How imitation is hurting Chinese brand development ~ Brand Mix

Monday, March 15, 2010

How imitation is hurting Chinese brand development

A second excerpt from the Credit Suisse report: 27 Great Brands of Tomorrow. This time, an interesting question about intellectual property protection (pp22-23):

Is the lack of IP protection in China actually hurting domestic brands more than their international brand competitors?

The thought is that Chinese entrepreneurs are not motivated to develop innovative and unique brands because their good ideas will be knocked-off without repercussion. It's easier for them to adopt a Wal-Tussin-like Private Label strategy and borrow liberally. But just like imitative Private Labels, this means that Chinese brands are limiting themselves. It may not hurt them too much in their home market but their lack of authenticity will hold them back from effective international expansion.

Previous post in the Great Brands series:
1)
Great Brands of Tomorrow: How the 27 great brands of tomorrow were selected and Credit Suisse's bullish assessment of brand investing.

Even more on Great Brands:
1)
Great Brands Make Great Investments: Landor colleague Allan Adamson celebrates the fact that a Wall Street firm has finally recognized that brand can be a source of competitive advantage.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I think imitation from others has been a critical problem in China, and they couldn't solve this problem as soon as possible because Chinese are used to imitate other brand. If you go visiting China, you can figure out this weird phenomenon. You can see a lot of international brand around the streets, but you will find out something different while look carefully. This problem might not only make international brand afraid to investment, but also cause a crisis in Chinese local brand.

 
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