Ken Liang

[ykenliang]

Authenticity is the key to personal leadership branding

At certain stage of our lives, we've probably all tried to become someone else - someone who inspired us or whose success we tried to emulate.

To me, that has been a failed attempted and a source of endless frustration. In the end, I can't really be more than who I truly am. There'll always been someone out there who are smarter, more charismatic, more articulate, and the list goes on and on. However, I've also discovered things by which people remembered me, a combination of things people found so unique of me. The fact that I'm passionate, trustworthy, down-to-earth,curious, emphatic, etc, etc. So I finally understand that I am who I am, and striving to be the best of myself will be my ultimate success that nobody else can replicate.

I like how the article talks about personal branding as related to leadership, an Authentic Leadership "that's consistent with your vision of who you are, what you're good at and what matters most to you -- both professionally and personally." Living one's personal brand is really about to "being true to yourself."

 I cannot agree more.

[ykenliang]

Core Values: Small Sandwich’s Big Dream

Early this year, I decided to join force with a friend to create a new quick-service restaurant concept out of his humble take-out shop that served Chinese-style sandwiches. We were both excited about this project, because we had the same aspiration of bringing new concepts to the stale Chinese food segment in the United State. We hope to draw inspirations from China’s rich culinary traditions and develop new, exciting, and tasty menu offerings for the American consumers at easily accessible price point。

As we started working on the branding piece, we were puzzled by how to create a distinct positioning to differentiate our restaurant and build a community of loyal fans. In the end, we realized that everything would have to boil down to our brand DNA – who we are, what we stand for, and why we do what we do. Figuring this out was by no means an easy exercise. My partner and I tried very hard to look into ourselves and asked many fundamental questions about our core values and our ultimate mission as a business.

It was by no means an easy exercise, but in the end, we finally discovered something completely beyond the small sandwiches we would serve. Deep down in our hearts, we really wanted to create a restaurant concept that would inspire people. We believe that the pinnacle of culinary art and the essence of gourmet is creativity and innovation, and such experience should not be reserved just for the select few; instead, it should be a lifestyle accessible to everyday consumers  in an open and unassuming way. Our small sandwiches will be a great starting point in carrying out our big dreams.

  Today’s readings pinpoint the critical role of a brand’s core values. I can’t agree more on this from my experience working on the restaurant startup as well as studying highly-respected companies such as Starbucks, Costco, and Trader Joe’s. Having figured out our the core values for our restaurant brand, we feel more confident than ever to carry out our strategy and delivery our vision to the customers. 

[ykenliang]

It take a great deal of effort to educate consumers about something of which tangible benefits are difficult to measure and experience. This early "Intel Inside" commercial really focused on telling consumer the technological superiority of the Intel processor and connected the technology to the experience of using a personal computer. It made it easy for consumer to related to and understand the brand and what it would mean for them to have an Intel chip inside their computers.

Compared to some later commercials such as the iconic Blue Man series, the older commercials focused on technology itself as opposed to people's emotional association with the brand. We can therefore see how the brand and its communication can evolve over time with the life cycles of technology and consumer adoption.

[ykenliang]

It's interesting to see this 2012 Burberry commercial on its cosmetic product line - the Iconic Nudes collection.

In this commercial, Burberry's brand icons - the classic trench coat and the check pattern, are heavily featured in an attempt to connect the brand's heritage to a new product extension. The Burberry Check is used everywhere in this product line - it's printed on the case, shaped into the lipsticks, and imprinted on the makeup foundation...

Personally I don't like the omnipresence of the check pattern. It's just simply used too much and not in a tasteful way. In the case it mentioned that Bravo was advocating for a more constrained way of using the check, but 10 years later, things did appear to have changed. 

[ykenliang]

Asian Hospitality?

I have only flown with Singapore Airline once, but it was by far the best airline experience I have ever had, followed closely by my second favorite – the Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific. Both airlines are based in east Asia and differentiate themselves through superior customer service.

  This reminds me of another Singapore-based service company– the Shangri-La Hotels. The two companies have many things in common: both focuses on delivering distinct and superior standards of hospitality and service by leveraging their Asian heritage; both invested heavily in employee training and empowerment; both have a strong culture that is consistent with their service orientation; and of course, both have won numerous awards for being the best-in-class in its respective industry.

  So, why has such “Asian hospitality” outperformed its western counterpart in these cases? Is there something magic to it? My answer is no. The only magic, I’d say, is the commitment to superior customer service these organization has made. Operating under these commitment, these companies had to figure out ways, sometime even creative ways, to assign all aspects of their organizations and operations with their commitment. “Where there is a will, there is a way” is the inspiration that I draw from these companies.

[ykenliang]

The country image that stuck in your mind

In the wine business, information about the wine's country of origin plays a critical role in pricing and sales. The "old world" wine-producing countries, in particularly France, enjoy a positive set of national images that help them get a upper hand compared to many of the "new world" competitions. Unlike products with unambiguous features the functions, wine is more of an experiential consumption to most consumer with hard-to-define benefits. Therefore, the associated country images become an integral part of the "total experience."

Being in the restaurant business, I observe the similar phenomenon. The industry segments that command the highest price premium are typically French, Italian, and Japanese, which are associated with countries with mostly desirable national image. It is interesting that most Japanese restaurants in the United States are run by Chinese owners. They choose to do so simply because Japanese food makes a much higher margin than their Chinese counterpart. I’m currently working on rebranding a Chinese restaurant concept. The challenges in changing people’s perception makes me wonder whether or not I should decouple “Chinese” from our brand and instead focus on being just an “Asian” restaurant.