I agree that there is a shocking lack of branding awareness among Malaysian companies. In fact, many do not even know that its an important asset, or how a brand can be leverage for market penetration, market acceptance and improved margins. Many local companies do not appreciate branding as they never venture outside their own ponds. Having a good brand allows for scalability to expand regionally and globally.Hence I applaud the initiative by 4As (the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia) and The Edge.
Naturally the judges will have their own set of criteria in assessing which brands are valuable and they try to ascribe a figure on the brand's value.
Somehow when I looked at the list, I can only disagree with most of it. To me, the value of a brand is in:
a) the potential and positioning - the potential to be leveraged further and a strategic cohesive vision on how their products and services are to be positioned vis-a-vis the competition
b) the clarity of what it represents - a brand must stand for something, and it must be clear not jumbled
c) positive reaction - a brand must give the viewer, the listener or any potential client a warm, feel-good, positive attachments whenever they use/buy or even just visualise the product or services
d) management's strategy and vision - there must be clarity and deliberateness in the management's vision and strategy in promoting the brand, knowing fully well where they are headed
I don't have the tools or metrics to come up with my own paradigm, but here are my rankings:
Top Of The Class
1) CIMB
2) DIGI
3) Petronas
4) AirAsia
5) Parkson
6) Hong Leong
7) IOI
8) Eu Yan Sang
9) Sin Chew
10) Bank Negara
11) YTL
12) YNH
13) Zaid Ibrahim
14) Securities Commission
15) Mah Sing
16) MAS
Grossly Under-Leveraged Brand
1) Brand's Essence
2) F&N
3) Yeo Hiap Seng
4) Dutch Lady
5) Bursa
6) RAM
7) Public Bank
8) Raja Nazrin
Trying Too Hard
1) Bonia
2) Ogawa
3) Diamond
4) Padini
Don't Have A Clue What Branding Is
1) Lion Industries
2) Country Heights
3) B Group
Some companies have tried to improve their tainted brand image, and were successful like MAS and Mah Sing. Lion and Parkson have the same owner, but seriously, Parkson is run by someone else, which may explain the disparity in ratings.
Branding is too much associated with just companies. I always see branding in other things as well, in particular your own self. Like it or not, we are branding ourselves. Are we consistent, unpredictable, part of the crowd, never standing out or standing for something... mention your name among your colleagues, what does that convey, mention your name among your relatives, what does it convey ... I am not advocating putting up fronts here, I am asking that we should be aware we are judged all the time, we need not be slaves to them but we need to be aware of that. Be honest in your credentials and be consistent in the image you portray. Branding is highly essential in your career path.
Even my blog has a conscious branding strategy. Its all explained as the vision on the sidebar. I hope I have been consistent in selecting beautiful Asian ladies, it all becomes part of what is expected and you must deliver - that's branding. How's your own personal branding?
p/s photos: Carmen Soo
11 comments:
The true branding r confine mostly to surrealist works that feature the element of surprise, unexpected juxtapositions and non sequitur expressionist. Most of the work r surreal or dreamlike and can draw between the line of real world existence and non-existence. The prominent Salvador Dali had explained his idiosyncratic as "there is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not mad."
To me, a GOOD brand means that you've essentially got value.
The ultimate test? To have a brand name that you can paste onto any product, and it will generate sales.
Look at the BlackBerry Storm for example. A LOT of blackberry fans bought it, simply because it is blackberry. And they are now sending in complaint letters, because frankly, it sucks.
CIMB, DIGI, Dutch Lady, are all good... basically, you can come up with any new financial/ milk product, slap the CIMB/ Dutch Lady brand on it, and it will generate good sales.
AirAsia... actually, all it has going for it are cheap prices. If it was priced the same as MAS, sales would fall badly.
Petronas, a good brand name? Are you joking? Even our locals avoid using petronas whenever possible.
I seriously don't know what Proton is doing on the list. When you think of Proton, you think of cheap, poor quality, broken power window... lol
Branding, at the end of the day, serves the purpose of PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION. It's ultimate purpose is when consumers have 2 similiar/ equal products, they will choose the one with the better brand.
THAT is the mark of a good brand. Whether it can generate profit/ revenue for your company.
Brand is only useful/meaningful if it means something to the consumer.
You got mcdonanld means quick and cheap meal; Coca-Cola means a nice relaxing drink; Tesco means value etc
So, what does these brand means?
1) CIMB (supertrustworthy? Value? Servie? I don't think any of these is associated to CIMB)
If there are two strucutred product, one stamped with HSBC, one stamped with CIMB paying about the same yield, will pepple buy the CIMB version?
2) DIGI (cheap? clear voice? good service?
3) Petronas (quality of petrol? Does any motorist fill in with Petronas rather than BP just because it says petronas ? )
4) AirAsia (this one is good as it means cheap fares)
5) Parkson
6) Hong Leong
7) IOI
8) Eu Yan Sang
9) Sin Chew
10) Bank Negara
11) YTL
12) YNH
13) Zaid Ibrahim
14) Securities Commission
15) Mah Sing
16) MAS
IMHO, the most successful brand in Malaysia lies in the word 'Mamak', shared by all the players of the local mamak stall industry.
1) Clearly differentiates itself from competitors: Nobody will mistake a mamak stall for a chinese hawker center, fast food restaurant or KTV pub.
2) Value proposition is clear: Teh tarik satu, roti kosong dua, sembang with your fren, watch wrestling dan bola, duduk sampai bontot hancur pun takpe. Dua ringgit dua puluh sen.
3) Brand standards maintained: Always lit with bright white fluorescent tubes and waiters decked in (grubby) uniforms.
So, although the mamak stall industry is not controlled by a single entity, the main players are smart enough to recognize their shared brand identity and exploit it to the fullest.
When people land their feet in a foreign country, what are the things they miss? Surely will include mamak.
In fact, nowadays the word is more often used to describe the eateries than to describe the group of people.
$
ok a lot of differing views... a good brand does not mean they have no mistakes or shortcomings , my reasons why:
airasia - its akin to replace budget travel in asia.. whether its cheap or not is immaterial... its like xerox... when u can put the brand as a verb... can u xerox it for me .. u can complain about airasia but there is no competition in asia (not for lack of trying)... it take guts and vision.. i mean to latch onto MU brand for one ... and it has high visibility, Fernandes is a pure marketer
DIGI - it solidifies its market share through innovative n fun adverts, who doesnt know the yellow guy image, it sticks n promotes loyalty...fergetabout voice quality, all 3 are the same in Malaysia, u need to carve out space for yrself...
Petronas - u do not like it because it irks u when it comes to seeing them make billions n yr petrol px keeps going up, not their fault... Petronas as a brand must be how its viewed globally by its main audience: fellow oil n gas players, their mgmt credibility ... not their petrol kiosk...
Finally why I put CIMB up there:
a) lets look at where CIMB or Commerz Bank was in your eyes 3 years back...
b) its out there, they know they had to rebrand n the new logo represents more change than just cosmetic... the whole culture of CIMB's can do attitude has taken over the staid n dinosaur Bank of Commerce ... its hard to rebrand a bank ... now its known as the place that pays the best to get the best... it has expanded regionally, somehow u now know what to expect from CIMB: connections, innovation, market leadership, penetration, great execution, ideas...
Actually, I find Andrew Chua actually has a point about his "mamak" idea.
I would like to apply it further to "Kopitiam" and "penang" and "ipoh" being placed in numerous eateries. You see, even these small time fellas recognize the power of brand name recognition! (small compared to KLSE top 10 coys)
One way to value a brand, in my opinion:
Try to estimate how much damage would be caused if that brand name was taken away, eg some patent lawsuit or similiar barring use of the brand name for 3 years.
Would AirAsia suffer much loss in revenue if they had to call themselves FernandezAirways? ... I think it would cause maybe 1month of lower revenue, but things would recover immediately.
Would Digi suffer much loss in revenue if they had to rename themselves to SmartPhones? ... IMHO, they would suffer VERY badly.
Would Coca-Cola suffer badly if they were forced to rename themselves Cola-Coca? ... IMHO, losing that brand name would be a DISASTER.
Would Proton lose much sales if they were forced to rename themselves as Malaysian Motors? ... Actually, I think their revenue might GROW... lol.
As for Petronas, they could name themselves Barisan Private Bank and I am pretty sure that their revenue, sales, and profit would remain pretty much unchanged. The big players out there don't really care much about your brand name, your advertising policy, your corporate vision, logo, etc etc. They just look at whether it's profitable to do business with you.
Compare that to say, Polo Ralph Lauren or Louis Vitton. If you carefully remove off the label from their product and slap on a generic brand name, the product becomes PRACTICALLY WORTHLESS.
To me, that is the ultimate test of whether a brand has value. Try to estimate the results of "with the brand" vs "without the brand"... ceterus parabus style.
jason,
i think u r being too emotional... a brand does not just reflect on the end product but also GOODWILL and RECOGNITION.
If u take Air Asia away, you can go through a rebranding exercise and call it Fernandes Airways, and it will still have great value because of the people behind it, the value and way of doing things, so dont go knocking Air Asia.
Same with DIGI.
I can do the same for Coke... I can call it Fernanades Cola, I will pay for rebranding but I have the same ppl running the company, you would be surprised at how successful Fernandes Cola will be. It may lose some Coke users but I think a large majority will stay with fernandes Cola.
You have to also beware that you are preselecting products and services based on certain brands u want to argue:
there are products which CAN stand on its own merits, and the branding is not so material, Air Asia, DIGI, CIMB, Petronas...
then there are those that the products are a MUST is quality and the branding comes with it... such as Rolex, louis Vuitton, porsche
So, dont pick n choose companies to suit yr argument, branding is a goodwill, value add exercise... not ameans to bash companies u dont like
most of the companies in the top 16 list are service companies...
wonder when Malaysia will have a strongly branded PRODUCT... like Dell or Swatch...
currently we just have our tin-can cars...
jason,
thanks for liking my mamak idea... :)
but regarding your ways to value a brand, i'd like to point out that a brand is more than just a brand-name.
You can't just cut and paste different names to different products and transfer value that way.
A brand is a sum of culture, people, product, philosophy and history.
Although the coca-cola brand is valued at more than 60 billion USD, it doesn't mean they can just sell the rights to that name for that amount.
The name must be augmented by the people and systems behind. In fact, it is the people and systems behind that gave value to the name.
Too many people confuse the concept of a 'brand' with a brand-NAME.
Just slapping a catchy name on some product doesn't make it a brand.
A comprehensive brand is the philosophy, essence and spirit behind a line of products...
btw, funny one on Malaysian Motors :)
$
Am looking at your list - interesting observation. For properties - you listed IOI and also Mah Sing - what metrics or observations you used?
zeeyan,
Its IOI not IOI Prop... IOI in palm oil, though a difficult thing to brand already carries with it many positives... best yield, very professional and hands on mgmt, upstream downstream integrated ... u give IOI the same plot of land, they will make a higher yield than the rest... the attention to detail and micro cost mgmt are all positive attributes to the name of IOI
Mah Sing, look at the company 10 years ago, its known for a share that is ramped up and down like a yoyo... there is nothing in property that sticks to the mind... they literally changed their spots... they now practiced prudent capital mgmt, no need to load up on land bank, strike good jv to maximise returns and reduce delivery risk... they are very open to analysts n practices a high dividend policy... they now have many professional mutual funds as shareholders... even their property have a face to it now, u can expect very good quality and value
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