AJAY RAMACHANDRAN

MANAGING DIRECTOR BATA MALAYSIA

How is the company coping in the current economic climate without compromising its brand presence?

It is important to be resilient, and to focus on effective changes in the organisation to navigate through tough times. At Bata Malaysia, we take a proactive and sustainable cost management exercise to start.

By re-investing the savings made to marketing and promotions, we are able to continue to grow our market position and maintain brand presence. It’s all about balancing prudent cost management with brand investments for the future.

Should brands be packaged differently, not only demographically but emotionally?

Certainly, consumers today expect more from a brand and for marketers it is all about brand relevance. Brands that can make an emotional connection with consumers in its advertising efforts builds a longer-lasting differentiation and relevance compared to those that position themselves exclusively against functional attribute.

what is the most significant aspect of creating powerful, effective branding?

I would say it has to go back to the roots – which is “Defining its Purpose”. A powerful brand delivers the message of its ‘raison d’etre’ effectively to its target audience to build a genuine and transparent brand story that is not only believed but also championed by its brand advocates.

In an increasingly transparent world, how can brands strengthen their brand equity?

Transparency is in fact, a tool on its own to build customer trust and strengthen brand equity.

We have seen many examples of how new disruptive brands use transparency to outshine the big legacy brands.

Therefore, for brand survival, companies must adopt honesty and transparency in all facets of its business.

what makes a brand memorable given the short attention span and all sort of content screaming at customers?

Authenticity and transparency drives brand affinity. To cut through the noise, brands needs to hook audiences by using consumer-created content, telling authentic stories which are emotionally relevant, and using transparency as a differentiator.