I feel that I have to let the these thoughts out. Inasmuch as I’d like to share my Kuala Lumpur experience today, there’s something that happened this morning. And I couldn’t let it pass.
I’ve met with a client in a hotel in Pasig City. I just arrived from Malaysia at around 5am and I only had to take a nap so I can join the meeting. I understand that it’s part of my job to be there when urgently needed. And I thought there are serious issues to tackle.
I got into the hotel only to be greeted by what people call constructive criticism. It was a warm welcome, indeed.
I’ll cut this short as outline some points that I’d like to raise whether it’s about branding here in the Philippines or Asia—wherever—or marketing and advertising. I was able to build my own brand without paying extra dollars and consultants from countries like Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, or Thailand. So I thought that this will be a lesson for companies that are sometimes being “brainwashed” by marketing or branding consultants and gurus out there.
First point: As an Internet marketing consultant, I know exactly what I do. I accepted the consultancy work because I know what I can do and I know what I can’t.
Second point: If my hands are tied, they I don’t do the job. Creativity happens when we are given some space to exercise it. I don’t depend on assumptions.
Third. I know the terrain. I’m from the Philippines and I’ve traveled around Asia for Internet marketing and branding and I got a feel of various audience and their needs.
Now the branding part
I don’t really care about what other people do so as long as they don’t cross the line and claim to be God in terms of branding and marketing. I was able to create my own brand and I don’t even have to boast about it. But I think everybody should learn to acknowledge that we “can’t know it all.”
I undertand how brand consultants and strategist thinks. I’m one of them. But being a consultant doesn’t give us any license to step on someone else’s expertise. We can always think that everything revolves around the brand but I think it’s not proper for a brand consultant, even if you’re from Asia or the US, to just sit and tell what you want to happen and how you like it to happen.
I’ve seen some “ugly” brands out there who are popular because they have to money to advertise. I’ve seen beautiful brands that are unpopular because they simply don’t have the money for a billboard or a celebrity endorsers.
A brand consultant
So if you’re a brand consultant, you can’t just play God. And you don’t tell your fellow consultant that “you will learn from me” because you may not know what he is capable of doing. You can never be sure.
Especially if you are a foreigner in one country, say the Philippines, you can’t just design and assume that such design will work. My next blog will features my reviews and take on the brands created by an Asian consultant. You will have to understand the market.
Don’t make a public claim in your website that “our client had an exponential growth in sales” after one year of rebranding because the papers and documents may tell you otherwise.
Time will tell us what’s best for every one. We can always make a claim and pretend to know everything because of our 19 years or so experience in this industry. But hey, experience isn’t enough. It will never be enough.
