Branding trends in Asian markets

This chapter examines current branding trends in significant Asian markets, namely Japan, South Korea, and India, with a special focus on one emerging branding nation, China. No generalizations towards the whole of Asia can be drawn from this research. However, research identified some aspects in the field of branding that have occurred in different Asian markets at different times. For example, the development of branding as a management strategy followed benefit-driven product management in both Japan and South Korea some decades ago. This development can now be witnessed in selected industries in China. Whether or not other Asian nations show similar developments (e.g. Indonesia) would be a topic for further investigation. Nevertheless, the following four Asian branding trends serve as the main outcomes of this research: extending the corporate brand into new fields of business, extending the corporate brand into diverse product categories, acquisition of Western brands by Asian investors and top-management support in brand building.