Samsung

A Detailed Study of Two Asian Brands: Singapore Airlines and Samsung

Introduction

We choose to undertake a study on Samsung and Singapore Airlines as we believe that these two brands represent two distinctively Asian brands that have gained international brand recognition and acceptance and are widely accepted as having gained international clout in the provision of their products and services. In addition these two brands represent what is possible when nascent Asian companies undertake a consistent and thorough brand building strategy. We also decided that these two companies present good case studies as despite their global success; they face many challenges in the future that will test their ability to adapt, innovate and respond to competitive pressures while being able to increase and enhance their brand equity.

A study of these top Asian brands is thus required to provide an analysis of their strengths and weaknesses in order to provide valuable insights into what is required for Asian brands to succeed in the 21st century. For the purposes of this study, we leveraged on the use of interviews for Samsung while content analysis for both Samsung and Singapore Airlines was focused on secondary data such as web sites, news articles and academic journals and books.

Singapore Airlines

Background

History

Singapore Airlines began in 1947 as Malayan Airways Limited (MAL), a joint venture between the Malaysian and Singapore governments. When the Federation of Malaysia was born in 1963, the airline changed its name to Malaysia Airlines (MAS). It was later changed again to Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (MSA) when Singapore separated from the federation in 1966. In 1972, due to a disagreement between the governments of the two nations, MSA split into two entities - Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Malaysia Airline System (MAS). This marks the birth of SIA as Singapore’s national flag carrier (Roll 2006, 131)....