The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing in Asia by Al Ries, Jack Trout & Paul Temporal (Wiley)
UK users

Two books which are likely to prove invaluable to anyone doing business in the fast-exploding Asia Pacific market. Paul Temporal has established a lasting reputation as one of the leading experts on brands and branding in the region, and these books provide important insights into the subtle differences between the East and more developed markets of the West. Significantly, Asian-owned products and services, especially those outside Japan, have been slower to adopt what we in the West regard as established brand strategies. This is beginning to change significantly, as a result of the breakthrough success of not just the Korean electronics manufacturers, but now the latest wave of computer and mobile telecoms marketers from Chinese-speaking markets (including Lenovo, BenQ and China Mobile). 

Asia's Star Brands seeks to identify some of these new emerging forces in the global marketplace, and analyse how they have established their brands, not only in the regional market but also more widely in the West. There are 30 main brands covered. Some are already well-known to Western audiences - including Red Bull, Nissan, Samsung and LG. Others are becoming familiar, such as Lenovo, BenQ, and the Emirates airline. There are also excellent chapters on the city of Shanghai, increasingly established as China's gateway to the West, and Dubai, rapidly becoming a major business and tourism hub. Other brands are likely to become important international brands of the future: Chinese household appliance giant Haier, electronics firm Huawei Technologies and car manufacturer SAIC. 

In a similar style, in The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing in Asia Temporal takes the foundational guidelines already established by Al Ries and Jack Trout in their original book, and demonstrates how each of these principles has been adopted by different Asia Pacific marketers, often with a subtle local spin. Many of the same companies appear, but also many Western marketers who have adapted their own well-established values in order to target a less brand-savvy regional audience. Although designed primarily as a handbook for Asian marketers, it also makes fascinating reading for Western eyes seeking to understand how the local market is developing.

Added 25th May 2006