Although real estate is considered the safest form of investment, the term property development is often used synonymously with fake and fly-by-night operations, owing to the increasing number of scam cases. This has not only led to a trust deficit among the buyers but has also been causing difficulties for new developers to set their foot firmly in the industry. ECOWORLD, a real estate developer, was in a similar predicament when it first forayed into the Malaysian realm. Although they had a strong network of products and a team to mark their distinctive presence in a new land, they lacked the most critical factor - customers’ trust. But, little did they know that their one wise decision would transform them into one of the top 10 developers in Malaysia, within just three years. Thanks to the masterminds at 180 Degrees Brandcom, a Malaysian-based branding consultant, who guided ECOWORLD right from building their brand from the ground up to being a part of the eminent names.
This is just one of the multiple success sagas of 180 Degrees Brandcom. Founded in 2002, the agency has been a reliable partner to various businesses and has been successful in redefining the industry through its zest to imprint a brand’s presence on the domain and the customers’ hearts alike. The company, which had fewer than five clients initially, has a track record of more than 50 brands today, with many of them spending more than 15 years with the company. The most amusing part of all is that the company does not have a separate business development department. “To be honest, in the past 20 years, 99 percent of our clients approached us first, mainly through referrals. We still have some clients on the waiting list, who are waiting for us to see them”, proudly claims Chan Fong, Founder & Director of 180 Degrees Brandcom.
The Modus Operandi
The dramatic growth in the number of middle-class consumers and disposable income in many Asian countries has created a demand for higher-quality solutions, which in turn has increased the pressure on brands to up their game to become the customer’s favorite and rope in more business. Hence, more companies, especially SMEs, have started to rely on agencies like 180 Degrees Brandcom for innovative branding and marketing methodologies. Run with the objective of leveraging 180-degree treatments for the customers, the company has not limited its services to one or two segments but has carved a niche in providing full-fledged advertising services including, business strategy consultation, brand communication, digital media planning, video production, and event ideas.
Widely acknowledged as a creative agency, 180 Degrees Brandcom goes beyond the realm of advertising to assist SMEs make an everlasting impact. “First and foremost, we seek to understand our customer’s vision. More than half of the SMEs in Malaysia tend to rule the charts by serving all. We help them re-write their vision to help a single consumer, and we also educate them about the importance of becoming number one to that consumer by altering the products to improve their lifestyle”, explains Chan Fong. According to him, the company’s strategic focus on digging out the hidden needs of a customer sets it apart from the crowd.
“Henry Ford famously said that if he had asked his customers what they wanted, they would have said faster horses. See, most of our competitors have already explored the basic needs of the customers. But, if we can help them explore their hidden needs, we can make a difference”, shares Chan Fong.
Malaysia comprises people from three ethnic groups covering Malay, Chinese, and Indian. When Chan Fong founded 180 Degrees Brandcom, he noticed that Malaysia comprised economy was largely driven by SMEs, of which 50 percent belonged to the Chinese community. However, most advertisements and campaigns were from international branding agencies and were greatly influenced by Western ideology and language. The SMEs had to endure the hassle of connecting with their service providers. Hence, Chan Fong and his adept team started offering advertising services in Mandarin, before moving on to English and Malay. Today, the team has garnered exceptional expertise in serving Mandarin-speaking brand owners as well as an in-depth knowledge of Chinese culture, which has further helped the company pitch to prospective consumers with no language barriers. In fact, the company claims to be Malaysia’s only agency dedicated to the Chinese market.
180 Degrees Brandcom is powered by the quality of its solutions and its result-oriented approach, which remains at the helm of its operations to this day. In a cluttered market where most branding agencies concentrate on just making money for their services, 180 Degrees Brandcom specializes in diving deep into the customers’ business processes to enable a better consumer experience. “When we work with the clients, we don’t just want to be the executors. Instead, we want to be a part of their marketing, product innovation, or development team, so that we can know their processes and methodologies to create a perfect marketing or communication campaign. This is what differentiates us from the other advertising agencies”, proclaims Szu Lin, Senior Brand Director, 180 Degrees Brandcom. “From all our collection of brand imagery, we create a marketing communication plan. We strive to achieve the tactical goals through communication campaigns, before implementing creative executions”, she adds.
Widely acknowledged as a creative agency, 180 Degrees Brandcom goes beyond the realm of advertising to assist SMEs make an everlasting impact
Within an industry, which is marked by an unstable talent pool, 180 Degrees Brandcom takes great pride in its cadre of like-minded professionals who share the same qualities of passion and creativity and boasts of less than a 10 percent turnover rate. 30 percent of the team has tenured with the company for more than 10 years. In fact, the growth of 180 Degrees Brandcom is credited to its personnel’s experience, and pragmatic strategies. According to Szu Lin, the accumulated experience of the team in understanding and analyzing their respective industries acts as an added advantage in designing bespoke solutions.
En Route to a Brighter Era
Chan Fong, who kick-started the journey of 180 Degrees Brandcom two decades ago, considers 2007, 2016, and 2022 as three major milestones in expanding the portfolio of clients as well as employees. From fostering a small team of 10 employees executing smaller creative endeavors to 60 veterans managing local and MNC clients servicing regional accounts, the company has grown by leaps and bounds. It is currently focusing on offering branding training for various businesses. Launched last year, the seminar sessions were sponsored by Lexus and garnered 300 attendees, with 80 percent of them being SME owners. By scheduling the classes again in June and November of 2023, the event aims at educating people about the significance of branding and empowering them to own basic brand identity and certifications like CI or B Corp.
With such feathers in its cap, the agency understands the need to embrace technological trends and has been in the process of launching market research programs and designing artworks that support artificial intelligence (AI) and 3D technology. To fuel this vision, the company has also partnered with an AI development firm. “The rationale for the integration of technology into our systems boils down to our efforts in cutting costs and saving time. We can also deliver a more precise piece of creative work to our clients. So, we always say we use less to achieve more”, concludes Szu Lin.
Chan Fong, Founder & Managing Director
The visionary behind 180 Degrees Brandcom, Chan Fong is known for his belief in providing the combined power of marketing strategies and creativity to foster significant change, majorly in the Chinese advertising domain. Besides founding and leading the agency, he is also an announcer at 988 FM, a Chinese-language radio station based in Malaysia.
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