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While the Ritz Carlton Singapore has just been toppled off the leader board on the Asia Pacific Management Forum's Best Places in the Asia-Pacific, there is no disgrace in losing out to perhaps the most established brand name in the Asian hospitality industry. Part of the key to brand building is how well staff identify with the brand. To the Ritz Carlton, they are "ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen". Read Asia-Inc's story on how the Ritz Carlton is building a brand based on service Asia.
To any pragmatic businessman, the enormous amounts of finance being injected into Web ventures these days is less a sign of immediate return potential but more of an acknowledgment of how central the Internet will be to business in the future. To those people, the recent sustained falls in the share prices of glamour Internet stocks came as absolutely no surprise. After all, the rush to intent stocks is painfully reminiscent to people in Asia of the boom decade, a period based on unrealised potential rather than smart analysis. Brand building on the Web is all about growth, and the profits will come later. (maybe.. and only if the product continues to compete effectively in a crowded and chaotic market). Amazon.Com still has to turn a profit. ZDNet reports that web companies are putting all their revenue back into development, publicity and promotion, just to compete. Yet Amazon.Com's story to date does have a silver lining. ..While it is easy and comparatively cheap to launch a Web venture, it is devilishly difficult to build a strong, recognizable brand. As the first on-line bookstore with sustained promotion, Amazon.Com has strong recall and recognition in the market, and competitors pay a much higher entry fee these days. Borders et al spend mega bucks just trying to compete while Amazon has retained brand leadership and doesn't look like being toppled any time soon. Though Amazon.Com could do better in terms of brand identity and focused image, it is teaching us at least one lesson. Get in early, be forever on top of future industry trends, look for smart partnerships, and invest in brand building for future profits. As investors run into the Asian Internet marketplace, it is something worth remembering.
Key to branding is clarity... and the more you say the more likely you will confuse people. David Guerrero is a Filipino ad man just recently starting off his own agency after experience in most of the top advertising agencies in the world. His style revolves around pictures and not words.. a smart strategy for the Asian market place of hundreds of languages and dialects. Pictures transcend language barriers and many times cultural and educational barriers as well. His advice and story from Asia Inc is available here.
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