Brand innovation: what Taiwanese firms can learn from clothing brands

When I lived in Taiwan, I would often read many articles on brands and branding. Just about every other week you'd have somebody rabbiting on about how Taiwanese companies need brands and innovation in order to "differentiate themselves." Wow! What a revelation! Many of these articles would be written by faceless, self-styled branding "experts" from global brand consultants or local universities. Because the advice offered by these gurus costs LOTS of money, Taiwanese firms accept it as being gospel. The only problem is that this advice is dished out to any company that was willing to pay for it. "Just give us the shareholders money and we'll give you a brand to slap on your commodity product. You'll be able to pretend that you're German because you're smarter than those silly customers over in America or Europe. They'll never know the difference." One of the biggest victims of this kind of thinking was Benq.


This is you
Here are two lessons in branding that are free:

1. The idea that country of origin doesn't matter any more is a myth (I should say, "misconception"). The truth is, country of origin is playing a bigger role than ever. Both in terms of the brands you buy and the companies for whom you work.

2. Forget about looking at other "tech" firms for inspiration. Take a look at other industries. Industries in which brands are the only thing companies are selling for a profit.

Below are two examples: 1. Howies and 2. Patagonia.

Look at the imagery presented next to these brands and compare it with your day-to-day surroundings. Look at the dreams. Look at how these brands don't tell you what they mean: they allow you to build the brand yourself. You're involved. Now, that's brand building.

[Update] Here is yet another article on Taiwan and branding in the Taipei Times. Note that nobody in the article is giving/sharing any insights into how to go about building a brand.