The Transition of Asian Brands from Good to Great · challenge: getting criticism-averse Asian ... differentiation more difficult but more essential 7. Mass advertising is losing

The Transition of Asian

Brands from Good to Great

Branding Conference

Global Ways to Build Global Brands

Hong Kong, 8th February 2012

brandASiANb u s i n e s s & b r a n d i n g

The Brutal Truth About Asian Branding

Copyright

Copyright © BrandAsian Pte Ltd. To order copies, or request permission to reproduce

materials, contact [email protected] or go to www.BrandTalkAsia.com.

No part of this presentation may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used or

transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording or otherwise – without permission of BrandAsian Pte Ltd.

2

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.brandtalkasia.com/

3


The Brutal Truth About Asian Branding 3

The Brutal Truth is neither easy to tell,

nor as it turns out…easy to hear.

4

“A book that can leave

you devastated.”

“Such observations leave you

with the feeling that Joseph

Baladi is perhaps not sensitive to

both the cultural and economic

environment in Asia while

passing judgment on branding

here…. Asia is tired of the West

preaching to us. It’s time,

perhaps, for people to

understand this part of the

world’s way of doing things and

help in building on it. That’s

something worth thinking about

before deciding to read.” (Written

by an advertising executive who states

he is being “brave” to review the

book).

“Baladi will face his own

challenge: getting

criticism-averse Asian

CEOs to pick up his book.”

5

Asia Pacific Business

& Engineering Report

Brand Equity – Malaysia

Business Today - India

CHINA Daily Asia Times

Singapore

Business

Times

Calibre Magazine - Malaysia

MKT Inst. Singapore

The Nation - Bangkok

Warc Magazine - UK

Channel

News Asia

Positive

Press for

“Brutal Truth”



6

The world has

changed but

too many

Asian

companies

are not paying

attention



7

The very real

and sudden

price of not

recognizing &

embracing

change

“If you don’t like

change, you’re

going to like

irrelevance even

less.” General Shinseki, US Army



8

4 words

Globalization

Technology

China

Brand

9



“9/11 and how that event

changed our lives and

perspectives forever is the

political equivalent of how

globalization,

technology…and China have

changed the competitive

landscape.

We see the former with

contextual clarity, yet legions

of us are unable to see even

shades of the latter.

We need to wake up!” Tom Peters, Re-Imagine

This has particular

application and

relevance to Asian

companies if they are

to compete, survive

and thrive

10



The world has changed… 1. Globalization has shrunken the

world with better technology and instant communications

2. Globalization has forced businesses to look outside their home markets to enhance economies of scale and diversity risk/reward balances

3. Globalization has empowered consumers

4. Consumers are more price and value sensitive and better informed

5. Products look more alike

6. Hyper competition has made differentiation more difficult but more essential

7. Mass advertising is losing some effectiveness

11



The pace of change The pace of “the paradigm shift” has visibly changed:

Before about 1000AD, it literally took about a thousand years

for change to unfold

By the year 1000, a paradigm shift was taking place every

100 years

By the 1800s alone, there was more change than there had

been in the previous 900 years

In the first 20 years of the 20th century there was more

change than there had been in the “mad” 1800s

By the year 2000, a massive paradigm shift was taking place

every decade.

Looking ahead Ray Kurzweil* predicts that there will be one

thousand times more technological change in the 21st

century than there was in the 20th century *Futurist

13



Asia over the past two decades:

In resisting pressures to globalize Asian companies adopted a mix of two basic strategies. They either:

1. Walled off their home markets and became local dominant players and/or

2. They penetrated overseas markets by exporting from their home base.

14



Result: Companies chose to diversify across industries to form

conglomerates. In international markets, many of them

chose to maintain their competitive advantage via low

cost production. This is the reason for many OEMs.

This made some sense in yesterday’s environment.

Asia over the past two decades:

15



GLOBALISATION

There exists a new imperative today. Yesterday’s

environment is gone and Asian companies must globalize

– and have been globalizing - for 5 reasons:

1. Post 1997 Asian financial crisis - the IMF forced many Asian governments to open

up their markets to international competition.

2. The Asian financial crisis revealed the weaknesses with the conglomerate

strategy. The alternative to this was going global.

3. The Asian financial crisis forced the rise of new levels of transparency.

4. China as the factory of the world and India as the back-office of the world started to

undermine the competitiveness of many industries in Asian home markets.

5. The need to go up the value chain – beyond low cost manufacturing and OEMs –

to building their own brands along with distribution and service capabilities in

markets around the world.

16



And this has been happening.

As a result there is increasing talk about the

coming of a paradigm-shifting so-called

Asian/Chinese Century

17



The Asia/China Century – The Paradox As common as the term is

becoming, there exists

paradoxically both, no

formal structure in place

for bringing it about, nor any

real understanding over how it will come about – from any

quarter in Asia. Certainly not

from the business sector.

HOW??

18



Everything depends on “HOW”

is defined

21



The “American” Century changed the world - culturally

The single most powerful driver and indicator of economic power and growth is consumer spending. Consumers buy brands. Brands single handedly created the so-called American/Western Century and, in the process, defined millions of people across generations around the world.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://turkmacforum.com/turkmac/images/Haberler/Apple-Logo.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.macosxpc.com/2007/09/01/%EF%A3%BF-5-eylul-2007-carsamba-yeni-ipod-geliyor/&h=985&w=803&sz=9&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=3cdnN3qUXSGcRM:&tbnh=149&tbnw=121&prev=/images?q=apple+logo&svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-US

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.envisioned-this.com/WEB%20%20EXTRAS/Nike%20Logo.jpg&imgrefurl=http://nikeprenationals.com/page3.html&h=450&w=660&sz=15&hl=en&start=5&um=1&tbnid=Ri2Hm2CEySdpFM:&tbnh=94&tbnw=138&prev=/images?q=nike+logo&svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-US

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.stanleylondon.com/starbucks-2-color.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.stanleylondon.com/crosshatching.htm&h=375&w=375&sz=15&hl=en&start=7&um=1&tbnid=NOO1i_hAzJ60tM:&tbnh=122&tbnw=122&prev=/images?q=starbucks+logo&svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-US

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://entboa.entertainmentbook.com.au/__data/page/120/Hilton_Logo2.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.entertainmentbook.com.au/merchants_and_restaurant_staff/tell_me_more_about_participating/success_stories&h=150&w=150&sz=4&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=89SAYJ7FP4jT-M:&tbnh=96&tbnw=96&prev=/images?q=hilton+logo&svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-US

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.renewablechoice.com/files/CitiLogo.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.renewablechoice.com/pressroom/releases/citi_thankyou_network_adds_wind_power_card&h=101&w=165&sz=8&hl=en&start=76&um=1&tbnid=sJn73Jsl3PQNlM:&tbnh=61&tbnw=99&prev=/images?q=citibank+logo&start=60&ndsp=20&svnum=10&um=1&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&sa=N

http://www.cnn.com/

http://images.google.com.sg/imgres?imgurl=http://www.freakingnews.com/images/contest_images/Google_Logo.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.freakingnews.com/Google-Unusual-Pictures---892.asp&h=1500&w=3600&sz=189&hl=en&start=2&tbnid=9e_tovZsKx7GPM:&tbnh=63&tbnw=150&prev=/images?q=google+logo&gbv=2&svnum=10&hl=en&sa=G

23



The Asian/Chinese Century

The current major economic growth that is taking place in Asia is not being driven by Asian brands. It is being driven by Asian products. There is a difference. A process that is driven by products is not sustainable. It will run out of steam sooner or later. It will need to be replaced by the first of the great Asian brands.

But when will this

happen?

And which brands will

be the first to do so?

24



The Asia/China Century

When we talk about brands, we are not talking about just “any” brands.

Ordinary or even “good” brands are not sufficient. The landscape is already awash with these.

What will be required will be “great” brands. Paradigm changes

don’t happen on their own and are not associated with things

“ordinary”.

25



And the reality is

that with the

notable exception

of 1 or 2 brands

there exist NO

great Asian

brands.

Who says so?

26



“Of the 100 companies surveyed,

about half view branding as short-term

blitzes to bump up sales rather than as

a long-term holistic strategy to build

the name and reputation of the firm”. The Straits Times, Sunday, April 6, 2003

“(most SMEs) don’t appreciate the value of

good branding and marketing…the typical

SME is too focused on immediate returns

and undertakes short-term sales-driven

activities…” The Straits Times, Tuesday, May 24, 2005

“Speak to almost any small or medium

enterprise and they would most likely tell you

that the proportion of their annual budget

allocated for branding is unsubstantial, if

anything at all. TODAY, Wednesday, September 20th, 2008

For one thing,

the press…

In Singapore…

27



“Most Malaysian companies are not spending

enough in brandbuilding and development

(stated) Minister of International Trade and

Industry Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz. She said

local companies need to rethink their

approach to branding or lose out in the current

competitive market…” The New Straits Times,

February 7 2004

“Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat,

transport minister in

Malaysia, stated that despite

being aware about the

benefits of branding and

marketing, most local firms in

Malaysia fail to take

its advantage.” Article Alley,

December 23, 2009

“…there are significant gaps in branding knowledge and understanding amongst many

Malaysian SME companies. The majority seems to perceive brand building purely as a

cost and do not see the importance of branding as a valuable asset which needs to be

invested in.” MARKETING-Interactive, March 12, 2010

In Malaysia…

http://www.articlealley.com/index.php

28



In China…

18 July 2009

“Another barrier for

Chinese brands … is

their lack of marketing

experience. Some

companies do not have

a marketing

department, much less

chief marketing officer,

and branding is often

treated as a "special

project“…”

Made in China,

2007 Brand

Study, Interbrand

“Associations related to

"cheap" and "poor quality"

…will require that Chinese

brands find competitive

advantages beyond price.”

January 2008,

Landor, Thinking

Articles

Brand China is

a distinctive

brand but still

largely seen

around the

world as “not

for me.”

29



Question:

“What are Asian’s most favourite brands?”

But the most important voice are those of consumers:

30



…buy western brands

They are aspiring…

They are obsessing…

They are going out of their way to…

Answer::

http://www.citibank.com/domain/redirect/logo/citi.htm?BVE=http://web.da-us.citibank.com&BVP=/cgi-bin/citifi/scripts/&M=S&US&_u=visitor

http://www.cnn.com/

31



How much of a fuss do most

Asian brands create with

consumers when they launch?

Most of the time, Asian

companies are making

“me too" products. Asian

consumers buy these

mostly only when the

price is right.

That is a fact.



32



33

With regard to success and “fame” there exists in Asia,

a glass ceiling for company and product brands.

34



Where are the

Asian

Brands??

35



Where

are the

Asian

Brands?



36

Why?

5 key reasons…

37



Five Reasons Why There are Very Few Great

Asian Brands

1. Myopic CEO leadership

2. Corporate culture is by default, rather than by

design

3. Charlatan brand practitioners

4. Performance of government agencies

5. Advertising agencies’ lack of branding

competencies

38




“Myopic” does not mean stupid or ignorant

per se.

Asia boasts some of the most inventive,

energetic, vibrant and vital entrepreneurs on

the planet.

What they lack – specifically – is knowledge

about branding.

39



Purpose:


“To make money”

Having said this, the aspirations of the

present generation of Asian business

leadership tends to overly focus on one

singular thing.

40



Patriarchal Management Approach:

Command and-control business management

style that fails to solicit or encourage all members

of the company to work together.

Two factors commonly contribute to this mentality:

1. anachronistic obsession by CEOs and their top

executives with keeping everything “secret.”

2. “Face”.


41



Inability or reluctance

to view the brand as a tangible asset.


42




Branding = Logos

Branding = Advertising

Branding = “nice to have”

Branding Projects:

- Do them quickly

- Do them cheaply

Misconceptions:

43



CEOs and senior decision makers find difficult to

get their heads around the idea that branding is

conceptual and requires lateral and non-linear

thinking.


44



The Problem: The Asian CEO

There is a massive amount of documented and anecdotal evidence that shows beyond any doubt that the single, most obstructive hurdle preventing mediocre and “good” companies from breaking through a decades-long glass ceiling and achieving “greatness” is CEO mentality and CEO ignorance - in that order- as far as branding is concerned.

Mentality: He is almost exclusively driven by a desire to (only) make money - rarely by passion. He will over promise and under-deliver. He will take short-cuts and consider himself clever for doing so. He rarely looks beyond today and lacks vision.

Ignorance: He misunderstands branding and sees it as the company name and logo and its promotion through media. Its conceptual, business and strategic dimensions are totally lost on him and through his impatience he dismisses the process or undermines it before it even gets underway.

As a result, Asian consumers fail to love, lust for, or be inspired by most Asian brands.


45



“It’s all about the brand!”

If the CEO does not get it, or does not get behind it, the

overall result of

any branding initiative will almost always be compromised

brand


46



In corporate environments where the CEO

reigns supreme, employee risk-taking is almost non-existent.

2. Corporate culture is by default, rather than by design

The life-blood of great brands is creativity and

innovation that originates from within the

organization, and its source is corporate

culture.

47



Consumers are not Number1 “We give top priority

to the interests of

our staff, second

priority to those of

our customers, third

to our

shareholders.”

Richard Branson,

1993

2. Corporate culture is by default, rather than by design

Employees are

enablers. In a very

real sense, they

alone determine the

fortunes of the

company.

48



In a business environment replete with

alpha-type CEOs who know exactly

what they want, and believe they know

what they need, there is no shortage of

“consultants” who are willing to give

them exactly what they want and tell

them what they want to hear.


49



Different strokes for different folks:

Beyond “good” and “bad” lie “right” and

“wrong,” as far as matching different brand

practitioners to different client company

needs.

Branding companies occupy a continuum


50



Good intentions: Government agencies that encourage and support brand building –

primarily through grants and subsidies.

“BrandPact is a multi-agency initiative to better meet the varied brand

development needs of local enterprises as they grow and expand within Singapore and into the global

marketplace. It is a holistic initiative that will raise awareness and understanding

of branding, develop brand savvy executives and catalyse the adoption of

branding as a strategy for business competitiveness.”

SPRING Singapore website


51



“…Branding is an important aspect of

improving the competitiveness of products

and services. It has been my desire and

belief to see Malaysian brands achieve

distinction on a global level…”

Prime Minister of Malaysia

“…By creating our own products, which

carry Malaysian designs and brands, it will

able to carry our brands into the international

area in term of international recognition and

acceptance…

”Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia

Malaysian Brands

Source: www.MalaysiaBrands.com

Good intentions:.


http://www.malaysiabrands.com/

52



Poor follow-through:

Unfortunately, many are not doing enough and a major opportunity is

being wasted. Three reasons:

1. Failure to recognize and address the key reason for slow brand

development

2. A policy that undermines the stated goal of the agencies

3. Internal shortcomings that adversely impact the outcome of

branding projects


1

2

3

53



1. Many companies struggle to find their way through the branding

building maze

2. Some end up with less than qualified consultants

3. Some end up with the wrong consultants

4. Their experience with and understanding of branding does not get

elevated. This results in compromised projects and almost always

little to no “execution”

5. Brands fail to be transformed.

6. Taxpayers’ money is wasted.


Government agencies across Asia need to:

(a) get tough; and (b) get smart.

End result:

Recommen-

dation:

54



As many as 80,000 jobs in the US alone disappeared

between 2004 and 2008. Gone were the best and the

brightest.

This has resulted in ever-heavier workloads being placed on

less experienced and less capable individuals.

5. Advertising agencies’ lack of branding competencies

Exacerbating these problems:

1. Lack of education and training

2. Recruitment from a lower quality pool of people.

55



Result:

Impaired and incomplete internal learning.

Young executives develop misconceptions

and misunderstandings, which, over time,

often become ingrained beliefs that are very

difficult to change and generally are damaging

to the business of clients—particularly brand

building.


56



A damaging side effect:

A fair proportion of executives at agencies believe branding

and advertising are one and the same thing.


57



When the 5 issues collide a vicious cycle emerges

3. Charlatan Brand

Practitioners


2. Default Corporate

Culture

3

4. Government

Agencies

5 5. Advertising

Agencies

BRAND

1

2

4

58



59



Redefining Branding

60



What is a Brand?

Is it a trademark???

Is it a registered logo???

Is it a tagline???

Is it a well known name???

Is it advertising???

Is it a label???

61



Brands are not limited to

goods and services.

Brands are not the

exclusive domain of

business and commerce.

Brands amount to a

bigger conceptual idea:

Brands help people

define themselves

62



The Single Most Important Strategic

Construct:

The Brand Blueprint

63



The Brand Blueprint

The key

deliverables of all

branding projects

1. Brand Positioning

(inclusive of the Brand

Promise)

2. Core Brand Benefits

3. Core Brand Values

4. Core Brand Attributes

5. Core Brand Personality traits

6. Company Mission

7. Company Vision

64



BRANDING ADVERTISING

1 2

Brand

BlueprintCommunications

Strategy

1. The Brand Blueprint

2. Consumer Insights

3. Local Market

Circumstances &

Opportunities

The BRAND PROMISE

emerges from the confluence

of the 3 elements below:

1. The Brand Positioning

2. Core Brand Benefits

3. Core Brand Values

4. Brand Personality

5. Brand Attributes

6. Company Mission

7. Company Vision

Cre

ative E

xecutio

n

FIXED DYNAMIC

The BRANDING - ADVERTISING Construct

65



Brand Strategy

66



BRAND STRATEGY

It is almost axiomatic that if CEOs don’t

pay sufficient attention to brand

positioning, they will pay even less

attention to brand strategy.

67



IF YOU DON’T MAKE A CHOICE, THE

CHOICE MAKES YOU

Key Brand Strategy Drivers: 1. Differentiation

2. Emotional dimension

3. Focused target audience

4. Ability to innovate and remain relevant

5. CEO involvement and leadership

6. Employee involvement and commitment

7. Intelligent brand architecture

8. CSR: the new branding imperative.

68



Brand Development Methodology

69



1. BRAND

AUDIT

1. BRAND

AUDIT

5. BRAND

INTO

ACTION

5. BRAND

INTO

ACTION2. BRAND

EXPLORER

2. BRAND

EXPLORER3. BRAND

VALIDATION

3. BRAND

VALIDATION4. BRAND

BLUEPRINT

4. BRAND

BLUEPRINT

The Strategy-Centric Brand Development Methodology

A rigorous process

to validating and

exploring alternative

brand positionings

with consumers and

other stakholders

for purpose of fine-

tuning and decision

making

A rigorous process of

research and analysis

which draws

information from a

number of sources

and integrates it into

a holistic

understanding of the

brand relative to its

landscape as it

stands today

The collaborative

development of

future positioning

possibilities using

the brand

understanding

from Phase 1 as

input

Finalization and

delivery of the brand

blueprint, inclusive of

rationale. The

deliverable also

includes a framework

to align internal and

external activities to

the brand blueprint

Implementation and

monitoring. This

includes the internal

alignment of the brand

blueprint to the

organization as well as

finetuning or

redevelopment of

external expressions -

including visual brand

identity, and

communications

70



Brand Into Action

71



BRAND INTO ACTION = DELIVERING AGAINST YOUR PROMISE

Be careful what you promise

A brand will never live up to its potential, and in most cases will

actually flounder, unless conscious efforts are made to

make it real—that is, to go from the talk to the walk.

Comfortable Aspirational

PS

3

PS

2

PS

1

The Positioning Continuum

PS

4

Strategic

Pillars

72



The (immediate) Future

73



There is greatness in Asian brands

It lies buried like a hidden treasure waiting to be

discovered by the most courageous and adventurous.



74

Thank you

www.BrandTalkAsia.com

[email protected]

Copyright © BrandAsian Pte Ltd. To

order copies, or request permission to

reproduce materials, contact

[email protected] or go to

www.BrandTalkAsia.com. No part of this

presentation may be reproduced, stored

in a retrieval system, used or transmitted

in any form or by any means –

electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording or otherwise – without

permission of BrandAsian Pte Ltd.





Documents

The Transition of Asian Brands from Good to Great · challenge: getting criticism-averse Asian ... differentiation more difficult but more essential 7. Mass advertising is losing