“There are only two advantages in life which are proprietary: technology and branding. Since I’m not a technologist, I decided that whatever business I was going to do next had to have a strong brand.”? 　　Having left journalism to join the family business, Ho Kwon Ping, founder and Executive Chairman of the luxury hotel Banyan Tree Group, realised that his family’s various contract manufacturing companies were stuck in constant competition on the basis of cost alone, and that the hotel business could provide a vehicle for such proprietary brand creation. “The difference between us and some others is that, for many other companies having a strong brand is a reward for being successful in many things that you do but it’s sort of coincidental. It comes afterward; it’s a reward for success in other areas. For us, we’ve always said from the very beginning? - having a strong brand is imperative for our survival.”? 　　INSEAD 的教授 Amitava Chattopadhyay 总结了Banyan Tree’s成功原因：“在还没有太多参与者的情况下，该公司就确定了生存利基，想出一个独特的经营概念并很好地将其付诸实施。” 　　阅读全文，请点击这里。 　　本文经许可，摘自INSEAD Knowledge。未经INSEAD Knowledge同意，任何人不得转载本文。