Private Brand: China Brand vs International Brand – Asia
INTERNATIONAL PRODUCT BRANDING VS LOCAL BRANDING
Executive on Demand:
President, Chief Operating Officer, Vice President Sales & Marketing
Project Outline:
An automotive service and maintenance chemical manufacturer and packager produced products for the China market under a company private brand. The product was accepted by the consumer and professional markets until the early 90s however when more sophisticated international vehicle companies established themselves in China with global brands, the customers quality requirements changed. Foreign brand vehicles were more expensive and they brought with their ownership an expectation to use higher quality, approved and tested products when servicing and maintaining the vehicles. The China manufactured products did not meet this requirement and so the search was on by the automotive chemical manufacturers to meet this requirement. A Southern province based chemical manufacturer requested assistance helping them understand the requirements, the approval process and the quality expectations.
Project Outcome:
Working with the chemical company in China, the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) relationship requirements for the China based global companies was mapped out. Meetings were arranged with the OEM’s to introduce the company and request the process to achieve supplier status. The manufacturer was advised that the process would take a long time to reach the required approvals to be an OEM supplier, but starting now is a great first step. They also suggested that the process could be shortened if the company could partner itself with a current chemical manufacturer that is a globally approved supplier to the OEM channel.
Based on the results of the research I assisted them in establishing a relationship with a global OEM chemical supplier. In addition, the company needed to also better understand what the products were, how they functioned, and how to take them to market. To accomplish this, they were encouraged to adopt a new global brand of products using OEM approved chemicals. The would market these products to the same organizations that they were selling their “B” brand to in the marketplace. The new global “T” brand provided them with a brand with brand recognition and quality that met the new customer requirements. The strategy enabled the China chemical manufacturer to make gains in the market place by marketing the global “T” brand as a premium OEM quality approved product.