Asia has long been the destination Western companies have turned to for production outsourcing. But as costs have risen and margins have dropped, outsourcing has shifted from one low-cost nation to the next, bringing branding to the forefront of the new economy in Asia. As governments across the continent realize the value in branding, and the power of brand value, they are increasingly taking a more prominent role in developing domestic brands.

Several Asian countries have implemented branding initiatives, or government programs designed to spur domestic companies to develop their own brands. GolinHarris, along with IPG sister company FutureBrand, conducted an internal study to further mark the rise in branding.

Researching the national branding initiatives in five Asian markets—China, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan—GolinHarris and FutureBrand revealed that each already had world-famous brands, and that the government's role was to encourage other domestic manufacturers to develop new blockbuster brands.

In China, the government has earmarked RMB 700 million (US$87.5 million) for its Brand Promotion initiative. Buffering this national branding program are efforts conducted by regional governments, which hope to reap the economic rewards of strong brands.

China hopes its branding efforts will help the country compete with other nations in the face of increasing globalization of industries and services. The government assists by sponsoring branded companies to attend international exhibitions, helping them place advertisements in select markets and aiding them in setting up marketing agencies and sales channels. Regional governments also provide prizes to top brands as a measure of direct investment.

South Korea's decades-old government policy has already paid dividends as global consumers readily turn to consumer electronics makers LG and Samsung. The two conglomerates, along with Hyundai and Daewoo, previously received direct government investment under their chaebol structure.

Now, the government is promoting its "Vision for Brand Power Korea 2010" plan, which centers on having 70 percent of total Korean exports come from brand name companies and placing more than 10 Korean brands among the world's 100 most recognized brands list by 2010.

The government hopes to achieve these ambitious goals by providing brand education and access to branding expertise. South Korea has already set up a Brand Management Centre to deliver brand consulting, best practice, market trends and consumer analysis to interested parties.

Malaysia has taken a different path, as it not only props up domestic brands but brands the whole nation through its "Malaysia, Truly Asia" campaign. The combination looks to turn the companies that provide the sights, sounds, and smells one sees on a vacation into global brands tourists take home with them.

To this end, Malaysia charged its National Branding Task Force with formulating and reviewing national strategies to support potential brand growth, identifying companies to undertake brand-building activities and helping fund brand-building initiatives.

Singapore already serves as a regional hub for many of the world's largest companies, but the goal of its BrandPact initiative is to further increase the strength of its domestic brands.

Hoping to invest SGD20 million (US$13 million) to promote more than 5,000 domestic companies, Singapore will provide funding, access to branding expertise and promotional activities such as the "Enterprise 50" list of promising domestic companies.

Taiwan is already well known for its IT sector, with brands such as Acer, Asustek and Trend Micro. But the island is competitive in many other industries, including yachts, bicycles, sporting goods and even high-tech clothing.

Last year, Taiwan kicked off its seven-year, US$61 million "Branding Taiwan" campaign to encourage industries to shift from design manufacturing into brand manufacturing. The key to this transition is design training, establishing a brand evaluation system and focusing marketing efforts on raising awareness of Taiwan's best brands.

These five markets not only represent Asia-wide efforts, but are also creating a template for future countries to follow. The potential exists for marketers to jump in and help grow new Asian brands from the bottom up—an exciting challenge for anyone in the region. For example, GolinHarris has built a network of 10 offices across Asia to help Western brands enter the region and to strategically assist local brands as they step onto the global stage. Enthusiasm and commitment from governments will help ensure long-term success.

A Strong Brand of PR Man As seen on the front page of the Chicago Tribune on November 24, 2006. By Mary Ellen Podmolik

Public relations executive Al Golin says he just doesn't know how to turn it off.

At 77, the chairman of GolinHarris is in his office most days by 9 a.m., five days a week. He regularly picks up the phone to advise McDonald's Corp. Chief Executive James Skinner. He attends pitch meetings for new business. He travels around the firm's 30 worldwide offices in celebration of the public relations agency's golden anniversary this year, and he somewhat grudgingly plays the role of elder statesman.

In public and private he also worries about the role of his industry and client missteps in a transparent media age.

Golin, to appearances, is by no means ready to hang it up 50 years after helping establish a firm that has shaped the public image of a who's who of consumer brands, names like Gerber, Toyota, Kellogg's, Nintendo, DaimlerChrysler, Wrigley and McDonald's.

Stacks of newspapers and conversations with younger colleagues keep him current. A Blackberry, computer and cell phone keep him connected when he's out of town. "People ask me why I'm still doing this," Golin said. "I really enjoy the business. I can't get tired of it because it changes so much."

Overwhelmingly, he believes the changes have been positive compared with the days when public relations primarily meant publicity and getting "ink" for clients. He dismisses talk of the good old days, saying they really weren't that good.

"In the old days clients would say, `Give me some of that PR stuff,'" Golin said. "I said, `What do you mean, lie?' But I think those days are happily gone. The larger companies and organizations have a good idea of what [PR] can and can't do. PR can't make something out of nothing."

Today, he sees the profession as decidedly more strategic in nature, as companies try to forge lasting relationships with their customers and the communities in which they operate. It's a brand-building strategy that Golin has advocated for years, going so far as to coin the term "trust bank" for the community involvement he pushed at McDonald's during its formative years, when an advertising budget was non-existent.

"Putting a human face on companies is our specialty," Golin said.

It was just such a tack that won GolinHarris and a sister company, ad agency Foote Cone & Belding (now Draft FCB), the $30 million-plus Dow Chemical Co. advertising and marketing account in March. In fact, the theme of the resulting campaign is "The Human Element."

"You're buying ideas when you're buying agencies," said Patti Temple Rocks, a former Golin executive vice president on the Dow pitch team who now serves as Dow's vice president of global communications and reputation. "And GolinHarris people have great ideas that start with Al. He is, and I think it's part of the legacy of GolinHarris, always coming up with ideas."

Hollywood aspirations

Originally, Golin had aspirations of a career in film production and spent five years as a field press agent with MGM Studios. But the Chicago native returned to Chicago in 1956 and joined Max Cooper & Associates, a six-person public relations firm. A year later Golin cold-called Ray Kroc, who had opened his first McDonald's restaurant in Des Plaines in 1955. An hour after they met, Golin began handling McDonald's publicity for a $500 monthly retainer.

Golin's name was added to the door of the public relations agency in 1958. Golin/Harris was acquired by Shandwick International in 1989 and by the Interpublic Group of Companies in 1999, after which GolinHarris began a worldwide expansion. Today the agency has more than 500 employees.

Forty-nine years after making the call to Kroc, Golin still is closely connected with his first big account and considered a trusted adviser to the burger behemoth.

"I don't think anybody [else] has had an agency for 50 years," said Jack Daley, McDonald's senior vice president of corporate relations and chief communications officer. "And a lot of that goes to the quality type of person that Al is. Al is 100 percent engaged."

Just how engaged? In the early 1970s Kroc, a baseball aficionado, told fellow Cubs fan Golin that he would like to own the team. Golin wrote a letter to Cubs owner William Wrigley telling Wrigley about Kroc's interest in the team and vouching for his stewardship of the club if Wrigley were to ever sell it.

Golin received a hastily written reply that he still wishes he had kept. According to Golin, Wrigley wrote, "Some things in life aren't for sale and the Chicago Cubs is one of them."

In 1981 Wrigley sold the team to Tribune Co., which also owns the Chicago Tribune.

To Golin, being engaged means telling it like it is.

"People get reluctant about putting their two cents in but I think people want you to be as passionate about their business as they are," Golin said. "They are hiring you for your judgment, so that's what you try to supply."

He faults boards of directors for tapping chief executive officers who have underdeveloped communication skills, a failing that Golin says frequently comes back to haunt them, especially in an age in which blogs, Web sites and 24-hour cable channels can keep a company's missteps alive indefinitely.

He has worked with many a chief executive to brush up on those skills, but said he has been careful not to make executives into something they're not.

"Authentic is a good thing, especially these days," Golin said. "With the Enrons and that kind of thing, I think the public will take to a CEO who what you see is what you get. Everything is so transparent these days that you can see through a phony."

When things go wrong, "come out fast and come out saying the truth," Golin said. "Nine times out of 10 today, it's not going to blow over."

Photo of Hemingway

Few mementos from his career are visible in his 10th-floor office overlooking North Michigan Avenue. One of them, however, catches many a visitor's eye. It is a photo of a 22-year-old Golin with a friend and Ernest Hemingway at one of Hemingway's Cuba haunts.

"He was in a good mood that night," Golin recalled. "But his wife, Mary, wasn't. Being the old PR man, I said I wanted a picture. She came over and said, `What do you want?' He looked at her and said, `Why are you always so damn suspicious of everybody?"

Golin isn't the only longtime public relations executive in town. Daniel J. Edelman, whose agency is the country's largest independent PR operation, can't stay away from the office, either. The two executives have squared off over some of the biggest accounts in the past and remain fiercely competitive today.

The affable Golin says that compared to competitors like Edelman—whom Golin will only refer to as "an aggressive guy"—some might consider him to be low-key. But those who have worked with Golin see the other side as well.

"Not only is he a pioneer but he's a role model," McDonald's Daley said. "He's competitive, he hates to lose business, but first and foremost he's a gentleman. And he set a high standard for the way that public relations professionals should operate."

Looking ahead to what the firm calls its next 50 years, its founder worries about the role of technology and the faceless relationships it creates.

"I think too many people use the technology as a crutch, instead of sitting down to discuss something," Golin said. "You have to balance some of this high tech with high touch. You have to sit down and really talk [with clients.]"

Golin doesn't advocate turning back the clock on technological progress but rather remembering the principle he has operated under all these years. "The trick is to treat them like you just got them," Golin said. "You can't get complacent."