Brand Alliance shares 2015 Asia's Top Influential Brands

Source: Brand Alliance. The brand gallery at Marina Bay Sands will be open till 21 August.

Brand Alliance, through its brand leadership platform Influential Brands, has shared the 2015 Asia’s Top Influential Brands, backed by consumer insights derived over 2013 to 2015.

This year, the scope of the Asia’s Top Influential Brands award was expanded to cover over 100 categories, ranging from food and beverage (F&B) and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) to financial services and property development. To determine Asia’s top influential brands, Brand Alliance combined research gained from field consumer insights, analysing the branding qualities, social listening and impact of these brands on consumers through face-to-face and online surveys with more than 4,000 consumers to assess brand favourability and top-of-name recall.

In 2015, Singaporean brands continue to dominate the local landscape. Household favourites such as BreadTalk, MrBean, NTUC FairPrice, Pet Lovers Centre, SK Jewellery and Jumbo Seafood scored high recognition and were perceived favourably by consumers. Other strong Singaporean brands to note include Tiger Beer, UOB Bank and Singapore Airlines, which are highly regarded for their market leadership on both regional and global fronts.

As a result of globalisation and internationalisation, consumers are increasingly well-travelled, with their rising affluence contributing to a greater exposure and acceptance of Asian brands. Based on the consolidated research results, market dynamics have also changed significantly over the past three years, particularly across consumer tastes and preferences, brand dynamics and country-specific brands. 

Geographically, the rise and growth of Chinese brands in Singapore have been among the most notable developments, from no recognition and recall in previous years, to becoming well-known by many consumers in Singapore. Some of these brands have become sizeable players in their respective fields, ranging from smartphones (Huawei [65.7%], OPPO [34.5%]), financial services (Bank of China [66.2%]), e-commerce (Taobao [51.2%]) and airlines (China Eastern [39.3%]).

Southeast Asian brands, particularly those from Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand also made it to the list, particularly in the F&B (PappaRich [62.3%], Thai Express [80.8%]), FMCG (Julie’s Biscuits [76.3%]) and commodities sectors. In line with previous years’ surveys, Hong Kong brands namely Cathay Pacific Airways (77.1%) and Watsons (74.7%) continued to secure their leadership positions within the branding spectrum, with consumers holding these brands in the highest esteem.

“It’s not surprising that these brands are top brands in Singapore,” said Jorge Rodriguez, Director of Strategy at Influential Brands. “These results revealed that there is an evolution on consumers’ perception towards brands and their openness to embrace new brands regardless of the country of origin is greater than ever. The new generation of consumers are including a new set of considerations in their decision process including recommendations from trusted sources and brand credibility alongside the traditional considerations such as value for money and functionality. This is creating great opportunities for Chinese brands to reposition themselves as the new generation of regional and global brands. The Influential Brands logo represents a vote of consumer confidence and approval, as well as a testament to the years of efforts invested in building, maintaining and strengthening the brands.”

The study showed that brands with high recall and positive perception were united in their brand engagement approach. Where the variables were equal (for example, in the F&B categories: location, convenience and price), consumers gravitated towards brands that have built brand presence and likeability via channels of trust and products and marketing activities that meet their expectations. In categories with intense competition, brands with cross-generational appeal, for instance Old Chang Kee, BreadTalk and NTUC FairPrice ultimately topped their categories.

A firm advocate of celebrating brand excellence in Asia, Brand Alliance goes the extra mile this year to hold a first-of-its kind brand gallery in Marina Bay Sands Singapore, showcasing many of Asia’s Top Influential Brands as part of the consumer engagement efforts. Visual panels detailing the stories behind each brand are on display, with on-site Brand Alliance personnel ready to assist those who are keen to find out more. The gallery is open for free admission till 21 August from 11am - 7pm daily at The Shoppes at MBS Level 1 #L1-K1 (next to Carnivore Restaurant).

Source: Brand Alliance. List in no order of preference or ranking.

Asian brand heroes recount brand journeys

Influential Brands, a programme by Brand Alliance, celebrated the achievements of top brands in Singapore at the 2014 Influential Brands conference: Celebrating brand leadership and Asia brand heroes on November 7. A number of the brand heroes talked about their brand journeys during a panel discussion at the event.

The panel discussion featured from left, a moderator, Amy Lim, Founder, Brand Alliance, Mrs Esther Tang-Loo, Executive Director of Focus Network Agencies, Han Keen Juan, Old Chang Kee Group’s Executive Chairman, Debra Soon, MD, Channel NewsAsia, Woon Tai Ho, Director for Media and Marketing, Singapore’s National Art Gallery, Allen Law, Group Chief Executive of the Park Hotel Group, and Dr Ting Choon Meng, Founder and CEO, HealthStats International.

Mrs Esther Tang-Loo, Executive Director of Focus Network Agencies (FNA), talked about how The Cocoa Trees came about as a brand. The company, which has grown from S$2 million to S$220 million in sales, had wanted something that would identify them better with the confectionery business than the FNA name, she shared.

“We wanted a good brand, a wholesome image,” she said. ‘The Cocoa Trees’, suggested by brand consultancy Brand Alliance stood out for FNA. The plural ‘trees’ suggested abundance, the leaves provided shade, while the roots of the trees signified a foundation, she explained.

“The Cocoa Trees image is almost like our face. It is our pride,” she said.

David Chiem, Group CEO and Chairman, MindChamps, also talked about the genesis of his brand. “The name has to say who we are, what we are about,” he said. It had to be two syllables because names with more syllables such as ‘Los Angeles’ tended to be abbreviated to two syllables (‘LA’), he said. In MindChamps’ case, the company discovered its tagline first, and the tagline – discover the champion in you – suggested the brand.

Allen Law, Group Chief Executive of the Park Hotel Group, which grew from one to ten hotels in ten years (excluding the two added last week), said that his tagline is “Discover love”. “What’s most important is how (staff) are living it and delivering it on a daily basis,” he said, explaining that any guest to a Park hotel should feel as the same care and concern from staff as if they are family.

Dr Ting Choon Meng, Founder and CEO, HealthStats International, which offers a new method to measure blood pressure, recalled scepticism that Singaporeans could invent anything earth-shattering when he first started building the brand. He found becoming a brand personality to evangelise the brand came with its own set of challenges.

"I became synonymous with blood pressure monitoring instead of BPro," he said. He has since distanced himself from being so closely associated with the brand, and reported that ‘BPro’ is now used as a verb by the medical community in the UK, where it has done very well.

Debra Soon, MD, Channel NewsAsia, noted that a brand relies on many people. “Success is the team’s effort. Failure is the failure of the leader,” she said. “It is a lot of hard work, it is not glamorous.”

Several brand heroes provided tips for aspiring entrepreneurs.

“If you can think of it, it exists,” said Woon Tai Ho, Director for Media and Marketing, Singapore’s National Art Gallery and the Founder of Channel NewsAsia.

Law shared the words of his late grandfather, who founded Bossini: “First you must dare to dream big. Most importantly, follow your heart. Follow your dream, don’t give up,” he said.

Han Keen Juan, Old Chang Kee Group’s Executive Chairman, advised aspiring entrepreneurs to be focused. “Make up your mind. When your commander says ‘Attack the island’, there is no way to come back. You had better make it,” he said, using a military analogy.

Old Chang Kee, HealthStats, The Cocoa Trees and the Park Hotel Group are featured in a book launched at the same event, Influential Brands: A documentary of their heroic rise. 

Read more about the book here.

Singapore brands receive recognition from Brand Alliance

Influential Brands, a programme by Brand Alliance, celebrated the achievements of top brands in Singapore today at a closed-door award ceremony.

The 2014 Influential Brands Award winners with Guest of Honour Seah Kian Peng (5th from left) and Director of Brand Alliance Group, Jorge Rodriguez (1st from right).

“Singapore brands can make its mark in the global scene. I encourage more Singapore companies to think of branding strategically, and as a tool for expansion. Underpinning all these requires long term planning and definitive and inspiring leadership,” said Seah Kian Peng, Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Minister of Parliament of Marine Parade GRC, the guest of honour.

In his speech Seah, who is also NTUC FairPrice Singapore's CEO, spoke about Singapore as a springboard to the world. "More Singapore companies can benefit from thinking of branding strategically, of capturing the imagination, the hearts and minds of their customers and the public at large and also, as a tool for expansion," he said.

“The future is bright and promising for many of the brands in Singapore. There are plenty of opportunities for brands to innovate and grow beyond our shores, in representing Singapore globally,” said Jorge Rodriguez, Director of Strategy at Influential Brands. 

"Old Chang Kee is a proudly Singaporean brand which has room to grow in the region and beyond. While brands such as Tata and Alibaba are proudly known as global brands from India and China, Singapore can be proud of our homegrown brand heroes and Influential Brands hopes to provide the platform for brands to collaborate for better growth opportunities,” he said.

Rodriguez also touched on online media amplification is a way to get brand stories to a wider audience. "Do they know the value of your company, your mission, your ambition? This is what we want to bring online," he said. "Consumers want to know what you stand for."

He also stressed that brand builders should not reinvent the wheel. Rather than creating their own loyalty card platform, for example, they can ride on existing popular loyalty platforms like the PAssion card. 

Working with popular online content platforms can also make a difference as their followers can share the story with others, provided the story is a good one. "Develop stories that are meaningful," he said. 

Rodriguez also shared a sneak preview of a mobile app which will provide users with targeted location-aware promotions from Influential Brands winners. 

Brand Alliance also launched a book, Influential Brands: A documentary of their heroic rise. 

Han Keen Juan, Old Chang Kee Group’s Executive Chairman, said: “We see many passionate young people trying to start up their business. Many of them are not prepared for the long journey ahead. We hope that by sharing our story, we can play a part by giving them a perspective of realism that is not often told in the classroom.”

More than 40 categories have been identified in the lead-up to the 2014 Influential Brands Award*, with more than 30 new categories compared with 18 categories for the 2013 Influential Brands Award. The brands recognised in each of the categories have been selected by consumers themselves and this recognition is a mark of trust and consumer preference that represents a brand’s achievement in engagement.

Some of the 2014 Top Influential Brands include Ya Kun for in the Asian Cafes category, Old Chang Kee for F&B Kiosks, and Dumex for Milk Powders.

Read the blog post about the book here and the post about the Influential Brands award here.

*The Influential Brands Award was developed to recognise brands’ efforts in engaging with the consumers through various means. Influential Brands also hopes to provide brands with a platform for further engagement with the target audiences. The Influential Brands programme is guided by four key goals:

• To create a fresh perspective on influential branding in Asia
• To educate brand owners seeking to harness branding as a key enabler for business growth
• To serve as a platform for recognising top brands and their commitment to engage consumers and for knowledge exchange
• To provide relevant insights to meet the expectations of today's ever-changing customers' needs

Brand Alliance to launch book on Asia brand heroes

Brand Alliance, a brand consultancy, will be launching its first book, Influential Brands: A documentary of their heroic rise, to celebrate brand leadership and entrepreneurship in conjunction with its 2014 Influential Brands conference: Celebrating brand leadership and Asia brand heroes on 7 November 2014 at Suntec City Convention Centre.

Source: Brand Alliance. Alibaba's brand story is in the book.

"These are intimate discussions with brands and Singapore brands which have not been told before. It is a peek into how some brands were developed and morphed into the brands we know today," said Brand Alliance in a statement. "We believe this is a book that will be an invaluable resource for budding entrepreneurs, academics, students, marketing and branding professionals and anyone hoping to gain more insights into 10 of Asia's most Influential Brands."

Brand Alliance notes that the book will promote the power of branding, provide an educational reference, while also inspiring others to do the same. "Each Asian-based brand has contributed to the vibrant business ecosystem here and many have even extended their brand influence on the world map with their brand names and innovations. The stories of these time-tested brands can also help the next generation of business leaders gain insights and provide any inspiring entrepreneur with valuable business tips and lessons," said the company.

"Most importantly, we hope to inspire a sense of pride in the collective achievements of these brands and the positive effects of the sharing of their stories."

The brainchild of Brand Alliance Founder Amy Lim, the book illustrates the journey of ten Asia brand heroes through personal conversations with brand founders and brand guardians. The result is an intimate dialogue which takes the reader from a brand’s creation to its challenges today.

Lim's passion in creating and developing brands goes beyond simply establishing global brands, but sustainable brands with a purpose. She admires Asia brands which have developed into today’s brand heroes. It is this understanding, admiration and empathy for Asian brands which led to the development of the book as a platform for brand appreciation and an intimate insight into their stories, to enable, encourage and inspire other brand owners, at whichever stage of the brand lifecycle.

According to Brand Alliance, all brands begin with a founder who has a story. It is the brand founders who craft and shape the brand into a living personality. Brand Alliance believes that most brands are inextricably linked to the personality and vision of its founders.

The stories of the ten brands in the book, taken from various parts of Asia and industries, aim to provide a perspective on how the elements of culture, environment and founder’s values may affect the brand’s influence on people and businesses. The brands featured in the chapters here come from different countries – mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and India.

Source: Brand Alliance. The Cocoa Trees is well known for its confectionery in Singapore.

Each chapter in the book in the book starts with the founder’s background, leading into the brand’s evolution, the brand DNA which illustrates how the brand takes on parts of the founder’s personality, brand model which provides an overview of the brand’s growth over the years and leading into the business and brand challenges and how each brand overcame them.

In the last section, brand performance is analysed through qualitative and quantitative parameters. Brand performance is not limited to financials and the size, but is also based on its influence in comparison to the industry and its influence on a consumer’s life.

Alibaba, for example, started as a B2B e-commerce platform and is now an e-commerce player which commands more than 70% of China’s mobile commerce share and an e-commerce giant ready to take on world giant Amazon. Its presence now resonates across industries and countries. The company made global headlines for being behind the world's largest IPO this year.

Besides Alibaba, the brand heroes featured in the book include:

• Channel NewsAsia: Asia’s first network and proudly Singaporean 
• CapitaLand’s China story: Singapore’s leading developer, a zero to hero story in China and first told here 
• The Cocoa Trees by Focus Network Agencies: Growing confectionery in travel retail and beyond 
• HealthStats: A doctor who has revolutionised the industry. Well known in medical industries worldwide 
• Old Chang Kee: A Singapore heritage brand; while the story has been told, the chapter includes insider views on their products and development. 

Tata, Tao Kae Noi and the Park Hotel Group are also featured.

The recommended retail price for the hardcover book is S$88. It is in full colour, with more than 200 pages. Email contact@influentialbrands.com for bulk orders and pre-orders. The book will be available at Relay & Times Travel bookstores at Changi Airport and all major bookstores in Singapore from November 2014.

Influential Brands is a consumer-insight driven award programme with a mix of integrated engagement platforms for brands. It celebrates its second year in 2014. The award celebrates brands which have achieved a good standing with consumers and also provide brands with a platform for further engagement with consumers.

Brand Alliance chose the top influential brands in Singapore earlier this year.

Gen X identifies Singapore's Influential Brands

The top Influential Brands in Singapore have been selected by the upwardly mobile Generation X (Gen X) in a consumer choice-based award programme driven by Brand Alliance*. 
 

Source: Brand Alliance. Brand Alliance handed out the 2013 Influential Brands awards on November 2013. The 2014 Influential Brands conference will be held on 10 November 2014.

The survey has revealed that there are more than 100 Top Influential Brands in Singapore. More than 20 new brand categories were created in 2014. The new 

categories may reflect the challenge of Gen X in finding a balance between discretionary and necessity spending. 

The new categories in 2014 relevant to the Gen X consumers include:

1. Budget airlines 
   
2. Dental clinics 
3. Electronic retailers
4. Full service airlines
5. Furniture shops 
6. Health and life insurance 
7. Milk powders
8. Online platforms 
9. Preferred credit cards 
10. Preschool centres
11. Property agencies 
12. Property developers
13. Tuition centres
14. Vitamins and health supplements 

Brands which have captured the hearts of both Gen Y** in 2013 and Gen X in 2014 include household names such as ToastBox, NTUC FairPrice, DBS Bank, Gong Cha, Old Chang Kee, Din Tai Fung, Clinique and Watsons among others. 

According to Brand Alliance, Gen X consumers in Singapore value convenience despite being price-sensitive. They tend to make brand decisions based on ease of obtaining a product or service, weighing elements such as location, accessibility and user-friendliness of online platforms when making decisions.

They are less influenced by recommendations when making brand decisions for the categories surveyed, unless they are making decisions about property.

Singapore Gen X consumers say they will consider recommendations from trusted sources from contacts when making property decisions, with one in five likely to consider recommendations when making a decision on property developers or property agencies. 

While print is still highly relevant as a source of news for Singapore's Gen X, online and social platforms are rising to be their preferred news sources. “With increasing shifts in consumer behaviour driven by technology and digital platforms, both local and international brands are communicating with a distracted group of consumers. 

"The window to capture attention and purchase decisions has shifted from traditional retail to include alternative platforms and this spells opportunities for brands to increase conversion for online platforms or increase engagement through multiple channels at various points of a consumer decision journey,” commented Jorge Rodriguez, Director of Strategy at Influential Brands.

Some of the 2014 Top Influential Brands are below.

Electronic retailers	Foodcourts	Facial Centres
Best Denki	Food Junction	Bella Skin
Challenger	Food Republic	BioSkin
Courts	Kopitiam	Citispa
Gain City	NTUC Foodfare	Jean Yip
Harvey Norman		New York Skin Solutions

*Brand Alliance surveyed more than 3,000 Gen X respondents in Singapore between ages of 34 and 54 years old in the first half of 2014 about their preferred brands across industries. 

**Gen Y would be the cohort born after Gen X, roughly aged 13 to 33.