A trio of top design, branding and marketing experts from Hong Kong shared their expertise with Indian entrepreneurs during a seminar on “Creativity for Business Success: The Hong Kong experience” in New Delhi, India last week (25 Feb, 2016).
The seminar, hosted by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), attracted 265 attendees representing 238 Indian companies.During the event, Hong Kong-based experts David Lo, Katarina Ivarsson and David Williams shared their insights on Hong Kong’s continued success as a cutting edge design and marketing hub of Asia, and offered innovative ideas on how to enhance business through better design, branding and marketing techniques.
In his welcome address, Rajesh Bhagat, Consultant, HKTDC, stated that while Indian entrepreneurs are very creative there was a need to hone skills in branding, marketing and packaging, which would enable Indian SMEs to grow their operations and expand their business.
In his opening remarks, Nilankar Saxena, Senior Director, FICCI, said that FICCI and the HKTDC are helping SMEs and Indian corporates to expand their businesses beyond India, and offered full support for companies to achieve that objective.
David Lo, Creative Director at LOMATTERS Creative Studio said, with Hong Kong being a former British colony with a vibrant cultural mix, the city has developed a design industry assimilated with western ideals that is able to act as a bridge between the sensibilities of the East and the West. “I believe that a local insight along with classical design aesthetics and universal marketing principles creates durable branding,” Lo said, adding that “India has similar potential with regard to developing a design aesthetic that is rooted in local culture but is part of a global milieu.”
David Williams, Founder & Lead Digital strategist, Asia Digital MOJO spoke glowingly about the potential of India as a market for digital marketing and drew on his personal experiences in forming alliances with institutions like the NID in Ahmedabad and his own offices in Pune and now in Delhi.
Williams made a pointed reference to the buzz around E-commerce in India and introduced the concept of Online to Offline (O2O), pitching it as a natural progression from product design to experience design.
“The whole idea of branding is to migrate the product from the studios into the physical world. India has a scope for great development and I can see that E-commerce is very strong and growing in India like in China, and it is this kind of physical engagement that online allows, which creates better impact for the brand. Instead of focusing on design, the brands must focus on the effect the design can have on the brain. As much as technology is important, we must also not let it get in the way of experience,” he said.
Katarina Ivarsson, Founder & CEO, Boris Design Studio talked about product design and research. She said the way we see and understand products is changing and now we integrate the design strategy and create a full circle of design.
“Branding and designing is the most tangible thing about a brand, and design strategy is critical to any brand,” she said. Ivarsson spoke about the opportunities that Hong Kong offers for incubating start-ups in the field and invited Indian companies to collaborate with Hong Kong to grow their potential.
The HKTDC-FICCI organised event was received with great enthusiasm by the participants, which included representatives from Indian corporates, SME’s, designers, institutions and E-commerce sectors. It provided valuable insights into how Indian design, branding and marketing professionals and companies could learn from the Hong Kong experience and use the city as a platform to expand their operations overseas. fii-news.com
