Vol. 4, No. 1, Design Management Journal 2008

Selena Griffith, Lecturer, University of New South Wales; David Tan, Brand Strategy Director, Maracas Inc.

The four "little dragons" of Asia (South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore), along with China, have in the past few decades become a great pillar of the modern industrial world, right beside Europe and North America. These Asian elites have attracted foreign investment and are creating regionally and globally renowned brands (for instance, Taiwan's Acer, China's Lenovo, and Korea's Samsung). With this rise of Asian economies and living standards, brand building in Asia is set to be taken more seriously by Asian and Western corporations.

The aim of this paper by Selena Griffiths is to highlight the complexities of branding in Asia. It identifies current Western branding theories and variations of the Western branding process that would best suit the five main Asian brand scenarios: 1. Asian brands in Asian markets, 2. Asian brands in Western markets, 3. Asian brands in global markets, 4. Global brands in Asian markets, and 5. Western brands in Asian markets (numbers 3 and 5 are of greatest interest in this paper).

The author enumerates factors of particular importance when dealing with our branding scenarios, which include belief systems and superstitions (religion, numerology, color, and so forth.); historical considerations (associations to events in the past); political considerations (stable political climates favoring business and growth and determining ease of entry into markets for new brands); economic considerations (Asian nations becoming wealthier due to stable political and economic systems, attracting industrial development and investment, along with the proliferation of branding); experience with modern branding and communications; consumer access to the brand message (digital communication, especially); business structure and culture (Asian companies applying basic Western product and service brand-building principles).

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