The Thai government should set up a national branding council and help local companies to promote their brands in foreign countries, according to branding expert Paul Temporal.
Temporal, an author and adviser to many governments and corporations, including Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Intel and Marks and Spencer, told a seminar in Bangkok last week that Thailand needed to "brand" its country.
"People are talking about Thailand, and Thailand doesn't talk about itself. There is no brand strategy to manage the perceptions of people outside the country. Now, Thailand is at the mercy of the international media," he said.
While the Amazing Thailand campaign is well known, the country needs more than the promotion of tourism. Concrete efforts are required to promote the country's brand and the brands of its products, to help attract talent and foreign direct investment, Temporal said.
"First of all, Thailand should establish a national branding council, composed of a small number of people. At the same time, you've got to have corporate brands going out to the world. So the government should help. It's not politicians talking that helps to build a country's brand, but the corporate brands," he said.
Thai chief executives, meanwhile, should do away with their "OEM (original-equipment manufacturer) mindset", and try to understand the value of brands. Temporal said 72 per cent of the value of equity in stock markets came from intangible assets, and most of these were brand values.
"If you don't have a brand strategy, analysts will downgrade you by at least 10 per cent. So brands create jobs, and the government should change its mindset," he said.
His firm - Temporal Brand Consulting - has a growing number of Thai clients, including CAT Telecom, Pruksa Real Estate and Krung Thai Bank.
