The New Asian Corporation: Managing for the Future in Post-Crisis Asia by Michael Alan Hamlin

Branding in Asia by Dr. Paul Temporal

Asia – not including Japan and China – represents a tremendous opportunity and threat. On one hand, it is a market of almost 700 million people that is eager for brands. For some premium brands, Asia represents their biggest share of sales. On the other, some of the world's most dynamic companies and entrepreneurs are located in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and other parts of Asia. Already, some of these companies like Jollibee are expanding into the U.S., creating innovative competition for domestic firms.

Studying brands in Asia can answer several questions. What tactics used by Asian companies to establish dominance can also be used by U.S. companies in the region? What Asian companies represent competitive threats to U.S. companies in the future, in much the same way that Sony and Honda did decades ago? How do local brands compete with international powerhouses like Coca-Cola and McDonald's?

Two Asian branding experts have written books addressing these and other questions. The New Asian Corporation: Managing for the Future in Post-Crisis Asia is written by Michael Alan Hamlin. Hamlin is managing director of TeamAsia, a well-regarded business consulting group in Asia, and serves on the faculty of the Asian Institute for Management. He is a weekly columnist for the leading business newspaper in the Philippines, and is a regular contributor to Far Eastern Economic Review and other major Asian publications.

Branding in Asia by Dr. Paul Temporal also looks at the cultural, management and other issues affecting brands in Asia. The book jacket calls him "Asia's leading expert on brand creation, development and management, having lived in the region for over 14 years."

When I first started New Asian Corporation, I feared it would be dated. It was focused on the ramifications of the financial meltdown in 1997 that halted Asia's go-go growth during the '90s in its tracks. Even today unfinished skyscrapers litter the skylines of Bangkok and other Asian capitals. Then I realized it could provide lessons learned for U.S. brands who have had go-go growth halted by the dot-com bust and today's financial uncertainties.

Hamlin provides a compelling mix of insider access to top Asian executives, in-depth knowledge of U.S. business thinkers such as Adrian Slywotzky and David Morrison, and insights into such Asian practices as "guanxi," or connections. Hamlin writes that the Asian bust was caused by a mindless pursuit of opportunities over strategy, an over-reliance on foreign capital inflows, the certainty that familial blood accounted for more than outside brains, and a lack of shareholder and government oversight. Like many U.S. companies, Asian corporate leaders confused the short-term tactic of exploiting resources with the long-term strategy of adding value.

Every company in Asia was hurt by the crash. But companies that focused on people, technology or alignment with customer requirements continued to do relatively well. Hamlin tells a compelling FusionBranding story about RFM, a relatively small Filipino food processor that wound up stealing market share from Pepsi and Coca-Cola. RFM acquired a small local bottler and immediately went head-to-head with the soft drink giants with glitzy ad campaigns and retail store displays. The moves helped win market share, but at the cost of profitability. So RFM retrenched and went after the small neighborhood store. Not only was competition less, but cash flow improved. As a result, RFM's drink brand captured the second spot in the Filipino soft drink market.

Numerous other case studies are used to illustrate similar branding lessons, which include the ability to turn shortcomings into an advantage, focus and "market intimacy." According to Hamlin, market intimacy, and productivity and innovation are the keys to branding in Asia. Market intimacy results from quality, cost and total solution leadership. These are based on not only understanding customers, but also understanding what makes customer businesses successful. Productivity and innovation require a transition from pay-for-loyalty to pay-for-performance as well as strong adoption of relevant technologies.

Hamlin's book also points out the risks to emerging Asian brand leadership. These include a lack of sufficient investment in research and development, continued government interference in private markets and underfunded educational institutions.

While Hamlin's book outlines the principles, strategies and examples any executive could use to build a brand in Asia, Temporal's book has the musty feel of a scrapbook from grandma's attic. He rehashes dated concepts from the '70s and '80s, such as "brand personality," "positioning," and, worse, "re-positioning" (which compounds the mistake). Like Hamlin, he includes numerous case studies, but these all read like PR chirping. Like a corporate Lake Wobegon, all executives are visionary, customers ecstatic, and employees committed. One example: "Already a regional player, Expressions' founder and CEO Theresa Chew is an ambitious person, thinking 'brand' all the time. Thus, it would not be surprising to see the company become a truly international lifestyle brand."

The current fundamentals of branding are ignored. The word "customer" does not even appear until page 134. "Profit" or "profitability" don't merit any ink at all. Talking about branding without talking about customers or profitability is like talking about democracy without considering the role of voters or winners and losers in the political process.

Temporal does a good job of explaining the various types of common segmentation, although much of this is standard fare without any guidance on its applicability to Asian markets. And he stresses the importance of consistency to avoid confusion in customer and prospect minds. Otherwise, much of it reads like a 30-year-old time capsule. But Hamlin's book is well worth the effort, partly because of its business insights and partly because Asia represents a branding opportunity no longer easily ignored. As he says, "the opportunity is in Asia. There is competition, but no one can compete with the vast, contrast-filled region the world knows as one massive continent. And get this: The Asia-Pacific Century is real. It will happen. It's still on track. There are those who don't think so, and that's fine. But every major global business will count on Asia not just for growth, but for the majority of its business before the middle of the 21st century."

Start paying attention to branding in Asia.

Review by Nick Wreden