Leader... BenQ a cautionary tale for region's marketers

And there the story starts to go awry. Taiwan, of course, is not a market known for propelling brands onto the global stage - but observers ranked BenQ as likely as any of performing the feat.

In common with several of its Taiwanese peers, BenQ hoped to translate an excellence in R&D into something worth much more. In 2005, the most tangible evidence of these aspirations emerged, via the company’s buyout of Siemens’ mobile phone division, instantly transforming BenQ into the world’s fourth-largest handset maker.

The recent news that BenQ will spin off its branded business and retreat instead to focus on its OEM and ODM contract marketing divisions is testimony to the failure of the Siemens acquisition. Instead of giving the company cachet and scale, it saddled it with an under-performing unit in what is perhaps the world’s most fiercely-contested category. The possibility that the branded unit will be allowed to quietly wither remains very real and implies that, in time, BenQ will make a complete return to the kind of contract manufacturing that has made Taiwan famous. It is a sad end to a story that captivated many in Asia’s branding community.

Ultimately, it appears that BenQ failed to bridge the chasm between local powerhouse and global icon. While the company’s experience may yet provide a cautionary tale for Asia’s marketers, the industry could do worse than attempt to emulateBenQ’s impressive thirst for risk.

New pitch points to indecision at Haier

Despite Haier’s image as a mainland brand capable of reaching true iconic status, agencies will be wary about participating in its new Olympics brand strategy review. After all, the home appliance giant carried out a similar process less than 12 months ago, before shelving the exercise after four agencies made detailed creative and strategy presentations. The issue then was a lack of clear decision-making authority at the company, which is also bedevilled by internal politics. It seems unlikely that those issues have abated but - as always - the company’s undoubted brand potential is likely to lure more than a few contenders into the pitch.