Branding: Promise vs Prestige
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! With all the festive mood of buying and giving, it would be hard for a marketer not to notice brand buying behavior around.
In Asia and especially here in China, branding is taking a very unique form.
I have always learned and believe that branding is about delivering the promise of the brand’s position in the minds of targeted customers. I was very naive to believe that “promise” is about quality, design and image. I used to believe that the promise of quality was most critical. I was proven wrong. The market in China is not short of examples where prestige outweighs promise. Customers are more concerned with face than with fulfillment. Often, the request for delivery is confusing and conflicting.
We have been dealing with corporate using cultural festivals to build customer relationship with gifts. An example would be the mid-autumn festival or what we call the moon cake festival back in Singapore. Customers had always requested that the gift set should be unique, ie different from others. Yet, it must carry the moon cake that is a long time brand, ie same as everyone. The definition of a “branded” moon cake that it must be acceptable by the general public. Customers had often requested for long time well known brands, which should be strong market leader. Going to the retail shops to hunt for this brand, we saw an unbelievable sight at the retail store. Checking out a long time leading moon cake brand, not only it was not individually packed like other brands, it was packed in very “cheap”looking box! But this is what customers prefer over a high quality well packed moon cakes (where the factory exports its moon cakes to Europe and the US). To boggle the mind further, after asking those who have received moon cakes in the past, 8 out of 10 Chinese do not eat or like to eat the moon cake. However, they would be upset if they do not receive the moon cake or if it is not a branded moon cake.
If I take the well developed scientific steps to evaluate a brand, or diligently carry out a conjoint analysis market research to map out the consumers’ AIO and preferences, I am not sure how it can help me develop a offensive marketing plan. Understanding Asian customers, especially here in China, it is seldom sufficient to just go through extensive market research. Customers being researched will often answer what they think or feel they are expected to answer. A totally professional but naive simplified look into the rationality of the market would not give companies the picture of the market they should see. To truly understand the customers, one have no choice but to literally live and breath with them. This will ensure successful marketing and branding.
Winston Nyo
General Manager, Village Earth Pte Ltd
