The Razak Roundtable: Creating Brand Power for Countries and Companies

The Razak School of Government (RSOG) has managed to spark interesting and at one time emotional discussions around the subject of creating Malaysia as a brand. It was mentioned that this country said to already have a brand like 'Malaysia Truly Asia,' has done a pretty good job especially in the Tourism industry. But there is also the need to distinguish the brand created in Tourism and the brand of the country overall. A country brand is a message that the country believes in and is willing to deliver. Otherwise it can be merely a marketing gimmick that is difficult to sustain overtime. Further discussions also touched on issues of transformational leaders and brand communications. Among the speakers were Dr Andrew White, Associate Dean of Said Business School; Mr Kamran Khan, Program Director of the World Bank Group; Mr David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance Plc; and Mr Kam Raslan, Author, Columnist, and DJ of BFM Radio. The closing keynote speaker was our Deputy Prime Minister,Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.