A delegation of top design, branding and marketing experts comprising of David Lo, Katarina Ivarsson and David Williams from Hong Kong were in India to share their expertise at a seminar on “Creativity for Business Success: The Hong Kong experience”hosted by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and FICCI at New Delhi
In his welcome address, Rajesh Bhagat, Consultant, HKTDC stated that while Indians were very creative there was a need to hone skills in branding, marketing and packaging which would enable Indian SMEs to scale their operations and expand their business.
In his opening remarks, Nilankar Saxena, Senior Director at Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) said that FICCI and
HKTDC are helping SMEs and Indian corporates to expand their businesses beyond India and assured full support and cooperation to any businesses that would like to take the assistance of FICCI and HKTDC to achieve that objective.
David Lo, Creative Director at LOMATTERS Creative Studio said that being a former British colony with a vibrant, mixed culture has helped develop the Hong Kong design industry assimilate western idea and has acted 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”. He said 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 digital marketing market and drew on his personal experiences with setting up alliances with institutions like the NID in Ahmedabad and his own offices in Pune and now in Delhi. David 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 that creates better impact for the brand. Instead of focusing on the 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 while speaking on product design and research said that the way we see and understand products is changing and today we integrate the design strategy and create a full circle of design. “Branding & Designing is the most tangible thing about a brand and Design Strategy is critical to any brand”, she said. Katarina Ivarsson spoke about the opportunities that Hong Kong offers for incubating start-ups in the field and invited Indian companies to collaborate and grow their potential.
The HKTDC-FICCI organized event was received with great enthusiasm by 265 attendees from Indian corporates, SME’s, designers, institutions and e-commerce sectors and provided valuable insight to how Indian design, branding and marketing professionals and companies could learn from the Hong Kong experience and grow.
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