The Brutal Truth About Asian Branding And How to Break the Vicious Cycle

by Baladi, Joseph

• ISBN13: 9780470826478
• ISBN10: 0470826479
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-03-15
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

The world of Asian* brands is best characterized by complementary portions of confusion, delusion and outright ignorance. The net result is that its development of Asian brands has been arrested and significantly lags behind those in the West. Repeated surveys of Asians across the region confirm over and over again their overwhelming preference to drink Coke, wear Nike shoes and drive BMWs. Rare is the Apple zealot-like emotional relationship Asians will show for any Asian brand. Yet the region is awash with tens of thousands of new brands that emerge every other day reflecting an unstoppable energy and vitality that is fueling the increasingly universal belief that this century will belong to Asia (and China in particular). The continued absence of genuinely Great Asian brands (as opposed to merely 'good' brands) will at best slow down that prospect, at worse throw a real spanner into the works. Sooner or later something needs and will happen. This book provides a clear and compelling blueprint for decision makers of the few but increasingly emerging Asian companies that recognize the vital value of strong brands for long-term sustainable competitive advantage.The Brutal Truth About Asian Branding aims to do three things: uncover, educate and execute.Firstly it aims to expose the practices, circumstances, policies as well as management attitudes and mentality that individually and collectively conspire to effectively hold back Asian brands from graduating to Great brands. These range from the plainly visible, to the insidiously undetectable. It is reflected in cultural values that encourage middle level company employees to sanitize bad news; it is reinforced by the unwillingness of all level employees to experiment with new ideas or even volunteer opinions for fear of being penalized for being wrong; it thrives in operational environments that separate functional departments responsible for creating the product from those that promise the experience of the product to the customer; and it dies a still-born death in the hands of CEOs who lack long term vision in favor of short-term wins.Secondly, it aims to re-educate Asian managers particularly CEOs on the subject of brand and branding. It takes aim at the countless misconceptions and the outright ignorance that have collectively contributed to poor and non-existing brand building practices in Asian companies. The approach is provocative because many of the metaphors used (from rock music to religion) not only provide immediate and relieving clarity, but many do so in the form of personal epiphanies. Suddenly the vague, nebulous, contradictory and confusing are rendered clear, connected and comprehensible.Thirdly, it provides a comprehensive step-by-step explanation of the typical multi-phase methodology brand consultants use to either position new brands or re-position existing brands that have lost their way. But perhaps more valuable than the roadmap to building a brand is the roadmap to building Asian brands. Readers are introduced to a new and breakthrough methodology designed in Asia specifically for Asian brands. Released and operational only in the past 12 months, it reconciles Asian CEO expectations to a process that provides an optimal tool-box and scope to deliver robust and strategic solutions. Dubbed the Accelerated Brand Positioning Process (ABPP), it provides the means for Asian CEOs (particularly of SMEs) to adopt a time and cost-effective process that will translate products and services into compelling brands relevant to Asian customer expectations.The Brutal Truth About Asian Branding is a long awaited no-holds barred reality check for Asian decision makers that at the same time validates the potential greatness hidden in Asian brands and provides the means to making them so.*Excludin

Author Biography

Joseph Baladi was raised in South America and educated in Australia. His working career - which has included postings to New York City, Mexico City, Tokyo, and Singapore - has given him a unique perspective on human values, consumer behavior and the valuable role that brands and branding play in building an organization. During the course of his career, Joseph has provided brand-building advice to leading global companies including Procter & Gamble, Mars, and Coca-Cola. Presently based in Asia, he is considered a leading voice for and an advocate of emerging great Asian brands. He is a prolific writer and a popular speaker at major business and branding forums around the world. 

 

In 2011, Joseph Baladi received the prestigious Ron Frank Fellowship to read the Executive MBA program at Singapore Management University (SMU).

Table of Contents

Introduction

A time of profound change

The old world order

The new world order

The rest of Asia

Branding in Asia - Almost no Great Asian brand in sight and the five reasons why this is so

Redefining Brand, Branding and Advertising

Brand and Branding: thinking differently

Branding made easy: the People Analogy

The Brand Blueprint: the pillar that holds up the company edifice

The Brand Proposition: the cornerstone of the Brand Blueprint

The relationship Branding and Advertising share

Pre-Branding

Business goals and business strategy

The role of Corporate guiding principles

Vision

Mission

Core Values

Brand Strategy

Differentiation

Emotional Dimension

Focused Target Audience

Ability to innovate and remain relevant

CEO involvement and leadership

Employee involvement and commitment

Intelligent Brand Architecture

CSR: The new branding imperative

Methodology instead of Mythology

The Brand Audit Phase

The Brand Explorer Phase

The Brand Validation Phase

The Brand Blueprint Phase

Costing the project proposal

The Asian Way - A fast track methodology: ABPP

Brand Into Action - delivering against your promise

Conclusion: There is greatness in Asian brands

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.