese transistor radios).

His big Roller and little Mini had mystical symbolism painted all over them.
Yet because they were such great evocations of 'Engineering and Spirit', they still today offer the mindset that should lead Britain's now globally focused Industrial Strategy.


 

Business Opportunities - Re-Invention of a Military Icon - The Premium Humvee ?

The passing of the 75th D-Day Memorial together with the RAF Flypast for Queen Elizabeth's Official Birthday (spanning Chinook to Eurofighters to 'Red Arrows' BAe Hawks), provided  for a sense of Britishness rarely seen for years, but becoming more apparent as Brexit provides the backdrop for nationalist re-emergence.

For a moment, from a distant vantage point, the sight of the Chinook and Puma (with its load doors open and little 'bubble-nose') had the momentary appearence of Chinook and accompanying Bell-Huey, a sight straight out of the Viet Nam war.

The Royal Household Cavalry were in attendance for Trooping of the Colour (rather than the 'Air Cav' and 'Ride of the Valkeries') and the weather was glorious for all; whether stood on The Mall or peering through the TV screen.

But beyond the Pageantry, 'Pomp and Circumstance', the existence of the military hardware demonstrated the manner in which Britain partners with its international allies when ordering and developing service aircraft - the Chinook from the US and Puma from France. The flypast illustrated as much about international entente-cordial as that of respect for the Monarchy.

(NB the fascinating thing about the Chinook is that it is expected - with development upgrades - to span a century of operational service, up until 2060. The very essence of 'retro-futurism').

Another example of 'retro-futurism' was this week's guest vehicle on Jay Leno's Garage website : The re-cycled, 'up-cycled' and 'premiumised' AM General Humvee, recast by the new start-up Mil-Spec Automotive.

Today's version of recycled military 4 wheel drives is very different to that of the past.

After WW2 farmers and construction men bought the Willys and Ford Jeeps as utility runabouts, able to power on-site machinery from their bolt-on or pre-existing Power Take-Off units. A decade later ex-military Land Rovers were deployed in the same way, cheap and cheerful and very useful tools to do a multitude of tasks. (Their spiritual successors today being Quad-ATVs and Side-by-Sides).

But the second-life of ex-military 'Hummers' (derived from the acronym HMMWV - High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle) are very very different in prospect.

It follows the previously created path of the glamourised hard-core 4x4; as pioneered by the Mercedes Gelandewagen in high-end and AMG trim, and the subsequent various aftermarket converters of Land Rover Defenders and Jeep Wranglers, initially by British adapters such as Twisted, Khan, Chelsea Tractor and others.

The Humvee's very being and so packaging / architecture was designed in the 1980s, broad, long and heavy with adequate ground-clearance across large stretches of varied terrain; well ahead of time for major operational use and so recognition in Operation Desert Storm across Iraq-Kuwait during the early 1990s

 The very antithesis of the legendary Jeep, and its M151 sucessor, it was an enlargement and specialisation of the 'COTS' (commercially available off-the-shelf) Dodge's, Chevys and Fords; yet with seemingly lesser practicality.

Big, bulky and with limited carrying capacity of people and cargo, it was at first greeted with disbelief by the rest of the Military Engineering community.

[NB Whilst with Land Rover Business and Technical Strategy in the mid-late 1990s ('a lifetime ago') - interaction with then SVO Defence Contracts team (led by the gentlemanly George Adams) was necessary when scoping the possibilities of a new forward control vehicle as a Joint Venture prospect with another very well respected military manufacturer.

It was then - whilst absorbed in 'MoD Services-Spec' requirements from any new vehicle - that the Land Rover team's initial perspective on the Humvee was sought and readily given. It had - until 1990 and use in the desert - made no sense given the need for "mountain goat agility", carrying capacity and compactness for severe off road/forest and urban-conflict environments.

History would illustrate why the Humvee came into its own as a desert LDP (Long Distance Patrol) vehicle before becoming 'Up-Armoured' for urban-conflict patrol use].

After Desert Storm and later conflicts in the Middle East and Afghanistan in the 2000s with much media coverage, the Humvee obviously became seen as the soldiers best friend by the public. Even if not quite so true in the field when initially very prone to bullets and land-mines. It looked tough, but unless upgraded with ballistic protection, was definitely not.

The failings of the Humvee have been recognised and its replacement involves a mix of lightly re-engineered COST vehicles to reduce costs, and creation of various new vehicles within-built  Ambush Protection, in light and heavy guises of GVW, under the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle moniker.

The now ageing and defunct Humvees have since 2009 been gradually sold-off by the US government through military surplus sales channels, which themselves have created a network effect of US regional and international on-sellers and direct-sellers. Typical are the likes of websites like www.govplanet.eu for the European markets, and www.humveeuk.com in Britain.

As of this week, Govplanet illustrates a US government auction with a reserve of $2,000 (Eur 1,764) for a 2001 two-door soft-top. Other past indicators show the wide availability, from under $1,000 for a shell and basic ancilleries to $20,000 for a cosmetically refurbished 4-door hard-top vehicle.

The median price though is around the $5-6,000 mark for direct ex-Army stuff, and around $15,000 for lightly refurbished vehicles.

But whilst the public gaining access to Humvees was much improved over the narrow sales channels for ex-Army vehicles before the internet, web forums allow those in the know and those interested in private purchase, to better understand the important issues around purchase, ownership, maintenance and resale.  

And web commentators and youtubers like Doug Demuro allow for good direct insights of such matters via postings such as his Jalopnik column.

The three young founders of Mil-Spec - as per Jay Leno's Garage this week - have obviously reviewed the marketspace to their offering, and believe that there is potential for a  'better than new' Humvee in the private sphere, something wholly re-furbished and upgraded inside the cabin, replacing vacuum formed plastics with aluminium and luxury materials and finishes, aswell as aesthetic upgrades to various external features, such as turn signals, lamps, bumper bar, wheels, tyres.

And with conjoined academic backgrounds in Design and Economics, it was self-presumed they knew how to research the potential market, devise a healthy cost vs retail price profit and set-out a low set-up cost start with low cashflow demands within the overall business plan  well before setting up. And on paper they no doubt did.

The asking price for the apparently much improved Mil-Spec Humvee is $218,000.

That is an awfully large amount of money, especially so when seen by those many Humvee-literate people who know the vehicle and know its mechanics and know the actual cost of turning a 'pigs ear' into a 'velvet purse'.

If the business is successful, they view that 'velvet purse' as going straight into the founders' pockets for relatively little outlay in BOM (bill of materials) and strip and rebuild time, given the starkness and simplicity of the Humvee, even with fancy GPS connected instrument dials.

Inevitably, the comments section of the website immediately drew detractors of the 3 young men, their offering and the business model.

Some highlighted that there are already Humvee refurbishers turning over a basic living by doing one or two vehicles and selling them on to buyers who are looking for something affordable other than a standard American 4x4 Pick-Up truck or SUV.

Others view the founders as simply 'rich kids' who are squandering Dad's money on a frivolous and ill-considered business venture for whom their are few actual buyers beyond the ignorant wealthy as a momentary plaything.

The founders see things differently, believing they have a recipe for success in resuscitating at a premium level what might be forgotten hero vehicle.

If actually plausible and the first 10-20 units sold provide a solid cashflow to pay-down any start-up debts (likely bootstrap finance from family) and provide a substantive cash cushion by which to expand internationally to likewise select buyers (such as the Arab states) then there could be a viable outcome, the Up-cycled Humvee seen as the enlarged spiritual successor to Lamborghini LM, if far more luxurious fitments and accessories can be introduced.

At this point the founders obviously need to focus on immediate retail possibilities to gain income. But simultaneously they need to start considering what their true USP is besides basic mechanical improvement and lightly 'blinged' cosmetics.

Just as the Humvee in the field had various guises, so must the Mil-Spec breed across the world to match and surpass local buyer expectations.

Those 3 young men need to start truly exploring how very specific  'bolt-on' product design possibilities can provide additional new 'after-sales' revenue streams.

The military personnel who configured and reconfigured the Humvees from their  Motor Pools had to provide as best they could a product that would be driven by their colleagues over deserts and plains and had to surmount ravines and rivers; in all types of guise, from 'Helmet Top's in Helmund, to stripped-down low-silhouette reconnaissance buggies, before the taking of Basra.

Mil-Spec should adopt that military mindset, to think about strategy like a General, and vehicle details like an Engineering Corps Technician.

The Arabs loved the old Dodge Powerwagon, from the early oilfield days, because it was 'Always Faithful' to them; and such histories also offer guidance.

The Humvee in action was not always so faithful, with its many mechanical faults, but Mil-Spec should remember the arguably over-touted phrase "Semper Fidelis" of the Marine Corps, to be Always Faithful to itself and its customers.

And if that means reconfiguring the business model itself as learning provides valuable input, don't be dissuaded from the original mission.

Importantly for the new business helping to put life back into Detroit, it would be good to prove the naysayers ultimately wrong, by taking the truths of what they say to remold the venture as it progresses.

Remember, every good General listens to what is said in the AM to tweak strategy and tactics by the PM.  

D - Day : 6th June 1944 - 75 Years On.

In an age when supposed statesmen of different political persuasions 'tweet' all too base insults, and swathes of 'the people' think themselves social revolutionaries simply by wearing slogan shirts, attending protests and wasting large sums on costly protest toys, the difference between "their age and ours" is only too starkly obvious.

To echo the words of those enormously brave, but oh so modest...
"We are just the Veterans...the real heroes are down there".

The time difference between then and now is less than a lifetime.....but it appears an eternity.