Brand innovation
Benq, a Taiwan-based OEM/ODM firm, is finding it increasingly difficult to pull the wool over investors' eyes after reporting another huge loss. As is often the case with this firm, it included a huge asset sale in its recent earnings report to soften the impact of its operational losses. The big problem for many Taiwanese firms as they try to build their own brands is that they seem to believe that markets don't care about country of origin. We're not talking about the firm here, or the capital behind the firm, but the brand itself. Benq is never proactive in stating that it is a "Taiwan brand." In fact, you would almost think that it was pretending to be German, as can be seen in this billboard:
These firms think that they can build super-national brands, brands decoupled from any particular country of origin. Lenovo, a China-based PC producer, is also trying to build its Lenovo brand into a global brand without much emphasizing where it's from.
innovation management in Asia
These firms think that they can build super-national brands, brands decoupled from any particular country of origin. Lenovo, a China-based PC producer, is also trying to build its Lenovo brand into a global brand without much emphasizing where it's from.
innovation management in Asia
Labels: definition of innovation, innovation
posted by Gordon Graham at 1:46 AM
3 Comments:
This is an excellent blog.As a schoolteacher, the concept of 'innovation' is bandied about as 'the next big thing'. With no serious discourse about what innovation really is: what does it look like, taste like, and smell like?
This blog will facilitate interesting discussions. (I hope!)
Dear Gordon,
Most Portuguese companies suffer from the same type of problem as the Taiwanese. They try no to link their brands to the country of origin as this may affect the way consumers perceive the brand. Aerosoles for example (www.aerosoles.pt) one of Portugal's leading pretends to be Spanish (as the name suggests). Fly London (www.flylondon) pretends to be British. My question to you is: Should Countries (States) try to manage the Country's brand? Is the brand Italy or Taiwan manageable?
Best regards,
Joao
(www.joaoplantier.com)
Hi Joao! I think that governments have to manage their country's brand identity, so that visitors to and buyers of that country's goods/services have a positive image of that country. Just look at the latest scandal that Borat (http://www.borat.tv/) has caused with his characterization of Kasakhstan. The problem for many of the Taiwanese firms is that they think that people don't know/care about country of origin, yet in Taiwan, the people here are very aware of which country a good or service is from: people love their American education; their German cars; their French/Japanese cosmetics; their Scotch whisky. History and geography are an integral part of a country's technological capabilities (it's not just education). In fact, it is these factors that often determine/limit what a country is capable of doing.
Why hide the fact that the brand is Taiwanese? Markets (especially, infuential individuals in the media) already know where BenQ is based, so why pretend otherwise? Isn't it better to build a brand by providing an excpetional product/customer experience one customer at a time (as Toyata has done), rather than spending millions on fancy ads and sponsorships with nothing more than empty promises? What do you think, yourself?
Post a Comment
<< Home