A useful exercise is to ask people to create a collage of the pictures and words that represent their idea of the brand in question. The purpose is to have people express their perception of that brand without having to use a vocabulary borrowed from a psychoanalyst or anthropologist. Brands can, of course, be described in such terms, and probably by the advertising agency, but most consumers would be unlikely, unable or unwilling to do so, and it is the consumers’ perceptions this columnist wants to understand.

Identify a group of six or eight people from your target market—consumers and potential consumers—and sit them down in front of a pile of newspapers and magazines—everything from this publication to all sorts of the other print media. Arm them with scissors and glue, and ask each of them to cover a sheet of paper with the words and images they feel are most appropriate to your brand.

You are not concerned here with their artistic skill, but with the associations your brand conjures in their mind. Are they good or bad associations, and more to the point, are they the associations that you intend? Their creations will often surprise you, sometimes disappoint you, and just sometimes they might depress you.

LILET CAMARA-YAN, Reader’s Digest Asia-Philippines advertising director; Jim Plouffe, editor in chief Reader’s Digest Asia English edition and Discovery Channel magazines; Lizanne C. Uychaco, Philamlife SVP and chief marketing officer; Jose L. Cuisia Jr., Philamlife president and CEO; Rosemarie Wallace, Reader’s Digest Asia regional managing director; and Oscar Veronese, Reader’s Digest Asia regional advertising director.

People may choose to use other brands’ images in their collage, suggesting parallels in values and beliefs that may be useful to the brand manager. If the other brands used are close competitors, then perhaps your own positioning is not yet sufficiently precise? If the brands used are far removed from your own, then this may simply be an opportunity for some creative stealing—professionals call it research. Describing the brand as a personality is of huge importance: People can identify with people—they can love them, but they can also hate them. In developing the essence of your brand, its appeal and its presence, personality is a valuable touchstone.

Interpreting the collage exercise may not be an easy task, and will be best done by professionals. Amateur observers, particularly those closely involved (including this columnist), have a knack of seeing whatever they happen to be looking for.

Given access to honest information, Philamlife president and CEO Jose L. Cuisia Jr. told this columnist during the 10th Reader’s Digest Trusted Brands 2008 held recently: “The consumer himself is the best judge of what he needs and wants, the form and the package it comes in and the price he will pay. Moreover, he is most likely to get what he wants under a system in which thousands of business enterprises are competing fiercely but fairly for his favor.”

Philamlife continued to strengthen its market leadership with its fifth consecutive Readers’ Digest Trusted Brands 2008 for the Platinum award for the insurance category from Reader’s Digest Asia, based on the Trusted Brands Asia survey, an annual undertaking of Reader’s Digest to identify which brands appeal most to consumers across Asia.

“[What’s more important to us is that] this is an indication of the trust and confidence that consumers have with Philamlife because to be a trusted brand award, you actually earn it. You can’t apply for it. It’s the consumers who decide. There’s no panel of judges. We have, in fact, been using that [even before we got the award]: ‘the most trusted life insurance company,’” Cuisia said. This branding strategy has proven to be more than just a catchy phrase. “Philamlife is the only life-insurance company and the only financial institution to be conferred this year with the highest honor,” he added.

In the survey, consumers from the Philippines, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand were asked to name their top brands from 43 categories—from institutions to consumer goods to electronics, hotels and automobiles—and rate their preferred brands according to the following criteria: trustworthiness, credible image, quality, value, understanding of consumer needs and innovation. Only the brands with the highest ratings were given either Platinum or Gold Trusted Brand status. The Trusted Brands survey was carried out by Nielsen Media Research.

In the product development front, Philamlife recently launched a new variable life product called AIG Asset Builder: the Philippines’ first VUL product with no premium charges, making it possible to maximize 100 percent of one’s total investment. It also continues to distribute AKSITEXT, a revolutionary prepaid accident-insurance card that is activated through text messaging and available in convenience and sari-sari stores. Selling for only P10, AKSITEXT provides P10,000 accidental death insurance for a period of 15 days. The company offers the most comprehensive range of life and general-insurance products and has over a million individual and corporate policyholders. Philamlife maintains the most extensive network of offices and sales agencies nationwide.

“If you were to buy a life-insurance policy, from which company would you buy?” he asked. Latest survey revealed (which was not commissioned by Philamlife but by one of its competitors) 61 percent of the respondents said they would buy from Philamlife, followed by a next insurance company at only 27 percent and the third choice was at 21 percent. “Clearly, we’re far ahead,” he stressed.

New research insights now tell us clearly that people are not all of a piece. They are rational and cautious in some areas and, at times, enjoy adventures in buying in other areas and at other times. Also there are some products which are best defined a necessity rather than a luxury.

“While we have gotten this award, it is a continuous challenge for us to retain that trust of our policyholders, the consuming public, by continuing to provide innovative products, modern technology and excellent service. That is why they have been choosing us regularly every year,” he added.

According to Reader’s Digest, “the real value of the award does not simply lie in its name but in what the awards program stands for. It is a representation of the brand’s perceived values and opinions expressed by the readers of Reader’s Digest Asia—Asia’s largest circulation magazine with over 1 million readers—and nonreaders alike.”

This columnist believes that true loyalty is about something bigger than retention or even the financially driven “lifetime consumer value” concept. It is about authenticity. It is about passion. It leads to ambassadorship and activism on behalf of the brand. And ultimately  leads to off-the-charts brand-value scores.

Turning to culture in marketing

We can see that the Japanese have long accepted the benefits of corporate brands. You can buy a Yamaha-branded motorbike, hi-fi, piano, yacht or electronic organ without being unduly confused. This is not just a Japanese phenomenon.

In India the Tata brand encompasses almost every business activity from banking to motorcars and industrial chemicals. It succeeds for reasons well understood in Japan, and slowly being realized elsewhere.

Mitsubishi uses as one of its corporate slogans, “From noodles to atomic power,” a statement that calls on a very Japanese perception of the role and status of business in society. Would the British be as happy trusting atomic power to Heinz, makers of spaghetti hoops?

A much-quoted study carried out by the Henley center in the 1990s showed that in the United Kingdom many consumer brands are trusted more than the police or the royal family. This and other similar studies also showed that we trust consumer brands more than their corporate owners.

It would seem that, in the UK at least, a product brand, particularly one with a clear personality and compelling emotional charge, can be loved and cherished, while we remain wary of big business. Of course, it depends on the particular big business as to whether a corporate brand is good or bad for sales.

But why are the Chinese very successful in today’s very advanced and virtually scientific marketing technology? What is it in their approach to marketing that seems to give them a competitive edge?

A well-respected Chinese marketing professional and scholar will share insights on the Chinese mind during the World Marketing Conference to be held at the SMX Convention Center on June 19 and 20.

Lawrence Pang, president of the Society of Chinese Wisdom & Management in Hong Kong, will delve on Chinese wisdom in marketing for the biggest marketing convention this year being organized by the Philippine Marketing Association, with support from the Asia Marketing Federation.

Pang’s expertise is rooted from his broad professional experience and extensive scholastic background. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Hong Kong and his Masters of Business Education from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He also has a degree in marketing from the Institute of Marketing in the United Kingdom, now known as the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

His versatility sets him apart as he has worked for various industries like microcomputer systems, office equipment, electronics, scientific and medical equipment, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, plastics, as well as publishing in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, China and Korea. Pan’s approach seems to follow the Chinese wisdom, which usually adopts a holistic approach and focuses on intrinsic forces and social values that can help achieve competitive advantage and greater success.

Pang has also been a great contributor of the marketing profession in Hong Kong, especially during his term as the chairman of the Hong Kong Institute of Marketing. He is currently the CEO of Tian-Strategic Marketing & Consulting Ltd., and chairman of Vanessa Public Relations & Consultants Ltd. in Beijing.

MindShare launches Interaction

MindShare Philippines has recently hired Crisela Magpayo to the newly created position of director of digital practice as the media company launches MindShare Interaction.

MindShare Philippines will be one of the first full-service media agencies that will offer a fully integrated digital service to its clients as part of the total media mix.

“It was quite a long time and exhaustive search for the right person to lead our interaction business. And she has all the right qualities I was looking for. She has a very solid client-service background coming from Ogilvy & Mather, very entrepreneurial, very knowledgeable on the latest digital innovations and trends and, most important, lives and breathes the medium,” MindShare Philippines general manager Bunny Aguilar says.

“My role [as I see it] is to make our clients and colleagues ask what if there was actually another way to build brands beyond traditional media and what if we pushed for interactivity versus just sticking an ad onto a site? In the spirit of the Internet, where companies have invented new business models, new ways of doing things, my hope is that MindShare Interaction’s advocacy for digital media can also change the way brands and consumers communicate,” Magpayo furthers, as she moves into her new role.

MindShare Interaction is the leading digital agency in Asia-Pacific with 183 dedicated digital-media experts. It is the only agency that has dedicated digital personnel since 1999. It has centers of expertise in search, mobile advertising and communities, and works with a global network of technology partners like 24/7 real media, for search solutions and companies like Dynamic Logic and M:mobile for digital focused research.

Fly to Bahamas campaign

Many Filipinos are starting to feel the pinch of unstable times. Rising inflation rates, volatile market and low returns contribute to the uncertainty of a good future.

Sun Life Financial Philippines (SLFP) responds with the launch of the Amazing-I campaign to provide Filipinos a compass to navigate toward financial security. Amazing-I is Sun Life’s latest market-education campaign meant to counter the negative sentiment of most Filipinos brought about by current market uncertainty and rising commodity prices; educate them on financial planning; provide solutions to their financial worries via investments and insurance; and make insurance and investments less intimidating to them.

Through the Amazing-I Compass challenge, financial literacy and security can be achieved through investments, insurance, or the combination of both instruments. As SLFP helps Filipinos assess and determine their monetary situation, they can choose from two paths to a stable future: Amazing Links and Amazing Funds. The Amazing Links has the “power to protect” from untoward incidents via Sun Life’s variable universal life products, while Amazing Funds prepares the “path to prosperity” through the seven Sun Life mutual funds.

“With the current volatility in the market and the rising prices of basic commodities, many are worried and doubtful that they can survive financial. Sun Life responds with the launch of the Amazing-I campaign to empower the Filipino individual to take control of their financial situation and do something to ensure their security,” Henry Herrera, SLFP president and CEO, explains.

Aside from discussing the importance of financial planning the Amazing-I gives the public a chance to win a vacation for four to the Bahamas islands just by completing the Compass challenge.

AdMix: The brand as personality

A useful exercise is to ask people to create a collage of the pictures and words that represent their idea of the brand in question. The purpose is to have people express their perception of that brand without having to use a vocabulary borrowed from a psychoanalyst or anthropologist.

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