HEALTH-ORIENTED product innovator OSIM, openkitchen concept pioneer Breadtalk and exotic-butaffordable getaway provider Banyan Tree - these are local start-ups selling very different services and products.

In light of their respective journeys to carve out business niches, what do they have in common? For the answer, think no further than a strategy upand-coming SMEs should employ to make themselves known to the business world branding.

As worldwide brands such as McDonald's, Panasonic and Microsoft would happily attest to, branding allows companies to differentiate themselves. It enables them to capture new markets more effectively, hence enhancing their competitiveness. For SMEs, branding can be a holistic strategy to effectively re-define the way they function and reach their customers. Those who get it right early on will find themselves in a better position to compete with enhanced market positioning, sustainable bottomline performance and strong customer bases.

SMEs draw on branding as a strategic tool to differentiate themselves and build their brands. The question is - what makes a good brand strategy, and how can it be made relevant to an SME?

'Contrary to popular belief, a branding exercise is not just the domain of big-moneyed corporations,' says Edward Goh, CEO of Edward Whistler International. His company has assisted several SMEs on their branding projects, including fashion retailer bYSI.

'All organisations can benefit from branding. Beginning the process of branding when a company is small gives it an immediate market advantage. For an SME, the use of branding can help build market leadership at a lesser cost. For large companies, they can use branding to build on their strengths to sustain their competitiveness.'

Good brand strategising defines a company's value propositions, which are consistently communicated and demonstrated in a way that customers can recognise, experience and appreciate. There must be a clearly defined corporate vision permeating all interactions with customers as well as the company's internal business processes. Advertising and marketing are required to effectively convey the company's value propositions to its customers.

Before making a decision and formulating an action plan to execute, there are internal factors to consider.

The company must be amenable to change, and proactively endeavour to instil a mentality of change in workers. Subsequently, the organisation as a whole can become a successful branding or re-branding process.

Branding cannot simply be regarded as a management and marketing department judgment call; a pervasive culture must exist. Each employee must live and breathe the brand ethos in going about their duties.

At the bottomline, adequate financial resources play a big factor. Most SMEs are hindered by limited budgets and tight cashflows unlike the MNCs and locally listed companies.

Pros like increase in sales, profitability, market share and brand equity must be weighed against risk factors. For example, a return on investment (ROI) must be worked out.

CEOs of small and medium-size companies must also be
adequately observant of market dynamics if they want to find niches unoccupied by the power brand companies and successfully establish new and innovative brands for the future.

But in order to benefit from a global branding journey, SMEs should bear something in mind.

'Authenticity is paramount when a brand goes overseas, as customers in other markets are looking for a brand that is real and delivers on promises,' says Kim Faulkner, CEO of Activiste Brands.

'It becomes imperative that SMEs not try to develop copy-cat brands or brands that are trying to emulate a market leader. It has to be distinctive, and be based on real competence and product deliverables.

'Branding is critical to SMEs as they start out or as their business evolves because it is about creating focus and clarity in the business and the marketplace, and thereafter in the minds of customers.'

Global or international recognition of a company brand needs time to be built - something for which structures and programmes are in place to aid the branding endeavour of Singapore SMEs.

Statutory board Intellectual Property Office of Singapore advises on and administers IP laws, promotes IP awareness and provides the infrastructure to facilitate the development of IP in Singapore. This fosters a proactive assessment and scoping of IP boundaries within organisations, providing a conducive environment as a prelude to branding.

Launched by Spring and IE Singapore in 2005, BrandPact is a joint
initiative aimed at raising awareness of the value of branding and helping enterprises execute their brand strategies, for example, through the organisation of workshops or seminars conducted by branding specialists.

The Customer Centric Initiative is also in place. It is led by Spring, the National Trades Union Congress, the Singapore Workforce Development Agency, and the Singapore National Employers Federation. Through the offer of an assistance package, it aims to help to redesign service quality and can help with the brand-building process.

Infusing a company brand with personality has a hand in making the otherwise inanimate product or service more appealing to possible customers, and forging a long-term link with them. But Ms Faulkner believes there's more to it than 'clever marketing'.

'It can act as a rallying call for employees to focus their various functional activities towards a specific brand goal, and can be a great corporate integrator if done correctly.'

This is the fifth of an eight-part series on entrepreneurship. ACE is
a private-public movement to foster Singapore as an entrepreneurial city (www.ace.sg).

Trump University helps entrepreneurial student introduce Derma Nano International, which offers a line of all-natural nanotechnology skin care products, body care products, parfum and fragrances.

New York, NY - One of the newest skin care product firms to enter the multi-billion-dollar global cosmeceutical industry, Derma Nano International, was co-founded by an already-successful entrepreneur and Trump University student.

Derma Nano, which provides a full line of all-natural skin care, body care, parfums and fragrances using nanotechnology, was co-founded by Edward Whistler Goh, founder and owner of the business growth and consulting management firm Edward Whistler International (EWI). Headquartered in Singapore, EWI has representative offices in Canada, China, Malaysia and Thailand.

Trump University's marketing mastery program helps entrepreneurs like Goh understand how to effectively market their products or services, and to be able to develop the right marketing strategy that gives their business a critical edge over the competition "Early this year I went into a joint venture with one of my clients to start up a cosmeceutical company -- developing, packaging, marketing and distributing skin care, body care, fragrances and parfums. So I decided to sign up for the Marketing Mastery Program to learn new ideas and principles that I could apply for Derma Nano and get it operational by year end," said Goh. "I also took this educational opportunity to hone my skills in branding, and enhance my consulting skills and knowledge so I could deliver value-added consulting solutions to my other clients."

During October 2007, Derma Nano successfully launched its line of skin care products that will be distributed through skin specialist clinics and later through Derma Nano concept retail stores. Derma Nano will have representative offices in New York City, Tokyo and Paris.

"When Edward Goh registered as a Trump University student, he was already a successful entrepreneur and owner of an established consulting firm. He knew the mechanics of consulting and business management, but when he ventured into a new business in the cosmeceutical industry which he was not familiar with, he turned to Trump University to learn how to create successful and profitable marketing strategies for Derma Nano," said Josef Katz, Vice President of Marketing at Trump University which is the educational arm of the Trump organization that provides investment advice and business strategies to investors, entrepreneurs and small to mid-size companies.

"Trump University's marketing mastery program helps entrepreneurs like Goh understand how to effectively market their products or services, and to be able to develop the right marketing strategy that gives their business a critical edge over the competition," said Katz.

About Trump University
An exceptional perspective on building success, a hands-on approach, a world-class faculty, and Ivy League quality curriculums are what make Trump University unlike any other online education Institution in the world. Since 2005, Donald Trump's online university has been teaching its thriving community of members everything from real estate investing, to marketing, entrepreneurship skills, business planning, management, wealth creation, and many other subject matters that appeal to aspiring entrepreneurs and business professionals. To learn more visit www.trumpuniversity.com

About Derma Nano
Derma Nano International focuses on the science of beauty through its line of all-natural skin care, body care, parfums and fragrances that deliver ingredients to the skin with more efficiency and have immediate results through the application of nanotechnology. All ingredients meet the ASEAN Cosmetic Directives and Health Sciences Authority of Singapore (HSA).

Source: Trump University

http://www.trumpuniversity.com/company/press.cfm?blogpost_id=1444
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/11/prweb572726.htm
http://billboardpublicitywire.com/releases/entrepreneurship/skincare/prweb572726.htm
http://www.nanotech-now.com/news.cgi?story_id=26643
http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=3482.php