Martin Roll Spoke At The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) CEO Congress

Martin Roll Speaks At DABGO Annual Conference About Denmark Brand 2.0

Martin Roll delivered keynote speak about corporate branding and the importance of building strong brand equity at the exclusive CEO Congress held on 30 May 2019 in Singapore.

The conference was organized by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the research and analysis division of The Economist Group, the sister company of The Economist newspaper. Founded in 1946, the EIU has over 70 years of experience helping businesses, financial firms and governments navigate the changing global landscape through producing the highest quality data, research and analysis on various topics across more than 200 countries.

The conference was organized as a networking event for the Economist Corporate Network, the EIU’s exclusive membership, which allows members to discuss and discover insights with other business leaders.

Martin Roll discussed what CEOs must know about branding in the Asian market, and what it takes to build and implement a successful brand strategy in Asia.

The role of CEO in driving value in Asia

With various disruptors in the Asian business landscape, from JD.com changing the face of e-commerce in China through innovation, to the rise of Hallyu making Korean pop culture a billion-dollar economy, leadership in the 21st century will definitely be influenced by constant change. Next generation leaders must be able to balance both short- and long-term lenses and both global and local perspectives in order to tackle these challenges.

Some traits that a next generation leader should have are Purpose, Resilience, Networks, Long-term lens, Adaption and Agility, Culture orientation.

To be able to navigate today’s constantly changing business landscape, leaders will need to lead their businesses with purpose. This means to first, define the brand, the strategy and its objectives; second, put in place business frameworks, talents and resources, and an action plan to achieve the strategy; and third, to regularly assess and monitor business impacts, risk and governance.

How to implement a successful brand strategy in Asia

Martin Roll shares his global business strategy framework which states that long-term value is created through both performance and platform. Performance refers to the value created by the business structure, strategy and operations. Platform refers to the value created by the brand, including its intangibles and the narrative it communicates to create a certain perception in consumers’ minds. Traditionally, most boardrooms have focused heavily on performance, however, they need to balance equal efforts on both performance and platform.

One way to ensure adequate focus on building the platform would be to appoint a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), thereby elevating marketing to the boardroom.

Five essentials for boardrooms to deliver on strategy

To end off his speak, Martin Roll shared five essential points that boardrooms need to ensure in delivering their strategy:

  1. Alignment: Create a shared view of what the brand and customer centricity means across the board
  2. Culture: Keep an open and respectful culture and allow for dynamic, open-ended discussions
  3. Data: Ensure to get access to the right, unbiased customer/market insights and data
  4. External: Develop an outside-in perspective to avoid decision biases and cluttered views
  5. Change: Drive constant company-wide change to enhance customer centricity

Insights link

About the speaker: Martin Roll – Business & Brand Strategist

Download sample chapter (PDF): Asian Brand Strategy

Read about Leadership: Leadership in the 21st Century

Read about Next Generation Leadership: Next Generation Leadership – How to Enhance Performance

Read more about The EIU: The Economic Intelligence Unit

Read more about The Economic Corporate Network: The Economic Corporate Network