South Africa, March 17 -- It's interesting to ponder the images or the word associations, a brand can conjure up in your mind. If those associations are positive - Toyotas don't break, for example - then that's because of two things: intrinsic brand quality and excellent marketing communication.

I am the last person you would consider as a DIY guy. Till the day she died, my mother used to remind people, scathingly, that I couldn't even change an electrical plug. I could, but never bothered to let on - because I would have ended up doing that sort of maintenance work at home. (My father never did and my mother always said he was "useless with his hands" . but perhaps he and I had perfected chore avoidance.)

However, if you say the name R...