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II CAN
KNOW
PROVIDE
SOMETHING
DIFFERENT
IMYKNOW
NICHE
IN MY
MARKETPLACE
IHOW
KNOW
I WANT
TO BE SEEN
I KNOW
MY VALUES
BRANDING
DISTINGUISHES YOU FROM YOUR
COMPETITION AND CREATES
MARKET SHARE.
THE BRAND
STEP STEP STEP
1 2 3
TAKE STOCK FIND YOUR FIT BLUEPRINT YOUR IDEA
Branding is all about It’s what the experts call Now that you know where
perception. Perception is ‘positioning’, and the your brand is and what
reality to your customers. reason why Volvo is known you want it to become,
Find out what people really for safety and Lexus for you need a strategy to get
think of your brand through luxury. Where is the best there. Blueprint the entire
a brand review. Don’t be opportunity for your brand? idea to make sure your
surprised if there’s a gap How does your brand fit in brand stays on track.
between what you think the market?
of your brand and how
it is perceived by your
customers, distributors,
suppliers and even your
employees.
but there are 6 steps you can take
to equip yourself in building your
brand with greater confidence.
VALUE CHAIN
STEP STEP STEP
4 5 6
ALIGN EVERYONE GET YOUR FANS MEASURE SUCCESS
Each and every employee Communicate to your You can only effectively
is an ambassador of the customers and ensure manage what you
brand. Get everyone, top-of-mind recall for measure. So measure
from the CEO to the most your unique brandname, the right things to see
junior clerk to believe in trademark, slogan, whether you really have
it, live it, breathe it, and service, design or succeeded in making that
deliver the brand promise technological ability. Some connection with your key
consistently. brands have become customers.
legendary. Can people
remember your brand?
Many SMEs have made that decision
to invest time and effort in their
brands, and as a result experienced a
boost in customer loyalty, employee
commitment and business performance.
THESE
ARE THEIR
STORIES...
STEP
The company is all set to grow, and has made moves to extend its
reach in the Middle East and Northern Europe.
2
ry #
e Sto
Tru
REVIEW, REARRANGE,
RESULTS
Sometimes, the review process can prove so enlightening that it As it turns out, the review stage of the branding process showed
even changes a company’s business model. Such was the case that Acez’s original mission statement, crafted at least 15 years
with Acez, a major supplier for industrial and environmental ago, was no longer in line with what the company was doing.
measure and control instruments in Southeast Asia.
“We were a one-stop shop selling all kinds of instruments,” said
Managing director Ricky Yeo first saw the need for Acez to focus Mr Yeo. “We had so many brands and our product range was so
on building its brand, back when most businesses thought that ambiguous that there was no focus. Even our sales staff were not
branding was for consumer brands only. sure what we did. But the most important thing we realised was
that people didn’t think of us when looking for specific products.
“With the competitive landscape for businesses changing, B2B We were just a place they called on if they were hoping to find
businesses, which serve business clients, are competing head to something obscure.”
head with others that seem to offer similar features, benefits
and services. By building our brand reputation in our customers’ With that realisation, the company set about streamlining itself.
mind, we can ‘close the deal’ before the selling even starts,” Rather than selling a multitude of products that no one could
said Mr Yeo.
remember they were selling, Acez began to focus on building
brand equity for their key products.
“Now, we are the first name that comes to mind when people are
looking for top brand industrial and environmental instruments,”
said Mr Yeo.
With the information gleaned from the review process, Acez has For one who once thought that branding was for consumer brands
also redesigned their delivery process to better fulfil their brand only, Mr Yeo now firmly believes that the rigour of undergoing a
promise to provide quality, reliability and good service. The brand branding exercise would help to revitalise any business. He said,
review also uncovered new markets which Acez had previously “The branding programme has helped us to strengthen and define
overlooked, both locally and overseas, including offshore the direction for our business, and we have expanded our horizons
industries, pharmaceutical, water treatment and aerospace in looking for new customers.”
industries.
STEP
#3
Story
True
FLOORED BY
LUXURY WOOD
FIND YOUR FIT The business of wood flooring isn’t usually viewed as a
glamorous one. Yet Singapore-grown Wood Doctor has the likes
Now that you know how your of top designer brands like Armani and Versace beating a path to
brand is perceived, you’ll need its doors to build the floors of their glamorous boutiques. Not bad
for a company started by a pair of army mates who discovered
to find a unique position to their dream atop a freezing mountain in Australia during a
occupy in the market. In an training stint.
endless sea of products and When Mr Zain and Mr Kevin Toh started the company in 2003, it
services, standing out from had two staff and made just $1.5 million in its first year. Today,
Wood Doctor is a $15 million-a-year business with some 120
the crowd is the only way employees.
to ensure that your target
The secret of their success? Daring to stake a claim as the luxury
customers pick you. Where brand in a market flooded with commodity wood flooring.
is the best opportunity for “We both had a dream for a wood flooring company that
was better than the rest,” said Mr Zain. “We wanted to offer
your company and what uniqueness and quality. We didn’t want to join the price war.”
The duo set to work building a prestige brand targeted at
helps you connect most upmarket clients and top local architects. This clear focus on their
with your customers? market positioning won Wood Doctor the Singapore Promising
Brand award in 2006 and 2007. By then, business was already on Indeed, knowledge and expertise is what has kept them on top.
the up and up, as word of their services spread through the upper Wood Doctor stocks more than 50 premium wood species, the
echelons of society. largest collection in Asia, ranging from the rich cream Patagonian
Amarelo to the dark lustrous Chinese Emperor wood. It also carries
Keen to take their brand further to reach both business and a Haute Couture Collection of luxurious flooring where every piece
consumer clients here and overseas, Wood Doctor decided to of wood is handcrafted so no two floors are alike. This uniqueness
embark on a branding programme. makes the collection the choice of floorings for multimillion-dollar
homes, designer boutiques and upmarket hotels.
“The brand exercise helped us identify multiple factors affecting
our brand,” explained Mr Zain. “It’s not just about changing “Before Wood Doctor, wood flooring was considered a sunset
logos, advertising or printing nice marketing collateral. Branding industry,” mused Mr Zain. “It is a dirty business that few scions of
encompasses much more. It is a constant communication with wood business families want to take over.”
our staff and customers about the passion we have in the quality
of our timber, our craftsmanship, and our service.” “But we saw a gap in the market, brought in new products and
new technologies, and created a desire in the market for luxury
To further entrench their top position in the market, the company flooring.”
set up the Wood Doctor Academy in 2007, a school offering
courses to timber flooring craftsmen interested in building their Wood Doctor is today represented in nine countries across Asia,
knowledge and expertise on wood. from neighbouring Kuala Lumpur to faraway Dubai.
From the top of one mountain as young army buddies, to the top of
their game as Wood Doctors, Mr Zain and Mr Toh have certainly
come a long way.
STEP
2
THE ESCO MICRO STORY
3
True Story #5
Delivering on the
brand promises
— the substance THE AALST CHOCOLATE STORY
behind the name
A STRATEGY FOR
SWEET SUCCESS
BLUEPRINT YOUR IDEA Young start-up Aalst Chocolate had successfully cornered a
large slice of the quality chocolates market within a short
Now that you’ve identified your three years, able to name top food factories among its clients.
desired position in the market, Their main strategy was to compete on price and quality in those
initial years.
it’s time to draw up your
gameplan. This is the vital step Planning the next big step for Aalst, founder and chief executive
officer Mr Richard Lee envisioned bringing his delicious chocolate
that guides how, what, where, products into the lucrative food service and retail markets, and
when and to whom you plan expanding the brand’s global presence.
to communicate and deliver “To make this big leap, we needed to enhance our image and
your brand messages. It will work on getting people to recognise our brand,” said Mr Lee.
“We needed to aim for top-of-mind-recall.”
define your brand, support your
Their strategy was simple: Create unique products and introduce
positioning, and drive the clear product lines with swish packaging that would appeal to
way your brand is managed their target markets.
and perceived. Two new product lines emerged, each with strong and distinct
identities. Aalst Patissier, offering a wide range of gourmet
chocolate products, suited the exacting needs of professional
chocolatiers and pastry chefs. Aalst Chocolate Line, which
included party paraphernalia like chocolate fountains, was
for people like you and me to make tasty treats for family
and friends.
True Story #6
The company has built a shining track record and reputation as With the creation of these new subsidiaries, the company can
a specialist in designing and developing the advertising, visual now channel their innovative juices into projects that truly play
communication and environmental branding needs of its clients. up their competencies and allow them to shine. Mr Lee says that
though they are so new in their brand journey, they have already
With its own business founded on media strategy and branding, seen an improvement in sales and public awareness.
Green Art keenly understood the importance of having a strong
brand strategy. Hence, it was only a matter of time before “On top of being more focused about the work we take on,
business development manager Mr Lee Chong Han took the we have discovered more marketing channels to enhance the
crucial step of embarking on a branding exercise to revitalise the recognition of our brands. Also, there has been better customer
business founded by his father, Mr Lee Yock Peng, close to 30 retention. We now enjoy better growth by working directly with
years ago. our clients, instead of being a sub-contractor,” he added.
Key to Green Art’s branding strategy was separating the company Having won reputable multi-nationals like global human resource
into three specialised divisions, so that each could focus on agency Manpower, Giordano and SingTel as their clients, Green
building a strong brand name in its target market. Green Art took Art’s new brand strategy has certainly helped them capture new
markets and build the foundation for their next phase of growth.
STEP
“In the past, we were just selling fashion. We didn’t realise how
crucial branding was until a brand consultant told us that bYSI
had good growth potential. Then we took a second look and
started believing that we could really grow into a global brand.”
In the process, the bYSI staff forged a strong bond through the
shared experience of creating a brand together. “Everyone was
encouraged to contribute their ideas and views about the brand’s
attributes. Because when the ideas come from our people rather
than the consultants, those are their ideas that are being adopted
and they are that much more passionate about it,” said Mr Tan.
Today, bYSI’s vision is for every woman around the globe to have
access to a chic, functional and fashionable wardrobe. And of
course, its staff fully understand bYSI’s brand promise, and are
able to deliver it impeccably to customers amidst a fast-paced
environment, because they played a part in creating it.
A strong identity
unique enough THE MR BEAN STORY
for people to
remember and EMBODYING LIFE’S
choose.
SIMPLE PLEASURE
For the longest time, think ‘soya bean milk’ and you’ll think of
buying it at a hawker stall. But ask any Singaporean to name
GET YOUR FANS their favourite soya milk drink today, and they’ll quite likely say
‘Mr Bean’s Super Soya Milk’ or one of its many
Your brand is your most True Story #8
variations.
powerful differentiator.
This now-iconic Singaporean brand had its humble
It is the sum total of your beginnings in 1995 as a hawker stall too. But its
products, services, brandname, founders Mr Kang Puay Seng and Mr Loh Jwee
Poh had bigger dreams for their business. To bring
trademark, slogan, heritage, their delicious food and drinks to more people, they
design and technological adopted a fast food concept for Mr Bean, opening
stores throughout the island to serve not just fresh
abilities. Whether you are a soya milk, but also tasty soya bean-based snacks like
consumer or industrial brand, pancakes, biscuits and even ice cream – perfect for
people looking for fast and healthy treats to enjoy on
you need a strong identity that the go.
is distinct and unique enough The concept proved so successful that other
for people to remember, and to businesses began following suit, flooding the market
with similar products. So to maintain their lead and
choose, time and again. distinguish themselves further, the founders decided
it was time to embark on a branding exercise.
A review of their brand showed that Mr Bean needed to build
a stronger brand personality so that customers could identify it
immediately among a host of similar products. One of the first
things to go was the brand’s original logo, which was perceived
as too old-fashioned.
Mr Bean also improved its packaging and store displays. With the
smiling bean in all its designs – from the cutesy illustrations of
the bean playing on a swing, to a drawing of colourful flowers in
the grass – everything to do with Mr Bean thoughtfully evokes a
sense of happiness. These designs tug at the heartstrings of Mr
Bean’s customers so well that there is even an unofficial fan club,
who make collectors’ items out of everything, from the quirky
cookie boxes to the limited edition discount coupons.
MEASURE SUCCESS
Looking forward requires
looking back. Monitor how your
brand is doing and how well “We’ve seen remarkable
changes after our branding
you are connecting with your efforts. Our staff are better
customer. Make it a regular part informed and more aligned
with our goals. Wood Doctor
of your business process. Only has also become a global
brand.”
then can you know what you’ve
achieved, which will spur Mr Zain, managing director
Wood Doctor (Far East) Pte Ltd
you on to attain the next
level of success.
“Branding has helped us create
an international product. Sales
and productivity have increased
and there is a new sense of pride
among our staff.”
Mr Lim Lay Yew, chief executive officer “We are so new in our brand
Esco Micro Pte Ltd journey, yet we’ve already seen
improvement in sales and public
awareness, and we’ve captured
some new markets as well.”
“We’ve seen an increase in sales
Mr Lee Chong Han after our branding exercise, and
business development manager market recognition has also
Green Art Design & Products (S) Pte Ltd improved. Because of good
branding, our staff are more
committed – they have a better
sense of belonging and pride.”
Mr Richard Lee
founder and chief executive officer,
Aalst Chocolate Pte Ltd