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Hello reader,
What’s your personal brand?
According to one friend who puts way more thought into her social media presence than I do, we all have one – even if we’re not being contacted by cosmetics companies to flog their wares on our Instagram pages.
The way she explained it to me, a personal brand is how we want people to see us. A lot of people mistake reputation with brand but it’s much more intentional than that.
I suppose this means I want people to perceive me as a lanky, awkward goofball who almost exclusively wears tropical-themed shirts. Having read that out loud, I think it’s time to rethink my branding.
Maybe I could take some lessons from Indonesia’s Bank Central Asia (BCA), recently named Southeast Asia’s most valuable brand. Alright, I can’t exactly digitally transform myself as BCA did, but maybe I can find some slightly more muted shirts to wear on occasion.
Today we look at:
- How BCA’s digital drive has helped its brand value soar
- The mixed reviews on Indonesia’s proposal to ban imports worth less than US$100
- Other newsy highlights such as Grab’s chief product officer selling some shares and Protege Ventures’ second fund for student entrepreneurs.
Premium summary
Banking on the brand
Image credit: Timmy Loen
Indonesia’s BCA has been named the most valuable brand in Southeast Asia at US$23 billion by global data and consulting firm Kantar.
BCA was the only brand from Southeast Asia to secure a place in the global rankings and the bank credits its success to a digital transformation drive.
- Excellent equity: Beyond pure financial metrics, Kantar considers brand equity when producing the rankings. This means the brand’s capacity to create value for the company, which can include the brand’s strength to make consumers choose it over a competitor. Adji Saputro, who leads Kantar’s brand guidance solutions for Indonesia and Asia Pacific, said it was clear BCA had strong brand equity.
- Home sweet home: Kantar’s research found that Southeast Asian brands tend to put more focus on their home markets than their global peers do. This can slow brands’ international expansion efforts but also represents an opportunity to improve brand value. BCA is no exception, as it currently only operates in Indonesia and Hong Kong, while banks like DBS and UOB serve more than a dozen locations.
- Digital drive: The report showed that the number of BCA customers using mobile banking has tripled in the last four years, indicating that its digital transformation efforts have borne fruit. The bank uses its subsidiary BCA Digital to collaborate with the likes of local ecommerce firm Blibli and financial platform Telkomsel Redi as part of measures to better cater to digitally savvy customers.
Ban backfire?
Apply for a seat to September 13’s closed-door dinner to get free-flowing drinks!
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