The past few weeks displayed to me the power of a brand. Many have asked for tips. There are tips on each of my posts. Some subtle whilst others are direct. But this post is direct one. As a businessman or businesswoman the lesson here is not to neglect your brand and always invest in your brand.
The brand.
The value of a brand is hard to quantify and investment in a brand is always hard to justify but the last few weeks showed me how important it is and how our investment over the last 6 years has paid off handsomely.
For the past few weeks, I have attended the Forbes Global CEO Conference, JATA World Congress Tourism Congress and the World Low Cost Airlines Congress 2008 as keynote speaker. What struck me was that in 6 years from all parts of the globe AirAsia has become synonymous with low cost travel.
What does that mean? It means that when someone thinks of low cost travel in Asia they think AirAsia. When someone wants to partner with a low cost airline they think AirAsia. When we need to make new contacts, look for finances and build new relationships, it's much easier as everyone knows AirAsia. So the extra revenue, time and cost savings can all arise by promoting your brand.
Follow up:
How did we do it at AirAsia? Well, we worked with the media by making sure that we are always available for interviews anywhere, anytime. We also invested heavily on advertising and sponsorship like Manchester United. It's also important to remember that the best way to promote your brand is through your own staff. Remember the best brand ambassadors are your own staff. So branding is both internal and external. No point selling your brand if your own staff doesn’t believe in your own brand. So spend time in making sure your own staff understands their brand. In summary, make sure you keep some money for branding, work with media, make sure your own staff understand the brand and be disciplined about what your brand is and stick to it.
So what have I done last few weeks?
Apart from selling seats for the three most important conferences, I attended the Forbes Global CEO Conference and was on the panel for the best under a billion category. Basically entrepreneurs. There is a good selection of people though the one I enjoyed the most was Olivia Lum, CEO of Hyflux who makes recycled water. At the end of the talk I was surrounded by many people who just wanted to meet me. Mr Lakshmi Mittal, CEO of Arcelor Mittal got a Lifetime Achievement Award. Also met up with Patrice Motsepe, South Africa's first black billionaire who is an awesome guy.
Overall, it was great networking with everyone. I said many things but the one that got the audience most worked up was when I said a good leader knows when to retire. You are not a good leader if you don't know when your sell by date has come and when you can retire to give someone more energetic with new ideas. I will not overstay and I won't be a mentor hahahaha.
Next on the road was Japan. Now that was amazing trip. Thought no one knew about us. But after I got off the plane, there was a TV crew to meet me at the airport. The conference was attended by 500 people and I was asked to be controversial to shake up the industry.
Here little Malaysia and a Malaysian brand being asked to transform the Japanese airlines and travel industry. The press conference after was amazing that so many journalists turned up. I am excited about Japan but I can tell you Japan is more excited about us. They can't wait for AirAsia to fly there.
Finally, in London -- a very special moment for me. I was keynote speaker with Herb Kellehar. Herb is the grandfather of the low cost industry. He's the founder of Southwest Airlines, the man who we all try to emulate. I shared the stage with him and later with Howard Miller, CFO of Ryanair.
It was a very proud moment for me. The two biggest low cost airlines in the world, the standard bearers and with Southwest and Ryanair were AirAsia. I felt very proud that we were there. In 6 years, we had grown from nothing to share the same stage with the two of the best airlines. Not a Singaporean company but a Malaysian company and soon to be an Asean company. To be acknowledged by your peers is the best accolade, don't you think? And in the evening, Azran won Best New Airline for AirAsia X. Nice way to end the day.
So you can see, we have come a long way and all the investment in the brand has paid off. Of course you still have to have a product that everyone wants and run a good operation but a good brand takes you a long way.
Don't worry about economic slowdown. The best time to build a brand is when everyone else is cutting.
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39 comments
Hi Tony!
I'm curious, did AirAsia start from day one with the exact brand/concept as it is now? Which happened first, the brand or the business? Did you personally foresee this brand before you got started, or was it driven by external factors to 'low cost travel'?
I'm in the web business field, and often, most of us in this field start with a business but not with a proper brand. The brand falls in place as time passes by. But I always wonder if this is a mistake, that i never took 'brand' as a serious matter to begin with. I think it's difficult to start with a brand in a highly competitive field, especially when the uniqueness factor of the service/product is not that great.
I'll greatly appreciate your insights for young entrepreneurs, on the matter of brand, in vastly open business scope such as web.
Thanks!
PS: AirAsia, undoubtedly the best home grown brand that I would name every time this sorts of topic turn up. Congrats!
I'm curious, did AirAsia start from day one with the exact brand/concept as it is now? Which happened first, the brand or the business? Did you personally foresee this brand before you got started, or was it driven by external factors to 'low cost travel'?
I'm in the web business field, and often, most of us in this field start with a business but not with a proper brand. The brand falls in place as time passes by. But I always wonder if this is a mistake, that i never took 'brand' as a serious matter to begin with. I think it's difficult to start with a brand in a highly competitive field, especially when the uniqueness factor of the service/product is not that great.
I'll greatly appreciate your insights for young entrepreneurs, on the matter of brand, in vastly open business scope such as web.
Thanks!
PS: AirAsia, undoubtedly the best home grown brand that I would name every time this sorts of topic turn up. Congrats!
gosh... really proud of you. i wish i could be like you someday @_*'' hehe :D
keep it up!
Hello Tony! :)
Great and detailed post i must say!
Well done Tony. You have made our country proud.Keep on your good work.
Dear Tony, even though we work in the same company, and I've met you several times, I haven't got the chance yet to 'talk to you personally'. Not much, I just want to say, you are great, you are the best, you are a motivator, and some of us think that after Dr.Mahathir, you are the next person who promotes Malaysia! I am so proud to be working with you, definitely.
Congratulations once again, you are indeed doing Malaysia proud.
One question is what do you get out of attending business forums like the forbes conference for example apart from making more contacts? Do you actually take ideas from some of your compariates?
By the way Tony, do you actually read these comments or is it that you have a back room staff who vet whats written.
Dear Tony I am proud of you,please keep up the good work.
AAB will go soon ... hope new government will take over soon.
certainly, brand = perception = everything. it is better to be known as a "bad brand" than to not have one at all.
brand managers are essential human capital in every company - something that many malaysian companies fail to realise. i must say that the americans excel in this area.
that said, congratulations on building the brand of air asia, it has certainly come a long way since inception. cheers from warsaw.
Its so nice to hear that you have reached greater heights with Air Asia. As a Malaysian, this is the first time I am proud to be associated with a Malaysian company. Your selflessness and commitment to excellence in terms of service surpasses anything I've encountered in Malaysia. Keep up the good work! Can't wait for your environmental initiatives. I'm sure you've got something cooking behind the scenes right now! I am hoping that Air Asia would be the first company in Malaysia to take this fight against global warming seriously. Malaysia needs a company like yours to lead the way!
amran ismail
http://livewell-livestrong.blogspot.com
(i started my blog a day before you did! One day, I hope my entries can be as inspiring as yours)
Dato' Tony,
Thank you for your insight. What you said is what I have been learning
while working in Singapore for these past few months.
Many people have been asking you for tips and you have provided them
generously but I think that many people do not realise that they need to find the
mechanism to apply those tips.
The thing that strikes me the most about your posting is:
"Don't worry about economic slowdown. The best time to build a brand is when
everyone else is cutting."
Do you mind to elaborate more on it?
Anyway, thumbs up to you to as a CEO for making the move to make use
of new technology for branding!
A brand is defnitely essential for any orgranisations in the world whether you are profit or non-profit driven as it allows your products/services to have an identity, values, believes and most importantly direction for those who work for you and for those who subscribe to your service. Without a brand, you are easily forgotten or overlooked by the consumers. And today, the market is driven by consumers' demand and expectations. Look at the telco & communication industry today in Malaysia and compared it to 5 years ago and you will know what I mean.
AirAsia brand essence started off with Tony's dream/believe in making it possible for the less well to do to fly. A very simple believe. And to top that off, he managed to convince others around him of this very simple believe (esp. the bankers) to lend him their support and help to materialise it. Hence, coming out with a brand identity is just Step 1, the next thing you need to do is to be a great and effective communicator to communicate it. Tony definitely has done a very good job in helping others to experience the brand promises. And this goes to show that you need to initiate it from the top to bottom and not the other way round by setting examples as the CEO/MD for others to follow. So kudos to you, Tony and I hope your brand will continue to thrive despite the economy slump, liberalisation and political uncertainty.
Dear Mr.Fernandes,
Congratulations and well done!
Branding is indeed an essential tool in any fields.
Typical Malaysian products have long been suffering from reluctancy of the conservative management to invest proportionally in term of branding. MAS is one classic example.
I used to fly to Singapore on company trips, and most of ex-colleagues would prefer SIA to MAS. (It is not about being not patriotic; but it is the perception of the mass on the MAS branding)
Frankly speaking, in my opinion; MAS have one the best cabin crew in the world, on-par or even better than the SIA counterparts perhaps... but when people choose, budget apart, it is the branding that matter...
Two months ago, on my first trip with AirAsia to HaNoi.. it was a nice pleasant flight with the friendly cabin crew...bravo.. During my short trip there, I managed to survey few Asia-trotting tourists and guess what...most of them "Fly Air-Asia"....and sad enough to say...hardly one ever tried MAS.... it had seen better days.
Last but not least, there are rumours via e-mails which claim that AirAsia is "parasiting" on MAS trade routes, etc.... Hopefully, AirAsia could clear some air and put an-end to the "rivalry" saga.
All the best.
Regards.
Congratulations and well done!
Branding is indeed an essential tool in any fields.
Typical Malaysian products have long been suffering from reluctancy of the conservative management to invest proportionally in term of branding. MAS is one classic example.
I used to fly to Singapore on company trips, and most of ex-colleagues would prefer SIA to MAS. (It is not about being not patriotic; but it is the perception of the mass on the MAS branding)
Frankly speaking, in my opinion; MAS have one the best cabin crew in the world, on-par or even better than the SIA counterparts perhaps... but when people choose, budget apart, it is the branding that matter...
Two months ago, on my first trip with AirAsia to HaNoi.. it was a nice pleasant flight with the friendly cabin crew...bravo.. During my short trip there, I managed to survey few Asia-trotting tourists and guess what...most of them "Fly Air-Asia"....and sad enough to say...hardly one ever tried MAS.... it had seen better days.
Last but not least, there are rumours via e-mails which claim that AirAsia is "parasiting" on MAS trade routes, etc.... Hopefully, AirAsia could clear some air and put an-end to the "rivalry" saga.
All the best.
Regards.
Good job Tony
Can you pls advise how can we improve the branding of ourselves? I mean the
personal brand of an individual.
No doubt AA is a powerful brand and Tony and team have been doing a good job in promoting it across the continents but how original is the brand idea if it's actually 'borrowed' from Richard Branson's Virgin airline? What's the value of the brand if it doesn't have any originality in it?
Air Asia rocks!! Tony, you're a source of inspiration to all. I'm very impressed with all the achievements that Air Asia has achieved.
:) Keep up the good work! That way, all of your loyal frequent flyers will benefit more!
Hi Tony,
Thanks for your replies through email earlier. I wouldn't expected that you will reply me.
I am confident that, soon AirAsia brand is more well-known than Malaysia Airlines. I feel surprised because I could see AirAsia advertisement around February 2008 from newspaper in the United Kingdom.
Dear Tony,
We all strive to build a business make it grow and see it succeed within our life time but when branding is done the brand becomes a legacy that people identify with for more than a life time.
At this juncture the brand takes center stage over the product; it’s to do with consumer perception and loyalty towards the brand. In Malaysia tooth paste will always be Colgate, we may buy other brands but the generic term used is always Colgate. Xerox is a manufacture of a copier machine, in the dictionary the term Xerox mean to make a copy
Wow how much difference does branding makes to a business or product goes without saying, Tony if you came out with Airasia tee-shirts, jeans, perfumery …………. It will sell due to your branding efforts done earlier.
It’s sad no Malaysia product ever made it to the global market as an identifiable brand except Airasia; most Asian products don’t make it due to protectional policies of their government and nepotism. Business are made from hard work blood and sweet.protectionesiom will never spur competitiveness thus how can we be a compete in the global market
Kudus to you Tony for making our flag fly high not only in the air but also in the global market. As for the global market slow down only the bird called Phoenix comes to mind so just continue flying high to the skis
Regards
Dear Tony,
I'm very proud of Air Asia & its acheivements. Congrats! Air Asia. Congrats! Dato Tony Fenendes. Hopefully one day I'll meet you and make you my mentor in life.
Tahniah!
Branding is not only important to corporate, it is also very important to all of us cari makan in the corporate world.
I used to tell my working colleague, all of us given a "Brand" (i.e. our name) once we step into the employment market. It is up to us to decide how we want to position ourself. Whether you want to position your brand name as "Branded" or the other way round. Therefore we have to be very careful on the quality of the work we deliver.
The Brand by itself is very weak, once you break it, you have to take a long way to rebuild your brand image. Those China made milk powder manufacturers is a good example. I would say, no way for them to rebuild their brand after the recently case.
I always want to position myself as a "Branded" in the job market, therefore I always try my best to deliver the best value to my employers. This is one of the reason why I earn quite a good income. :-))
"Tony Fernandes" by itself is a branded in the corporate world, I'm sure your potential is not only limited to airline industries, I believe you can also earn a handsome result in many other field, such as finance.
The US finance industries is now in the deep shit, do you want to make try ? you can be the hero of the year....
I used to tell my working colleague, all of us given a "Brand" (i.e. our name) once we step into the employment market. It is up to us to decide how we want to position ourself. Whether you want to position your brand name as "Branded" or the other way round. Therefore we have to be very careful on the quality of the work we deliver.
The Brand by itself is very weak, once you break it, you have to take a long way to rebuild your brand image. Those China made milk powder manufacturers is a good example. I would say, no way for them to rebuild their brand after the recently case.
I always want to position myself as a "Branded" in the job market, therefore I always try my best to deliver the best value to my employers. This is one of the reason why I earn quite a good income. :-))
"Tony Fernandes" by itself is a branded in the corporate world, I'm sure your potential is not only limited to airline industries, I believe you can also earn a handsome result in many other field, such as finance.
The US finance industries is now in the deep shit, do you want to make try ? you can be the hero of the year....
I feel so proud that you are a Malaysian. When our wonderful nation has been hitting foreign headlines for all the wrong reasons, it's nice to see a towering Malaysian bringing pride to the entire nation!
Dear Mr. Fernandes,
It can't denied that AirAsia had made a name for itself in the past 6 years. Can't imagine that Air Asia has what it deserves today. Dear Tony had made a lot contribution for the past and will also for the future.
And I like the words,"Don't worry about economic slowdown. The best time to build a brand is when everyone else is cutting." I will always remember this.
Lastly, hope AirAsia earns more and makes the best brand.
congratulions Sir Tony. It takes intelligence and extreme guts and perseverence to achieve this level. Imagine if we could instill these traits to all our youngsters in school, just imagine!
Hi Sir,you are really doing good.I have been following Airasia footstep since it have started.I always wonder how you did manage to bring Airasia to the world eyes...Lots of people have been telling that Airasia will not succeed but you have slapped in their face by proving otherwise..Great job sir...I always admire your success and waiting for a chance to work for you.thank you
6 years...with just only 6 years..the brand AirAsia is well known and it changed the life of Malaysians..especially those who never travel by air 6 years ago..now they can and willing to spend to travel because of the affortable price of the low-cost Airasia especially the residents in Borneo island..awesome...
Hi Tony,
The importance of Brand. I couldn't agree more with you there. Whenever I attended some investors conference regionally, some would ask me what are some M'sian companies worth looking at.. I wouldn't hesitate to mention AirAsia (for medium long term), being one of them. And AirAsia's brand is the strongest point I highlighted to them. But unfortunately this intangible is somehow absent in the mind of Investors when they evaluate AirAsia as potential investment. Only time will tell and prove the sceptics are wrong..
Btw, if you are truly going for privatisation, kindly consider (some of) the minorities who have been investors in AirAsia when the price was much much higher and continue to braving the market sticking to the stock when it dropped from market high. (wink)
Keep up the good job, AirAsia.
p/s: Could you please convey to Tengku Rozidar of 1901, not to keep downsizing the hotdogs served in your flights? That is also a Branding issue, you know.. Haha
Hello Tony, I can only imagine how great it would be to listen to you in a conference. Maybe one day I will be fortunate enough to be able to do that.
On branding, you might also want to mention the red cap you almost always wear during press, interviews, launches etc. Maybe that's a testament to what you called best brand ambassador? :)
On branding, you might also want to mention the red cap you almost always wear during press, interviews, launches etc. Maybe that's a testament to what you called best brand ambassador? :)
Dato Tony, I'm impressed with Air Asia strategy to honour the reporter as a way to say thank you for his contribution to promote Air Asia. May be its never cross other players mind or they might feel not necessary but then you have created the history. Well done.
Kudos to AirAsia. Have been a fan from day one and will always be. Just as you have branded AirAsia we too hope to brand our product VMIZER the energy saving device in Malaysia. No one said branding is easy and we are moving positively towards it. No matter how pessimistic people can be we never give up.
Keep those awards coming in and keep up the good work Tony.
I am very optimistic one day Malaysians will see our ice figure skaters and ice hockey players don the AirAsia colours as they represent the country in international events.
Spread your wings and fly AirAsia, proudly show what you are made of.
You are an inspiration to many of us. Thank you for putting Malaysian on the global aviation map. The next step is to get KLIA to become an international hub like Changi.
You are absolutely spot on Tony, the value of hard assets depreciates but brand values if nutured correctly, appreciates. Branding enables product differentiation which creates a competitive advantage wihich leads to sustainable profitability and keeps you ahead of the game.
In my humble opinion, Airasia should keep its listing status to add to its brand prestige. Although being listed shouldn't matter in terms of brand recognition, many businessman prefer dealing with listed entities which tells heaps about the respect of being listed.
Moderator - pls don't delete my opinion on the listing status. its just an opinion.
Greetings Tony,
I would like to congratulate you for all your success, for you have been a great inspiration to the country. Branding is absolutely among other important qualities that they taught me in the school. Nonetheless, I am sure that books won't always teach you everything. It's the first hand experiences.
I shall come here often to look out for your insights and advices. Thank you for being so wishful to share your valueable experiences.
I am sorry for all of the grammatical mistakes, as I am doing my best to improve in English.
Thank you, and good day.
Selamat Hari Raya Datuk Tony Fernandes! :)
You are truly THE one in over 6 billion human beings alive today, dude! ;) For your
info, I am booked for a tri-sectoral Air Asia flight to Cambodia this December so I greatly look forward to that trip, man.
In every organization I've worked for, I've always been a strong proponent of 'branding'.
The current firm I am working for now has at least adopted the Company T-shirt culture as part of our branding exercise (as suggested by by yours truly). Although I fought for the color Red, B.O.D and Management prefer Green and Black. Still fine by me... :)
What I wanna ask you directly, Tony, is the much grumbled about fact that having flown Air Asia, most passengers still complained that your pricing, at the end of the day, came up to cost much higher than standard fares offered by competitor national airlines, so they claimed! :( Could you please enlighten us on how Air Asia has 'subsidised' or perhaps 'discounted' the pricing factors such as excess baggage, fuel surcharge, insurance coverage, etc.?
You are truly THE one in over 6 billion human beings alive today, dude! ;) For your
info, I am booked for a tri-sectoral Air Asia flight to Cambodia this December so I greatly look forward to that trip, man.
In every organization I've worked for, I've always been a strong proponent of 'branding'.
The current firm I am working for now has at least adopted the Company T-shirt culture as part of our branding exercise (as suggested by by yours truly). Although I fought for the color Red, B.O.D and Management prefer Green and Black. Still fine by me... :)
What I wanna ask you directly, Tony, is the much grumbled about fact that having flown Air Asia, most passengers still complained that your pricing, at the end of the day, came up to cost much higher than standard fares offered by competitor national airlines, so they claimed! :( Could you please enlighten us on how Air Asia has 'subsidised' or perhaps 'discounted' the pricing factors such as excess baggage, fuel surcharge, insurance coverage, etc.?
Hi Tony,
Congratulations and excellent! I'm sure the audience at each forum would have enjoyed what you had to say and seeing how Air Asia has grown to what it is today, would have amazed them.
Air Asia is definitely a brand that's synonymous with not only as a low cost travel but as a comfortable low cost travel. I would also say that Air Asia is synonymous with Tony Fernandes. You, Tony Fernandes is a "brand" - a highly successful brand. Hence, to me Air Asia = Tony Fernandes. You're the face of Air Asia. Even if today, for example if you sell off all your shares in the company and have nothing to do with it, Air Asia will still equal Tony Fernandes - that's how strong the branding is. Very seldom you see this happen.
For example, many people know who Warren Buffet is, but they hardly know the companies that he has. When someone speaks about Bill Gates it will be linked to Mircrosoft. That's how it is in your case.
And I truly believe that's the success to Air Asia - You! Branding is definitely crucial. Air Asia has build a strong brand and more importantly has delivered excellent service and what the organisation has set out to do. Excellent.
Kudos to you and your staff at Air Asia!
Congratulations and excellent! I'm sure the audience at each forum would have enjoyed what you had to say and seeing how Air Asia has grown to what it is today, would have amazed them.
Air Asia is definitely a brand that's synonymous with not only as a low cost travel but as a comfortable low cost travel. I would also say that Air Asia is synonymous with Tony Fernandes. You, Tony Fernandes is a "brand" - a highly successful brand. Hence, to me Air Asia = Tony Fernandes. You're the face of Air Asia. Even if today, for example if you sell off all your shares in the company and have nothing to do with it, Air Asia will still equal Tony Fernandes - that's how strong the branding is. Very seldom you see this happen.
For example, many people know who Warren Buffet is, but they hardly know the companies that he has. When someone speaks about Bill Gates it will be linked to Mircrosoft. That's how it is in your case.
And I truly believe that's the success to Air Asia - You! Branding is definitely crucial. Air Asia has build a strong brand and more importantly has delivered excellent service and what the organisation has set out to do. Excellent.
Kudos to you and your staff at Air Asia!
In branding, colour of a product make a different. I like red. Those products that carry red are Ferrari, AAsia, MU, HSBC logo etc...
I like yellow too..eg. Digi..
Branding is really a remarkable thing in the business world.. still remember Nippon paints catchy tune when i was small and now I have Digi catchy tune together with their yellow man icon.. wonder will airasia come out with a catchy tune with a red and cute icon?
Dear Mr Fernandez,
I have been wanting to write to you for a long time. You are the epitome of success. You have built a Malaysian dream and driven many to beleieve that anything can be achieved by being simply honest. I have followed your Air Asia since the day you Give us a level playing field and we will show to the world what Malaysia is about. Had you had more support from the gov. Air Asia can be on par with the top airlines in the world and i mean not budget airlines. I hope you go on to achieve better things and one day you will be TIME magazines man of the year.
Hello Tony,
You inspire me and thousands out here with your remarkable achievements. I never seen anyone in my life build a brand as great as what have done to AirAsia.
Now everyone knows AirAsia in Malaysia, I hope it will be well known to whole world in the near future.
You are our hero Tony....
Hi Tony , you did build a great brand out of Air Asia all right. I remember Air Asia in the days of yore, when the majority shareholder being the Terengganu state government, the logo being the Eagle head, and I took it to Langkawi for their cheap promo with my ex-girlfriend, not many knew its existence then. It was probably in the league of Berjaya Air, Pelangi Air (wonder if they still exist). Now everyone knows about Air Asia and its vibrant red logo.
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