Taipei, Dec. 19 (CNA) Taiwan's corporations have only recently begun branding themselves, but hope to catch up with the strongest brand names around the world, trade officials and corporate leaders said Wednesday.
"While earning meager profits, Taiwanese companies have to upgrade themselves from OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to OBMs (original brand manufacturers) sooner or later, " Hsu Chun-fang, Deputy Director of Bureau of Foreign Trade, said in a year-end review of the "Branding Taiwan" campaign.
Recognizing that branding will be the next step for Taiwanese businesses, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) launched a seven-year Branding Taiwan campaign in 2006 with a NT$1.6 billion budget.
The campaign focuses on helping SMEs (small and medium enterprises), rather than companies that have already made their mark and possess strong brand names, such as computer hardware manufacturers Acer Inc. and Asustek Computer, which ranked as the top brand name in Taiwan in 2007 with a value of US$1.196 billion.
Nonetheless, the brand value of Taiwan's top-rated Asustek is far less than that of the American car-renting company Hertz, which ranked last on the list of the world's Top 100 brand names this year with a brand value of US$3.3 billion, showing how far Taiwanese companies lag behind in brand development, said Chao Yuan-chuan, chief executive officer of Taiwan External Trade Development Council
(TAITRA).
"Taiwan has a long way to go to catch up with the development of international brands. We're latecomers, but at least we're now on our way, " Hsu said.
Most Taiwanese SMEs realized that branding is a road they have to travel if they are serious about staying competitive, but they lack the necessary budget, an essential factor in building up a brand name and expertise, Chao said.
That was where the Branding Taiwan campaign comes in, said Chiu Yi-cheng, General Manager of Kiddie's Paradise Inc., a child educational equipment provider which started to build up its own "Weplay" brand in 1999. The company is now selling its products in 50 countries around the world.
Taiwanese designers and inventors have been doing well in international invention shows and design competitions -- such as the iF and Red Dot competition in Germany -- Chiu said. With its already-strong manufacturing sector, Taiwan will be in an excellent position to develop more international brands if it can integrate the various value chains of different sectors, he added.
Chao encouraged SMEs intending to go into corporate branding to first identify their niche markets and products in order to put their money in the right place. Corporations were also encouraged to develop their brand names in Taiwan before taking them international. Partnerships between several SMEs to develop a brand is also an option, he said.
"For example, A Team, the leading Taiwan cycling industry association, which includes bicycle manufacturers Giant, Merida and others, has been influential and important in the cycling world because of their strong partnership," Chao said.
The combined brand value of this year's top 20 Taiwanese brands exceeds NT$280.5 billion (US$8.443 billion) , representing a 33 percent increase over last year's NT$211 billion (US$6. 464 billion). The brand valuation was organized by the MOEA and conducted by TAITRA.