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