APO Top Management Forum: Corporate Brand Management
5–10 March 2006, Kyoto, Japan

Mr. Tsuneaki Taniguchi, President, Japan Productivity Center for Socio-Economic Development;
Mr. Kozo Shindo, Chairman, Kansai Productivity Center;
Distinguished panel of speakers;
Forum participants from APO member countries; and
Ladies and gentlemen:

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the APO 2006 Top Management Forum. This hallmark event of the APO started 20 years ago where we are gathered today: the beautiful and historic city of Kyoto. The primary purpose of the forum is to provide insights into world-class business management strategies and philosophies of renowned Japanese companies. The presenters are usually topnotch corporate executives and strategists and public-sector leaders. It is our sincere hope that through this forum the ideas, practices, and experiences that have made Japan a global powerhouse in world business will contribute to similar or even better achievements by corporations in other APO member countries.

This series of fora has covered a wide range of topics. Last year, we discussed corporate social responsibility. The year before that corporate strategic alliances were the focus. The theme for this year is corporate brand management.

Brand management has a long history. However, the rapidly changing business environment, intense global competition, and more demanding and sophisticated customers have given brand management new significance as a platform through which a corporation can quickly claim and sustain a niche in the market. In other words, a strong brand will give a corporation the cutting edge it needs to survive.

Among Japanese companies, the initial thrust to penetrate the world market was price competitiveness through mass production of goods and services. As competition intensified in the world market and standards of living improved throughout the world, there was a strategic shift to producing quality goods and services. “Made in Japan” became synonymous with quality and reliability. Despite this, however, there were then only a very few Japanese brand names of renown worldwide. The watch-making industry is a good example. Through the incorporation of precision technology, Japanese watchmakers were able to produce new products with excellent qualities. For a period, Japan overtook Switzerland as the world’s major producer of watches. The Swiss watchmakers, as a counterstrategy, began an aggressive brand management campaign and they have successfully eroded Japan’s share of the world market. Today, Swiss-made brands dominate the wristwatch market.

In light of such experiences, Japanese companies realized the importance of brand management. Since then, brand management has come a long way in the country. Among the 100 top brands listed by Interbrand, seven are Japanese. Some of the Japanese brands are household words, like Sony, Toyota, Toshiba, Seiko, and others.

In the coming four days, you will be hearing presentations from the chief executives of some of the best companies in Japan. Through them, you will learn how Japanese companies achieved brand management excellence. Their relentless efforts represent the very essence of productivity in making “Tomorrow better than today!”

In closing, I would like to express the APO’s deep gratitude to the Government of Japan for the generous financial support for this project; Mr. Shinji Fukukawa, Chairman of the Machine Industry Memorial Foundation, for his keynote speech; distinguished panel of speakers who have kindly agreed to share their insights and experiences on corporate brand management; and the Japan Productivity Center for Socio-Economic Development for organizing this meeting.

I wish you a fruitful meeting and our overseas guests a pleasant stay in Kyoto.

Thank you.

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