Brand strategy in Asia-Pacific
There are so many components to a successful brand strategy that it can be difficult for branding professionals to ensure that they are abreast of industry trends.
Meeting with peers and hearing from those who are excelling in this field provides professionals with an opportunity to stand back and get a feel for the wider market and industry trends, an environment that nurtures valuable inspiration.
The Transform conference Asia-Pacific and the Transform awards Asia-Pacific today (18 November) gave delegates the opportunity to, respectively, hear about award-winning brand campaigns and speak with industry peers and hear who the latest Transform awards winners in the region are.
The conference’s location, Hong Kong, provided an excellent example for one of the workshops, relating to international branding. As a city with a diverse population, Hong Kong can be a challenge for brands hoping to target both local and ex-pat stakeholders.
In other workshops, delegates discussed brand reputation, employer brand management and measuring success and return on investment. The branding professionals in attendance shared their personal experience in dealing with these professional challenges.
The first speaker of the half-day event at the Harbour Grand Hotel, Hong Kong, was Paul Tam, executive director at Hong Kong Ballet. Tam had an engaging story to tell about the artistic brand’s mission to compete on an international stage. He said how the former brand was unrepresentative of the company’s assets, and that he had wanted to raise the profile of the Hong Kong Ballet dancers to ‘stars’. The project used raw, urban photography to reposition the brand and received great feedback from its diverse and challenging stakeholders. Tam said that the new brand is, “A needle in my back.” The standard that it sets pushes employees to perform on a higher level.
Other speakers on the day included Michelle Tan, senior manager of brand marketing at Hong Kong Tourism Board. Tan’s fascinating story told of the organisation’s decision to put experience at the heart of the Hong Kong nation brand. This sentiment was echoed by Marcus Lui, head of customer experience and design at Asia Miles, who also spoke on the day. Liu said, “It’s the memories that really count in the end.”
The day ended with the Transform awards Asia-Pacific. Also hosted at the Harbour Grand, by comedian Ryan Hynek, the awards provided an opportunity for the celebration of great branding work taking place in the Asia-Pacific region. Agencies, individuals and brands came together to congratulate each other and celebrate the strength of the industry. The Grand Prix award was won by Pizza Hut and Brand Union.
The Transform awards and conferences celebrate professional, strategic branding work in four regions globally; Europe, Middle East and North Africa, Asia-Pacific and North America. Transform magazine is a globally-distributed magazine that covers the art of strategic branding and features news and features from branding experts and industry leaders.
The winners of the Transform awards Asia-Pacific 2015 are:
The Winners
CONTENT
Best use of a visual property
Gold - HSBC NOW and MerchantCantos
Silver - M&G Stationary and Landor Associates
Silver – Pizza Hut and Brand Union
Bronze – Hong Kong Ballet and MerchantCantos
Highly commended - Cali-Mex and StartJG
Highly commended - Blackfish and MADE Creative
Best brand architecture solution
Gold - HAECO and Sedgwick Richardson
Silver - Tiger Balm and NiCE
Bronze - Nord Anglia Education and StartJG
Highly commended - Impulse and Labbrand
Best brand experience
Gold - Pizza Hut and Brand Union
Gold - Qkuts and Creativoo Creative Consultancy
Silver - Alibaba and FutureBrand
Silver - sáv Hospitality and FutureBrand
Bronze - Aimer and Creative Capital
Bronze - Khmer Brewery Limited and ComZone
Best use of packaging
Gold - Pizza Hut and Brand Union
Silver - Arla Foods and Shift.
Bronze - Tiger Balm and NiCE
Highly commended - Blackstone and Brash Brands
PROCESS
Best stakeholder relations during a brand development project
Gold - Blackstone and Brash Brands
Best implementation of a brand development project
Gold - Meliá Hotels International and Labbrand
Silver - M&G Stationary and Landor Associates
Silver - Tiger Balm and NiCE
Bronze - Tatts Group and Hulsbosch
Best implementation of a brand development project across multiple markets
Gold - Nord Anglia Education and StartJG
Silver - HSBC NOW and MerchantCantos
STRATEGY
Best creative strategy
Gold - Nomura and Living Group
Silver - Murata and Living Group
Bronze - Meliá Hotels International and Labbrand
Bronze – sáv Hospitality and FutureBrand
Highly commended - Tiger Balm and NiCE
Best brand evolution
Gold – Hong Kong Ballet and MerchantCantos
Gold - Zhao Liang Jewellery and Creative Capital
Silver - Prudential Financial and Brand Union
Bronze - Gramedia and MakkiMakki
Highly commended - Molsion and Landor Associates
Best strategic/creative development of a new brand
Gold - Cali-Mex and StartJG
Silver – Neqta Hotels and Labbrand
Bronze - Wanda Ridong Group and Brash Brands
Highly commended - Aura and Brand Union
Highly commended – Blackstone and Brash Brands
Highly commended - V8 Supercars and Hulsbosch
TYPE
Best corporate rebrand following a merger or acquisition
Gold - Hoau and FutureBrand
Silver - Jellis Craig and Traffic
Silver - Prudential Financial and Brand Union
Bronze - POSH and StartJG
Best brand development project to reflect changed mission/values/positioning
Gold - BOE and Shift.
Silver - Proactive and Cluster Creative
Bronze – Hoau and FutureBrand
Best rebrand of a digital property
Gold - Murata and Living Group
Silver - Vinson & Elkins and Living Group
Bronze- Black Crane Capital and Living Group
SECTOR
Best visual identity from a charity or NGO or NFP
Gold – Hong Kong Ballet and MerchantCantos
Best visual identity from the education sector
Gold - British Council and FutureBrand
Silver - Nord Anglia Education and StartJG
Best visual identity from the energy & extractives sector
Gold - sosoon and JungleFish
Silver - EMP and MakkiMakki
Best visual identity from the engineering & manufacturing sector
Gold - HAECO and Sedgwick Richardson
Silver - Midea SteamCube and MetaDesign China
Best visual identity from the financial services sector
Gold - Alibaba and FutureBrand
Silver - Prudential Financial and Brand Union
Highly commended – Black Crane Capital and Living Group
Best visual identity from the healthcare & pharmaceuticals sector
Gold - Proactive and Cluster Creative
Silver - Mitra Keluarga and MakkiMakki
Best visual identity from the professional services sector
Gold - McGrathNicol and Hulsbosch
Silver - Vinson & Elkins and Living Group
Bronze - CDP and FutureBrand
Best visual identity from the property sector
Gold - Dongguan Minying and Brand Union
Silver - Blackfish and MADE Creative
Silver - Blackstone and Brash Brands
Bronze - Wanda Ridong Group and Brash Brands
Best visual identity from the retail sector
Gold - Molsion and Landor Associates
Silver - M&G Stationary and Landor Associates
Bronze - Tatts Group and Hulsbosch
Highly commended - Century Wellness Centre and MakkiMakki
Highly commended - Qkuts and Creativoo Creative Consultancy
Highly commended - Yintai and FutureBrand
Best visual identity from the technology, media & telecommunications
Gold - vivo and MetaDesign China
Silver - Murata and Living Group
Best visual identity from the travel & leisure sector
Gold – Neqta Hotels and Labbrand
Silver - sáv Hospitality and FutureBrand
Best overall visual identity
Hong Kong Ballet and MerchantCantos
Grand Prix
Pizza Hut and Brand Union
