Evaluating the Asian Brand Revolution

Many predicted that the last decade would see the emergence and rise of Asian brands around the world.  These emerging economic powerhouses would change the balance of power from West to East.  This certainly happened in terms of manufacturing, but how has the Asian brand developed on the international stage?

In a recent study for the Financial Times, a number of international brands were profiled in order to map the international development of leading brands.  According to brand experts involved in the survey, brands once needed to dominate the US market to become globally recognized.  That has now changed as larger and larger markets are found in emerging economies like China.   Several food and drink brands from emerging markets were predicted to make an impact on the world stage, including China’s ChangYu, the country’s largest wine producer, and United Spirits, the largest spirits company in India.  Brands like Tata and Sony have already been a part of the international scene for some time.

The real question now is whether Asia products are “better” than their Western rivals?  Tata’s products are proven top of the line, which is why they are preferred the world over.  Japanese brands like Sony are unquestionable leaders in electronic consumer goods. 

Some people, like Joseph Baladi, CEO of BrandAsian, remains pessimistic about the opportunities for Asian brands on a global scale. “It’s arguably inappropriate to talk about Asian brands going to the next level - that is, international - when most fail to appeal to Asians within the region who continually demonstrate their preference for Western brands such as Apple’s iPhone, BMW or Nike.” 

Even if this is true, Asia’s hunger for Western brands doesn’t necessarily mean that Asian brands are not going international at the same time.  What are your feelings about the rise of Asian brands?  Where do you see the competition coming from in 2010?  Let us know at editor@pr2live.com.

*Quotes collected from sources at MediaAsia