Asian Brand Strategy

Historically, one of the biggest challenges of building a brand consultancy in Asia has been that many businesses struggled to understand what we did, and how it differed from advertising. 

In Asian Brand Strategy, Martin Roll refers to ‘the dominant Asian mindset of trading and sales’; which has often led to business leaders routinely taking a giant leap from logo design to advertising, ignoring everything in between.

There was little understanding of the process of brand building; creating intangible asset value through credibility, differentiation and a consistent experience delivered at every touch-point. 

That’s not to say that Asian businesses weren’t doing good things. However, it was unsystematic and more focused on immediate commercial wins.

But that situation has changed in recent years and continues to change for the better at a growing pace. 

As Asian markets mature, steady competition for share is gradually replacing the ‘gold rush’ approach common in high growth markets. 

Additionally, many Asian businesses are now starting to look more seriously at growth beyond their domestic markets, and to achieve this they need to be more considerate of their brand. 

Martin’s Roll’s revised and updated book is timely and well worth a read.  

He covers off the reasons why traditionally businesses in Asia have focused tactically on the short-term, and why that is now changing. 

He goes into a healthy level of detail around different strategic approaches. He borders on the academic, but stays within the boundaries of practical application. His theoretical content is visualized through a number of short case studies, covering both established and emerging Asian brands across a number of different sectors. 

I strongly believe we’re moving into an exciting period for Asian brands, and those that strive to develop a differentiated, coherent and comprehensive strategy for competitive advantage, and are able to execute it well, will succeed in the long term. 

This book is certainly a useful guide for those looking to get on that road.

Roll highlights that we’re not quite there yet, that it won’t be easy, but that we’re well on the way.

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