Media Centre

Brand building cannot be separated from business building, because a brand is a reflection of the businessperson, product quality and business integrity.

“Whether you like it or not, your brand is formed by consumers,” said Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT) founder and President Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Lim Kok Wing.

“Branding is not about fancy advertising or a catchy jingle. A brand is a reflection of the businessperson and the value system that the person abides by,” he said at the Brand Builders Series III forum with the theme: Global Branding: Get Going organised by the Branding Association of Malaysia on Tuesday night.

“The product must deliver and the level of delivery makes the brand,” said Lim, who is known as ‘The Father of Innovation in Creative Education’, when sharing his insights into what makes a successful brand and the vital ingredients for brand building.

“The brand has to reflect what you want your business to be. You cannot separate a brand from your business identity,” he said when sharing knowledge on global branding at the forum attended by key players representing 100 prominent companies.

Citing a statistical example of how successful brands can be, he said 10 of the most successful brands in the world generate more wealth than 50 of the poorest countries with 700 million people.

Lim said the essence of a good brand is unfailing product quality and unquestionable business and personal integrity.

Commenting on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which make up 99.2% or half a million of total business establishments in Malaysia involved mainly in manufacturing and agricultural services, Lim said:

“According to a report from the Statistics Department, only 30% of SMEs promote products. There is very little focus placed on creative marketing and the use of technology in whatever they do.”

He said in order for local SMEs to successfully be a global brand, they would need a global marketing strategy that maximises creativity, innovation, information technology and new media.

“The logical steps towards growth is to continually improve one’s business model in enhancing one’s position to become more competitive, recognisable and tangible,” said Lim.

He said the internet and mobile services have to be tapped by businesses that intend to build successful brands as new media is voraciously used by consumers all over the world.

Lim warned that SMEs in Malaysia will continue to be left behind in global competition if they do not adopt creativity and innovation in their business models and branding.

He said the full implementation of the Asean Free Trade agreement next year will result in an influx of new economies, so local businesses will have to look for new markets to create new opportunities.

He said Malaysia’s innovation index has been in decline and the country’s economy is trapped in a low wage, low value-added and low productivity structure.

“In order for Malaysia to become a successful brand, everyone from every walk of life must feel the need for quality products and must embrace quality,” Lim said.

“The problem with this country is that it has pockets of creativity and innovation in huge areas of underdevelopment,” he added.