Time for China companies to have brand strategy

Business leaders in China must also benchmark global practices, Roll says. Companies need to research the most successful peers in their own industry and study what is being done in other industries.

"There is a common belief - and it is often stated - that the track for Chinese firms will be very different than any other country from Asia. I don't believe that.

"It is a fallacy to believe that China will globalize in a different way. Many others have done it before them. China has to learn from the world when it comes to best practices in brand-building."

Global Chinese brands will not happen by chance, Roll says. It will only happen through a thoroughly planned strategy executed relentlessly over a long time.

He says that Samsung Group, the South Korean electronics giant, is one of the best examples of an Asian brand that has taken the globalization strategy seriously. It started early to focus on its brands as a key strategic initiative.

"Only now, after 10 to 15 years, is it starting to pay off," he says.

Another example is Singapore Airlines Ltd, which Roll describes as a "brilliant example of a global brand that has set standards for more than 40 years in a very competitive category".

Ying Zhu, director of the Australian Centre for Asian Business at the University of South Australia, says he can see two potential scenarios that could emerge from China when it comes to company branding.

"They can either start from scratch and build a brand, or they take the easy way out and buy an established company that everyone knows. That way you avoid the costly process of brand-building," he says.

He cites the example of Zhejiang Geely Holding Co Ltd, a little known, at least outside China, automaker based in Hangzhou that signed a $1.8 billion agreement in 2010 to buy AB Volvo.

At the time of the deal's announcement, a writer for Businessweek was prompted to write: "Geely is paying $1.8 billion for the brand."

But, speaking from his office in Adelaide, Zhu explains how there was much more to the deal - and that the benefits were not just on the Chinese company's side.

"Geely not only bought the brand, it bought Volvo's technology, research and development, management and skilled workforce.

"For Volvo, the door had opened to a massive domestic market," he says.

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