Expert: Branding is vital in a borderless economy

CEBU, Philippines - A Singapore-based branding expert cautioned Filipino entrepreneurs to go the extra mile in its branding efforts as a weak branding equity will threaten the company’s competitiveness under a borderless landscape.

“Branding is not a luxury for a global corporation, it has become a necessity,” Martin Roll told Filipino businessmen who are members of the Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO-Phils) in its recent meeting in Cebu.

He said the world market is now facing a paradigm shift and that those who do not make branding as one of their important cores in the business will unlikely survive.      

Roll mentioned the case of Nokia as one of the many strong brands that was affected by ill company culture, and weak branding innovation.

Establishing a good brand starts in a good company’s culture, wherein core values should focus on innovation, leadership, and culture.

He said there is a need for Asian companies to get into the branding battle among countries and global players. He mentioned that the good branding move crafted by Samsung is one of the examples that Asian or Filipino companies should emulate.

"Most brands are run by marketing department. Branding strategies should elevate to the boardroom level," he said which means that owners and chief executive officers and chief financial officers should be strongly involved in establishing and sustaining branding strategies.

"The challenge for Asian entrepreneurs now is to build more Asian brands," he stressed.

He reiterated that the battle now in business across industries is establishing strong brands. Those that already achieved good branding equity should sustain their level and put innovation as one of its priorities.

Roll is a world-renowned thought-leader on value creation through brand equity driven by tremendous global experience and insights. (FREEMAN)