Asian Brand Strategy: How Asian Firms Can Globalize

Branding is no longer a "nice to have" but a "need to have" for Asian and Emerging Markets companies. Despite the rapid rise of Asia as an economic and financial powerhouse, there are only a few truly global Asian brands. What is stopping Asian companies from building brands on a global scale?

In my forthcoming book “Asian Brand Strategy", I discuss how Asian firms can strategize and globalize their brands to better compete.

Branding is becoming a C-suite topic for MNCs and rising Asian as well as Emerging Markets multinationals. Brands allow companies to better compete and enhance performance on multiple dimensions by:

• Enhancing shareholder value and delivering competitive returns
• Acting as a catalyst for better leadership
• Enabling a shared vision throughout the organization
• Being a strategic guide for balancing short- and long-term perspective and performance

Asian Brand Strategy has been revised and updated, and it offers insights, knowledge and perspectives on Asia, Asian brands and branding as a strategic value driver. The book provides comprehensive frameworks for successful branding in Asia.

The book includes theoretical frameworks, models and up-to-date case studies on Asian brands including Aman, Samsung, Shiseido, Singapore Airlines, Alibaba, Amorepacific, Huawei, Jim Thompson and many other brands.

5 Changes Needed In The Asian Boardroom

Asian Brand Strategy invites a complete shift in the way Asian boardrooms and business leaders think of branding.

First, mind-sets and practices need to change in the Asian boardroom:

• From a tactical view to a long-term, strategic perspective
• From fragmented marketing activities to totally aligned branding activities
• From a vision of branding as the sole responsibility of marketing managers to branding as the most essential function of the firm led by the boardroom

Second, this new perspective must be steeped into a more acute perspective on consumer behaviour patterns. Asia is not a homogenous entity. Even more importantly, Asian countries are more and more traversed by cultural flows permeating the region: cinema, music and fashion trends that are present extend beyond national borders to capture the imagination of millions. Branding and brands do not operate in vacuum, but are closely linked to developments in society, to people and to cultures.

Third, managers wanting to succeed in Asia need to abandon the idea of an oriental Asia of the past. Asian consumers are all vying for an Asian type of modernity that has nothing to do with colonial imagery. Korean cosmetics company Amorepacific is a leading example of how Asian firms bring modern, iconic brands to the global markets.

Fourth, to create iconic brands, Asian managers will have to become trendsetters. The perspective developed in this book is that, in order to be successful, Asian brands need to capture the spirit of the region, but they also need to lead the way by creating that spirit.

Finally, this shift can be achieved only if everybody in the company is convinced by the power of branding and if all strategies and actions are aligned around the brand. This must be led by the Asian boardroom. Singapore Airlines is a great example of an iconic brand with excellent service delivered across the entire organization.

Why Branding Matters

In today's complex and fragmented markets, the strategic impact of having strong, recognizable differentiated brands is critical in all industries and markets across both B2B and B2C. Asian boards need to make brand building a critical area of focus and drive its implementation through the organization.

Does your company work strategically, organization-wide and with a focus on long-term branding to drive impact? Does your company work with brands as important assets led by the C-suite?

Asian Brand Strategy will be available globally in July 2015. It can be purchased on Amazon, Kindle and in leading book stores.

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Martin Roll is a business & brand strategist, and the founder of Martin Roll Company. He provides advisory and guidance on leadership, strategy and execution, and how to build and sustain high-performing, enduring brand-driven businesses and global, marketing-oriented organisations. Author of Asian Brand Strategy.

Specialities: Branding, Marketing, Strategy, Leadership, Change & Transformations, Business Family Transition, Business Coaching, Asia & Emerging Markets.

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