For the first time, Interbrand has released a comprehensive analysis of the best brands in Asia, compiling insights from Best Japan Brands, Best China Brands, Best Korea Brands and Best India Brands, while also examining how brands are growing within Australia and the markets of Southeast Asia.
Interbrand’s Best Asian Brand study assesses the growth of each major Asian market, as determined by Interbrand data conducted over the past five years, and indicates the onset of a period of accelerating change, or a new age. An over-riding theme centres around changing customer behaviour, digitisation, and how brands are responding, or not, to these changes.
“Asia’s marketplace is vast and varied, populated by different cultures, religions, and societies”, says Jonathan Bernstein, Managing Director, Interbrand Singapore.
“Brands and businesses seeking success in more than one country in the region need to view the region not as a colorless supermarket, but as multiple bazaars — in varying degrees of development, in close proximity, and with fluid entryways to one another. Brands that understand this perspective have three things in common: a resonant brand promise, go-to-market strategies for different markets, and experiences which are tangible, meaningful, and relevant to target audiences.”
According to Bernstein, the challenge for Asian brands continues to be “to communicate a single, unifying purpose that employees and customers across demographics can rally around, one that goes beyond being first-in-market. Brands like Samsung and Toyota that Interbrand has built have not only been able to maintain consistency and clarity for their brands amid incredible market and consumer shifts, but also deliver meaningful, relevant experiences for customers across Asia’s complex landscape.”
Brand purposing has traditionally been neglected by Indian brands, says Ashish Mishra, Managing Director, Interbrand India. “Our research into Indian brands across industries reveals the top reasons for this lack of engagement. The Indian market is constantly expanding and extremely competitive so building presence and salience often takes centre stage. Indian marketers are often too preoccupied with retail challenges to worry about engaging with consumers through a unifying purpose and resonant promise.
Assuming a brand overcomes cost and infrastructure hurdles, the question then becomes – who do you engage with? There are multiple India’s – many cultures, languages, and urban-rural populations that make it difficult to create compelling and relevant engagement.”
In 2017, Interbrand included Sri Lanka in its global Best Brands listing and valuated the Top 20 brands in the country. “Brand Strength assessments by the Interbrand London office found consistently low engagement scores with leading brands scoring an average 4.5 out of 10,” says Michel Nugawela, Interbrand Sri Lanka Partner.
“Culturally this is a major challenge for Sri Lankan businesses. Few understand the need to engage with stakeholders at a deeper level and over a sustained period of time, and fewer still know how to go about it.
“A key issue for many of the larger, conglomerate businesses also remains the sheer extent of their diversification, making it very difficult for them to define and express a clear brand definition in the first place,” he said.