Ch 27: Typical Oxford

Nov. 30, 2006

"Today is going to be a late night" I thought. I had just finished listening to Rita Clifton, Chairwoman and former CEO of Interbrand speak on the "future of Brands". Rita mentioned branding in China(she said the C word which makes my ears perk up)and why it was so important to the country's development. Later on I would ask her about the Challenges facing home-grown Chinese brands overseas. Rita responded that the immediate challenges were:
- The "China" brand itself (i.e. how can it go from cheap stuff to quality)
- China's Corporate Governance (how they are enforced)
She also posed the question "when will we see a Chinese brand with a Chinese name in the global top 100 brands?"

"Good points" I thought, better blog 'em.

Highlights of the speech and our conversation afterwards included:
- The "Consumer" is never used at Interbrand; "People" is preferred and helps clients think of their customers as individuals with individual needs/emotions beyond consumption.
- The trend of the humanizing of capitalism
- The trend of luxury being defined and exported from the east to the west (and not vice versa)
- Brands will increasingly be focused on knowledge and less on hard costs
- Greatest growth areas will be in:
1. Health & Well Being
2. Leisure
3. New lives for "new old"
4. Tech (Duh)
5. Personal info. Management

Following the reception I slipped over to an SBS seminar rm where our team (group work consists of 6 person teams) was busy working on our final submission for financial reporting. I worked on my section while sipping a glass of red wine(pretty posh right?). "Just another typical night in Oxford", I thought.