Lv Dapeng (Photo/NBD)

May 21 (NBD) -- Product marketing will most likely run into troubles if there is no well-established brand to broaden businesses the way an icebreaker clearing up riverways, Lv Dapeng, spokesman of China's largest oil refinery Sinopec, commented at the 2018 Forum on Brand Value and Innovation of Chinese Listed Companies held on Saturday in southwest China's Chengdu.

Representatives of over 100 Chinese listed companies and scholars gathered to share insights on branding and discussed the correlated relationship between corporate branding and urban competitiveness.

The forum also witnessed the release of the brand value list of Chinese listed companies which was jointly compiled by National Business Daily (NBD), a professional financial omnimedia and China Business Case Center of Tsinghua University (THU).

The list evaluates the brand value of Chinese listed companies and especially those from the technology and innovation sector, and the launch of the list is aimed to guide enterprises to lift up their brand value via technology and innovation, introduced Zhao Ping, direct of China Business Case Center of THU.

Lv pointed out at the event that asymmetries exist in the overseas expansion and branding of Chinese enterprises. On the one hand, the "hard investment" company business and the "soft investment" branding are out of proportion. On the other hand, the weak brand asset doesn't fit with the strong enterprise scale, Lv illustrated.

Lv held that Chinese enterprises should help shape the national image and build up branding strategy in advance when entering the international market. Brands come first. Specifically, a company should first conduct research on the actual situation, cultural characteristics and public opinion of the target market and form differentiated marketing plans which are tailored to different countries or regions, Lv noted.

Peter Karl Kresl (Photo/NBD)

A representative from China Resources Beer (Holdings) Company Limited echoed the importance of company branding, saying that brands connect consumers with listed companies and companies of fast moving consumer goods in particular. A company's brand value is embodied in the increase of its market capitalization, the person added.

With regard to the brand shaping for companies, Economist Peter Karl Kresl, co-founder and president of Competitiveness Project (GUCP) Beijing, China, said that company brand is correlated to the brand of the city where the company resides, said .

Kresel gave the example of companies in Silicon Valley or the Ruhr, stressing that Silicon Valley or the Ruhr gave its component companies an identity that was very positive, it linked them with other very successful companies, and made it easier to attract desirable skilled workers. The brand of the company was tightly linked with the brand of the region, Kresl added.

Email: gaohan@nbd.com.cn