In today’s age of global transparency, it is the brand-driven business that will thrive. It is not enough to succeed merely as a business, it is more about market conviction and action that is consistently seen, felt and experienced. When brands are not part of leadership thinking or planning, their creation and future value tends to dissipate without the anchor of business policy and board commitment. As the world competes on brand and not just business values, the race towards brand supremacy becomes critical not just for companies in  Malaysia, but for market players around the world.

The power to build market share depends on the strength and sustainability of a brand. Yet, the majority of emerging market companies in Malaysia and in the region are not yet brand-driven from the ‘inside-out’.

These otherwise successful businesses therefore cede market advantage to those in the know and continue to lose one of the best opportunities to sustain competitiveness as they transform and grow nationally, regionally and globally.

Trax Associates accelerates business success by building brand-ready companies through institutionalisation of new knowledge and capabilities complementing business thinking from strategy to execution and measures.

While brands are considered strategic assets to defend and grow as a competitive differentiator by the branded, our research shows that many high- performing companies within emerging markets do not always have a centralised or strategic brand capability to oversee the investment and market performance of their brands.
Neither are there brand policies in place to complement decisions governing board and top management action. This prevailing practice results in the inability to measure and therefore invest in one of the last bastions of competitiveness which today divides world markets between the supremacy of the branded and the vulnerability of the unbranded.

The transformation programmes in Malaysia, have been a great success. Now leaner, more focused and better prepared for the future, what’s next for our corporates and institutions? It is acknowledged that while we’ve strengthened the organisational foundations of our businesses, the world continues to outpace us. There is a risk of relapse if we do not exploit our new efficiencies to build competitive advantage. Innovation needs to be captured in brands and brand thinking. This parallel focus is the crucial next step that will define our future efforts and our legacy. The ‘stage of brand readiness’ is an important aspect of effective brand building as this condition determines how fast brand equity can effectively be built and sustained. To compete on the world stage, emerging market companies must now move from being mere brand ‘dabblers’ to becoming real ‘veterans.’