The business of brand building

"We'll make those who do not currently ride bikes feel eager to cycle," Sheu said.

Government Support

Looking back on their brand-building acheivements, both Chen and Sheu lamented that it was a lonely road to travel, with no one to advise them along the way and little encouragement from the government.

Chen suggested that the government offer incentive measures, such as low-interest-rate loans proportional to brand value, to give quality companies a boost.

In fact, the development of global brands has become increasingly important for domestic companies to survive in the global marketplace amid declining profit margins for contract manufacturing. To achieve this goal, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has recently come up with a proposal to boost domestic brands.

In a statement released on Dec. 12, the Bureau of Foreign Trade said Taiwan needs to develop world-reknowned brands in a bid to differentiate itself from China and avoid being marginalized by the development of regional trading blocs.

To this end, the proposal will include measures such as establishing a network to offer the private sector the necessary assistance and consultation for brand promotion, providing a platform for exchanges of brand knowledge, and helping companies to obtain credit-guaranteed loans for brand building.

The prelimiary goals are to create a legal framework favorable to brand development, assist private enterprises to cultivate 200 professionals specialized in global brand development, and help at least 20 domestic companies to push their brands first onto the regional market, and then the Greater China market, and, finally, the international market.

Sheu said that Giant is glad to see that more and more companies are now working to develop their brands and that the government has been raising awareness of the importance of branding.

"As we're also increasing exposure of Taiwan's image in international markets, we hope the government can offer tax-preferential schemes to brand developers if it does not violate the spirit of the WTO," Sheu said.