1. South China Morning Post Wednesday, July 13, 2016
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Building a brand and
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John Brennan
Last Thursday the culmination
of the Enterprising Hong Kong
Brand Awards 2016 gave
those in the audience an
opportunity to both laud and
learn.
With the number of award
categories expanded to
recognise both privately-held
SMEs and publicly-listed
homegrown companies, more
organisations than ever got
the chance to take a bow
when the winners were
announced at the lunchtime
ceremony.
With the day’s events
sponsored by United
Overseas Bank (UOB),
Qianhai International Liaison
Services as the Knowledge
Partner and organised by
South China Morning Post, it
was SCMP CEO Robin Hu who
introduced the announcement
of the award winners.
“Companies honored by
Enterprising Hong Kong
Brand Awards had to demon-
strate best-of-breed business
strategy and breakthrough
branding initiatives. The
winners not only emerged as
the top contender from a
group of high achieving peers,
they also represent the
brightest business minds in
our city.” he said.
“‘Enterprising’ is one of our
core values, which are
honourable, enterprising,
united and committed. It
includes being creative,
innovative and going the extra
mile to support our customers
and business partners. The
Enterprising Hong Kong
Brand Awards truly reflect our
core values and that is why we
support them,” says Christine
Ip, CEO Greater China of
UOB.
Awards were presented to
businesses drawn from six
sectors spanning Hong Kong’s
economy.
Among the privately-held
companies, Hong Kong
Airlines took the Best HK
Professional Services Brand
honours.
“This is an important award
for what is a relatively young
and growing company,”
Christopher Birt, general
manager of inflight services at
Hong Kong Airlines, told the
audience. “We work very hard
not just to offer excellent
service to our customers but
to promote our brand in what
is a tough industry.”
Collecting the award for the
Best HK Healthcare Brand in
the publicly-listed category,
Jacky Kwan, chairman of
Bamboos Professional
Nursing Services, was keen to
share the praise around.
“I think the honour should
not only go to me and my
team, it should also go to our
15,000 healthcare personnel
who are working really hard
and very professionally,” Kwan
said.
Earlier in the day, in a series
of panels and talks, finalists
and other experts gathered on
the stage to outline and assess
some of the key issues around
branding, entrepreneurship
and the nature of enterprise.
The morning’s mini confer-
ence began with a panel
session entitled ‘Newcomers
vs Big Players’, moderated by
Raymond Ho, chairman of The
Hong Kong Advertisers
Association (HK2A).
Joining him to look at
various ways that companies
just entering an already
crowded and competitive
marketplace can achieve
success were: Robby Yung,
ceo of mobile games publisher
Animoca Brands; Michelle
Wu, marketing general
manager with hotel and
serviced apartment operator
Ovolo Hotels; and, Kiri
Sinclair, founder and manag-
ing director of PR agency
Sinclair Communications.
Wu explained that Ovolo’s
brand is built around the idea
of positioning itself as its
young customers’ informative
friend.
Sinclair Communications is
in the business of promoting
its clients’ brands, and Sinclair
described how important it
was these clients present their
message consistently across
all communication channels
they use.
While Yung pointed out his
Animoca Brands has a less
common relationship with
branding.
“We work with licensor
partners from around the
world – Hollywood studios,
entertainment companies,
Japanese anime companies,
toy companies – and we
leverage their brands. So
we’ve got license for
Doraemon, Astro Boy,
Ultraman, Garfield, Thomas
the Tank Engine to create
original games featuring those
brands.”
Next up on the stage,
SCMP’s chief reporter, Enoch
Yiu, moderated a panel that
considered ways to transform
and rejuvenate brands.
Sharing their wisdom with
the audience were Patrick So,
general manager of Arome
Bakery Hong Kong, Gary
Bissett, director of marketing
with Dining Concepts, and
Jacky Kwan, chairman of
Bamboos Professional
Nursing Services.
So told the story of the rise,
fall and rise once again of
Arome Bakery. Facing brand
‘fatigue’ and declining
popularity with consumers,
the company formed a
re-branding team drawn from
all parts of the company, from
its chefs to its interior
designers, to turn things
around.
Successful branding isn’t a
one-shot process, Bissett
explained, but is built on
continuing development. Even
relocating the company’s
popular Bombay Dreams
restaurant within the same
building required a re-brand
involving changes to the logo
and the recruitment of a
master chef from India.
Kwan said repackaging the
company’s brand of medical
and nursing services is its
main objective. On top of that,
he added, delivering a very
good quality of service is
essential for the company to
successfully build its reputa-
tion.
Breaking out of the panel set
up, Dr Witman Hung, principal
liason officer for Hong
Kong-Shenzhen Qianhai
Authority presented a case
study on strategies Hong Kong
brands can use in the China
market.
Hung suggested that
emphasising the relative
‘foreign-ness’ of the brand,
building its fanbase online,
leveraging key opinion leaders,
such as internet celebrities,
personalising the landing
page, were all strategies worth
considering.
“Search engine optimisation
and data analytics are not new
technologies but if used
correctly they are still very
effective,” he added.
The final discussion before
the awards were announced
was entitled ‘Impossible vs I’m
possible.’ Moderator Dr
Edmund Lee, executive
director of the Hong Kong
Design Centre, saw this in
terms of the urgent need for
“Hong Kong to regain the
entrepreneurial spirit”, and his
panel was full of suggestions
about how this might be
achieved.
Start-up campus Paperclip is
Deepak Madnani’s fourth
company and the founder and
ceo readily admitted to
embracing the principle of
failing fast and iterating. “It’s
about the ability to keep
moving forward and keep
pushing,” he said.
Will Lai, co-founder and
business director with digital
marker agency Fimmick,
believed curiosity has to be
encouraged more within the
local education system. “Most
people who’ve studied in Hong
Kong are good listeners but
can’t ask good questions.”
Studying its competitors and
making sure Wifi Egg differen-
tiated itself from them has
been key to the company’s
success, said Vincent Fung,
marketing manager with the
mobile communications
service provider. On a less
positive note, he said he’d
found a decline in the attitude
of potential hires, with many
not bothering to turn up for
interviews or even calling to
explain their no-show.
Sam Yeung, Sales Manager
with flyer distributor Flyer
King, said detailed copying of
their products by competitors
had been an issue for the
company but developing new
ways of engaging with its
clients and their customers has
ensured it has continued to
thrive.
Robby Yung (right), Chief Executive Officer of Animoca Brands shares his insights on “Newcomers vs Big Players” panel. He is joined by moderator, Raymond Ho (left), Chairman of The Hong Kong Advertisers Association (HK2A) and Judge
for Enterprising Hong Kong Brand Awards 2016; Kiri Sinclair (second from left), Founder and Managing Director of Sinclair Communications and Michelle Wu (second from right), General Manager of Marketing of Ovolo Group.
EnochYiu(secondfromleft),ChiefReporterofSCMPandJudgeforEnterprising Hong Kong Brand Awards2016
moderates“EvolutionvsRevolution”panel.Herpanellistsconsistof(left)Jacky Kwan, Chairman, Bamboos
ProfessionalNursingServices;GarryBissett(secondfromright),DirectorofMarketing, Dining Concepts
andPatrickSo(right),GeneralManager,AromeBakeryHKCoLtd.
DrEdmundLee(left),ExecutiveDirectorofHongKongDesignCentreandJudgeforEnterprisingHongKongBrandAwards
2016,“moderatesImpossiblevsI'mPossible”panel.HispanellistsincludeWillyLai(secondfromleft),Co-founderand
BusinessDirectorofFimmick;VincentFung(middle),MarketingManagerofWifiEgg;DeepakMadnani(second
fromright),FounderandCEOofPaperclipStartupCampusandSamYeung(right),SalesManagerofFlyerKing.
Robin Hu, Chief Executive Officer, South China Morning Post Publishers welcomes
everyone to the Enterprising Hong Kong Brand Awards ceremony.
Dr Witman Hung, Principal Liaison Officer for Hong Kong, Shenzhen Qianhai
Authority provides key strategies for Hong Kong brands to enter the China market.
Christine Ip, Managing Director and CEO, Greater China of United Overseas Bank
Limited announces the winners of Best HK Retail & Hospitality Brand Award,
publicly-listed and privately-held.