SEOUL, KOREA – 360 Korean companies were newly selected to bear the Kotra Global Brand logo (an accolade awarded to Korean SMEs that are deemed capable of growing into major exporters). The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra) has come up with this Kotra Global Brand project to add wings to Korean SMEs’ export-related activities, and raise their brand awareness around the globe. Kotra Global Brand, designed to replace the “Seal of Excellence” (a Kotra endorsement logo that had been given out to Korean SMEs since 2008), is an endorsement program in which the well-established brand image of Kotra is fully leveraged to vouch for the high quality of Korean exports and the reliability of Korean SMEs.
Korean Goods Bearing “Kotra Global Brand” Logo
Kotra selects Kotra Global Brand companies after evaluating Korean SMEs on a variety of criteria including product quality and technology, marketing potential, fiscal soundness, and expected effects of brands. The selected SMEs are those who have already been accredited by domestic and international accreditors such as KS, UL, ISO, etc. On top of this, they hold relevant patents and industrial property rights under their belt. The selected Kotra Global Brand companies are allowed to carry out overseas marketing activities with the Kotra Global Brand logo attached to their business cards, promotional product catalogs, up to 4 years. On top of that, they are eligible for Kotra-initiated strategic assistance for overseas marketing campaigns.
Kotra Global Brand, which was launched this year as the successor to the Seal of Excellence, has adopted a three-tier rating system (blue, silver, and gold) in order to classify exporters based on sales volume and provide them with differentiated support. Under the Seal of Excellence system, there was no classification of companies, so it was difficult to offer company-specific, systemic support. Those who fall into the entry-level “blue” category are fledgling exporters posting below USD 10 million in exports, while companies grossing over USD 20 million in exports belong to the “gold” category. Companies whose grossings stand between USD 10 milllion and 20 million in exports belong to the “silver” category.
Chae-ik Lim, Director General at Design & Brand Team of Kotra, mentioned, “The introduction of a three-tier rating system will pave the way for offering systemic support to the Kotra Global Brand companies. Once companies with a blue rating advance to the gold rating group, the highest level of the group, under the auspices of Kotra, they will graduate from the Kotra Global Brand program.” In other words, Kotra aims to make Korean SMEs more self-supporting by turning budding exporters into established exporters under the Kotra Global Brand project.
Enhancing the Brand Image of Korean SMEs
The Kotra Global Brand project mainly revolves around focusing on the strengths of Korean SMEs that are widely known and raising the value of their brands in the global market. By doing so, this project seeks to bump up the exports of SME goods at reasonable prices.
Director Lim stressed, “I hope the Kotra Global Brand logo will give a much-needed impetus to Korean SMEs’ endeavors to enter overseas markets. Since the brand “Kotra” has firmly established roots in China, Southeast Asia, South America, and Africa over the past five decades, Korean exports embellished with Kotra’s endorsement is highly likely to succeed in making forays into these markets.”
Trust is the key to success in business. This is true of exporting goods to the global market. When it comes to business between buyers and exporters, confidence in brands and brand power work as deciding factors. However, as SMEs usually lag behind in the degree of reliability and brand recognition, earning the Kotra Global Brand logo has indeed led to growth in exports. Since Kotra Global Brand companies were chosen after thorough screening procedures, SMEs flashing the Kotra Global Brand logo come across as reliable and competitive companies to overseas buyers.
Kotra Global Brand Is Also Useful to Overseas Buyers
Director Lim continued, “Kotra Global Brand also serves as a great opportunity for overseas buyers looking for new business partners.
Based on the result of surveys conducted by 407 overseas buyers in January of 2011, the remarkable changes were found that the competitiveness of companies with Kotra Seal of Excellence improved considerably in non-price categories. For instance, overseas buyers’ preference (80.8%), and reliability in (84.9%) companies with Kotra Seal of Excellence have surged.
Moreover, the time lag between initial business meetings and overseas buyers’ actual signing of contracts with companies was shortened by as much as 69.8%. As a result, the 376 companies which have been using Kotra Seal of Excellence logo witnessed their exports ascend 29.2% year-on-year in the first half of 2011.
Another survey of 156 SMEs, in January of 2011, on the efficacy of using the Kotra Seal of Excellence logo also revealed that their competitiveness in non-price categories greatly improved (e.g. overseas buyers’ confidence in products, discovery of new business connections and price negotiations).
Take CRUCIALTEC for example. Though CRUCIALTEC owns state-of-the-art key technologies with which CRUCIALTEC successfully developed the world’s first flat screen TV, its low brand awareness put a damper on its sales figures. Kotra put this promising SME on the list of Kotra Seal of Excellence companies and lent mid- and long-term assistance for international marketing so as to turn CRUCIALTEC into a self-supporting exporter.
The Kotra Global Brand project has proven effective, as evidenced by continued growth in the selected companies’ exports over the past four years. Though FEROOF CO., LTD. created a new market by producing a unique item (metal shingles), it had remained obscure due to lack of global marketing. However, as FEROOF’s inclusion in the Kotra Seal of Excellence project resulted in an upsurge in its sales: its exports shoot up over 100% each year to break the USD 20 million mark.
Kotra Seal of Excellence -> Kotra Global Brand
With all these achievements made through Kotra seal of excellence, this renewed Kotra Global Brand Project anticipates to result greater performance this incoming years.
Kotra is scheduled to hold the official declaration ceremony for Kotra Global Brand Project along with Brand Marketing Seminar at Kotra’s headquarters in Yeomgok-dong, Seoul, on November 1, 2012.
