The Bangkok Post reported that Siam Cement Group, Thailand's top industrial conglomerate, wants to establish a global presence for its SCG and COTTO brands of building materials starting in ASEAN.

Currently, Vietnam is considered the first strategic country for the move to establish the international recognition of its SCG brand for construction products and COTTO brand for sanitary ware including tiles and faucets.

Other countries in Indochina, including Burma and Cambodia, as well as the Philippines, are the next targets of Siam Cement's Brand Management Office, which is tasked with increasing the awareness of the brands in the domestic and overseas markets.

Mr Anuvat Chalermchai brand director of Siam Cement Group said that "The move is expected to further strengthen our leadership in both the construction and sanitary ware markets."

Operating under SCG Building Materials Co, the Brand Management Office has been allocated a budget of 200 million baht this year for strategic planning and brand management mostly for the Thai markets. Unlike overseas markets, construction products are grouped under the Chang brand for domestic sales. The budget will be increased next year for greater coverage in ASEAN.

Mr Anuvat said that "SCG has campaigned through corporate social responsibility activities in Vietnam over the past few years and they know SCG as a corporation. Now it is time to make the Vietnamese consumers aware that we have products available for them to buy. At present, the brand awareness of SCG and COTTO is minimal abroad even though significant portions of our cement and up to 40% of our sanitary ware are exported. This is partly due to strong competition from major local players in each ASEAN market and the existence of international operators such as France's Saint Gobain and Switzerland based Holcim. We want significant brand awareness in ASEAN by 2015, when SCG aims to become a major regional business leader."

He added that "Our prime targets include Indochina and other markets in Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Indonesia. We believe the SCG and COTTO brands have the potential in the global market. That's why the office was established and we will put our efforts to achieving this target."

(Sourced from www.bangkokpost.com)