Brand Union's Simon Bolton on the growing sophistication of branding in Asia

“When I did the first stage of my career development in Asia, nearly everything we ever did was through a Western filter of brand management, done on very prescriptive and formulaic versions of American or British style techniques,” said Simon Bolton, worldwide CEO of The Brand Union. “The rules have changed tremendously. There’s a better understanding of brand management principles in Asia now.”

Bolton was last based in Asia in 1998 and had spent 10 years in total building brands in India, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore in different stages.

There’s a greater appreciation that brands have to be marketed differently, and in bespoke ways, he said. Asian brands are making the world sit up and take notice. “We’re seeing that era of growth now. Twenty years ago, when you think Asian brands, you might think of Singapore Airlines or Tiger Beer, but the brand landscape is so multifaceted now, with so much competition regionally and internationally,” he said.

“One of the brands that I admire out here a lot out at the moment, one that I would peg for future growth is Airtel in India,” he said. ”The company is now under great pressure because of the successful launch of Vodafone in the country, but the technology upsurges and the improvements they’re making are very impressive. They moved into Africa by buying Zain, and it shows their ambition. People ask, when do brands become global players? I think this is a great example.”

“I think the view that Asians are focused on short-term returns rather than long-term branding strategy is outdated. That used to be the view, but not anymore,” he said.

“Generally things move faster in Asia. The pace of business is very fast out here. This doesn’t mean that long-term brand building is neglected - there are people who have great vision of how their businesses will develop and grow,” Bolton observed, citing Lenovo, Kingfisher and Air Asia as other Asian brands that are making waves internationally.

Although the principles of branding are not yet as well-defined in Asia, Bolton said that this is a very exciting time to be building brands here. “I think we’re seeing the script being written right now,” he said.

The challenges to building brands in Asia are the same as elsewhere. “If you only ever tried to appeal to the consumer, you’re always going to have a constantly moving target. It’s really up to you to have a judgement, a point of view,” he said pointing out that research only brings an insight to changing fashions.

“At the end of the day, we’ve got to try to create more longevity with some identifiers that stay absolutely relevant to your audience group - knowing that your competitors are going to always attack you, and that views and fashion are constantly changing. A point of view that rides above the research and that desire for change. Change is the only constant, yes, but change to adapt, and not just for the sake of change.”