In 2008, the World Brand Laboratory, a branding research institution, ranked the world’s top 500 brands according to their market shares, brand loyalty and global leadership. As you might expect, the USA claimed top spot with 243 listed brands in the rankings, but China wasn’t too far behind in seventh place. The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games had done much to elevate companies such as Lenovo and China Mobile onto the world stage. As the country establishes itself as an economic powerhouse, there is little doubt that many strong brands will emerge from China over the next decade. In this article, we explore ten brands that are likely to make their presence felt globally in their respective markets (see Table 1).
Alibaba.com is China’s largest e-commerce business, specialising in business-to-business (B2B) trading. It provides an online platform for domestic and international buyers searching for Chinese suppliers of almost all products, from agricultural equipment to wedding dresses. Its website has over 23 million subscribers, the vast majority of which are from China. This suggests that the brand has room for expansion in overseas markets, especially in the Asia Pacific region. Jack Ma, founder and chief executive of Alibaba.com, says that he came up with the brand name when he was in a coffee shop in San Francisco. Associated with the fictional character Ali Baba and the catchphrase ‘open sesame’, the name is easy to spell but, more importantly, globally recognised. Jack Ma likes to believe that Alibaba.com provides the ‘open sesame’ opportunities for businesses in China and beyond.
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