Center

Branding model

By Li Fangfang (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-07-24 10:18

No matter whether you watched the World Cup in the stadium or on television, it was impossible to avoid the influence of various advertisers. After the one-month football event, feverish fans not only tucked memorable plays in their hearts, but also a Korean name: Hyundai.

During the semi-final match between Germany and Portugal earlier in the month, a German sports commentator noted, "When I see the showy Hyundai logo everywhere inside and outside the stadium, I almost forget I am standing in Germany. It seems the replay of the FIFA World Cup 2002 in South Korea."

Chris Reitermann, managing director of Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, says this is a good example of brand building in the auto industry, "a branding model for the Chinese car manufacturers to follow".

Reitermann has nine years' working experience at the advertising company, consulting clients who want to evolve their brands globally. He was also the senior consultant for the auto industry for six years in China.

In his view, Chinese auto manufacturers should pay attention to at least three major points when doing their brand building, especially automakers  who want to make their brands global or much more premier.

He says that Japan's Toyota spent little on branding 20 years ago, and Western people regarded the Japanese cars as cheap and low-end. "But now, everybody takes it a premier brand."

Branding does not just mean advertising, a concept Reitermann says most Chinese people usually misunderstand.

Instead, he says, branding takes efforts "in every aspect".