Brands make a difference

BRANDS make a difference, and raising the standard of brands was the main focus at the Global Brand Forum (GBF) conference organised by Media Prima last week.

Fernandes with the Global Brand Forum’s Malaysian Brand Icon Award 2008

With the current economic turmoil, it was timely for marketers, media representatives and CEOs and numerous conglomerates to get tips from renowned figures in the industry to push their brands to greater heights.

AirAsia group CEO Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes advised those present at the forum to leverage on media coverage after they have established their brand and made it unique.

"Now is not the time to cut down on advertising as it is the best way to build a brand and stay ahead of competitors," he said.

"AirAsia has seen growth on advertising expenditure (adex) and we will continue to increase our adex by 15% to 20% next year."

He said apart from creating innovative product offerings, AirAsia’s other marketing efforts included collaborating with leading brands such Manchester United and Amazing Race to establish a symbolic relationship and obtain brand exposure.

Citing other efforts, Fernandes said that "free" seats giveaway campaigns are always a hit.

When AirAsia organised the Love Bali campaign with Media Prima’s TV3 after the terrorist attacks, "we wanted to make a difference".

"We wanted to help by flying people over to lend their support as well as to boost the economy. The Bali campaign offered around 12,000 free seats and within an hour, all seats were sold out," he said.

At the event, Fernandes was presented with the Global Brand Forum’s Malaysian Brand Icon Award 2008 which recognises an individual and not the company, for amazing vision, inspiring the public and for efforts in reinventing a category.

Earlier, former Procter & Gamble chief marketing officer Jim Stengel said to create a global brand, one has to be accustomed to change by re-evaluating brand value and innovating one’s brand from within the company and only then to consumers.

"The brand must have a clear representation and how it can help improve consumers’ lives," he said, pointing out Google and Nike as examples.

"Google is universally accessible by providing useful information while Nike’s idea was to lead the company via a leadership position in athletics – ‘If you have a body, you’re an athlete’."

Other speakers who attended the forum were Shanghai Tang Hongkong creative director Joanne Ooi and Flickr co-founder Stewart Butterfield, who also shared the same sentiments as the first two speakers – brands need to be consumer-centric, innovative and unique, which are achievable via various marketing and advertising efforts which is crucial, especially with the economic crisis.