[The Chosun Ilbo, January 17 2008] Protecting the Good Name of Korea's Global Brands

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Japan's largest electric home appliance maker, last Thursday decided to abandon the name Matsushita, the name it has used since its founding 90 years ago, and replace it with its export brand name Panasonic. As a result, the company name and its export brand name will be the same. According to Japan's NHK news service, one of the reasons the company decided to change its name is because its brand power is weaker than Samsung's.

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Our global brands, such as Samsung, Hyundai Motor, LG, SK, and POSCO, are like the public face of Korea, representative of the 50-year history of Korea's economic growth. Wherever you go around the world, your heart will burn with patriotism when you find Korean brands or their signboards. You can feel as if your heart is too full for words when you see signboards for Hyundai Motor or Samsung Anycall mobile phones on the streets of Europe -- just as you feel proud when you hear of the victories of PGA champion Choi Kyung-ju or gold-medalist swimmer Park Tae-hwan.

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Corporate brands are not just names of corporations or their products. They are organisms that can communicate with consumers. It is difficult to build brands well, but it is very easy to destroy them. We are worried about what TV viewers around the world will think when they see the logo of Samsung, a main sponsor of the Beijing Olympic Games in August.