Building Brands from Scratch: A Conversation with Farrell Tan

Building Brands | A Conversation with Farrell Tan

With over two decades in advertising and PR, our Director Farrell Tan has worked on everything from Coca-Cola to Nokia. We sat down to talk about what he's learned about building brands that actually stick.

1. So, Farrell, you've been in this game for a while now. Take me through how you ended up doing what you're doing.

Well, it wasn't exactly planned, I'll tell you that. I started as an intern - and honestly, I was just happy to get my foot in the door anywhere. The accounts I worked on... Reject Shop, Bank Utama, Sheraton Langkawi... not exactly glamorous stuff, right? But you know what? Best thing that could have happened to me.

When you're working with smaller budgets, smaller brands, you can't just throw money at problems. You have to actually think. You have to be creative with RM5,000 instead of RM50,000. That discipline... I mean, it stayed with me even when I moved to McCann and suddenly, I'm working on Coca-Cola campaigns.

The funny thing is, I got headhunted a lot in those early days. Maybe I was just lucky with timing, but each move taught me something different. BAT was interesting because we were marketing cigarettes during all these advertising restrictions. You had to be really creative about how you built desire for something you couldn't really advertise properly.

Then when that business shrunk - what we called the 'dark market' because of all the regulations - instead of panicking, I saw this opportunity. The agency was starting a PR division, and they needed someone to help build it. Problem was, I knew absolutely nothing about PR. Nothing. But I figured, how hard could it be?

2. That's quite a leap. How did you even begin to learn PR?

Trial and error, mostly. And a lot of late nights reading everything I could get my hands on. The thing about PR that I learned pretty quickly is that it's not that different from advertising in some ways - you're still trying to get people to think or feel something about a brand. But the approach is completely different.

With advertising, you control the message. With PR, you're trying to get other people to say nice things about you. It's like... instead of saying "I'm great" you're trying to get your friend to tell everyone you're great. Much more credible.

We ended up winning the Guinness Anchor business, which was huge for us. Then Nokia, Sony, Sara Lee... I was learning on the job, basically. Made plenty of mistakes along the way.

3. When someone asks you what brand building actually is, how do you explain it?

You know, I've been asked this question so many times and I still struggle to give a simple answer. Because it's not simple, really.

I guess... okay, think about it this way. When I say "McDonald's," what comes to mind? Fast food, yes, but also probably golden arches, "I'm lovin' it," maybe childhood memories of Happy Meals. When I say "BMW," you might think luxury, performance, "the ultimate driving machine." 

That's not an accident. That's decades of deliberate brand building - making sure that every time someone encounters your brand, they have a specific experience that reinforces who you are.

But here's where most people get it wrong - they think branding is just logos and taglines. That's like saying a person is just their haircut and the clothes they wear. I mean, sure, that's part of how people recognise you, but your personality, your values, how you treat people... that's what makes people want to be around you or not.

4. So what's your process when you're starting from zero with a new brand?

Honestly? I spend way more time than most clients want on research. They always want to jump straight to the creative stuff - the logo, the website, the campaigns. But if you don't understand the landscape you're entering, you're basically shooting in the dark.

I remember this one client - can't name names, but they wanted to launch a new skincare line. Premium positioning. And they were convinced their main competition was SK-II and Estée Lauder. Turned out, their real competition was Olay and Neutrogena because of their price point. Completely different game.

So first, I need to understand who's already there and what they're saying. But also what they're not saying - that's where the opportunities are. Then I need to really understand the people we're trying to reach. And I don't mean just demographics. Anyone can tell you their target is "women 25-40." I want to know what keeps them up at night. What makes them feel good about themselves? What are they secretly insecure about?

Sometimes I'll spend weeks just... observing. Going to shopping malls, coffee shops, reading forums. You learn more from watching people choose products than from any focus group.

5. You talk about "storydoing" versus storytelling. What's the difference?

Ah, this is one of my pet peeves. Everyone's doing "storytelling" now, right? Every brand has some story about their founder's grandmother's secret recipe or their mission to change the world. Most of it's bullshit, frankly.

Storydoing is... it's harder to explain. It's when your brand becomes part of stories that people actually want to tell. Not stories you make up about yourself, but stories that happen because of what you do.

Like, when we worked on Guinness - and this was years ago - we didn't just tell people it was a premium beer. We created these exclusive tasting events, partnered with jazz clubs, sponsored art exhibitions. Suddenly people were posting about this cool Guinness event they went to, telling their friends about this amazing night they had. The beer was just part of the story, but they associated that good feeling with the brand.

Does that make sense? Instead of us telling stories about Guinness, we gave people experiences that made them tell stories that included Guinness.

6. How important is having a brand purpose these days?

Everyone thinks they need to save the world now. Every brand is trying to solve climate change or end poverty or whatever. Look, if that's genuine, great. But most of the time it feels forced.

Purpose doesn't have to be about saving whales. It can be much simpler. Nike's purpose isn't to make the world's best shoes - it's about celebrating what the human body can achieve. Apple isn't about making computers - it's about empowering creativity and thinking differently.

Actually, let me give you a local example. You know Spritzer? Their purpose isn't to sell water. It's about providing pure, natural hydration to Malaysians. Sounds simple, but it guided every decision they made - the source, the packaging, the marketing. When other brands started adding flavors and vitamins and God knows what else, Spritzer stayed pure. That clarity of purpose made all the difference.

But here's the thing - your purpose has to be something you can actually deliver on. If you're a budget airline, your purpose probably isn't luxury travel. It's maybe about making travel accessible to everyone. Work with what you've got.

7. Is it harder to build a brand when you're entering a market that's already crowded?

You'd think so, but actually... sometimes it's easier. Your competitors have done a lot of the heavy lifting for you. They've educated consumers about the category, established price points, identified the key benefits people care about.

The challenge is finding the gap. Every crowded market has gaps - needs that aren't being met properly, or audiences that are being ignored.

I'll give you an example. The beer market in Malaysia is pretty crowded, right? You've got Heineken, Carlsberg, Tiger, Anchor... all fighting for space. But when we looked at it carefully, most of them were targeting the same demographic - young, urban, male professionals. There was this whole segment of older drinkers, people who appreciated quality over flashiness, that nobody was really talking to properly.

That's where the opportunity was. Not in trying to out-shout the big players, but in serving a segment they were overlooking.

8. How different is B2B branding from consumer branding?

Night and day. Completely different animals.

With consumer brands, people buy on emotion and justify with logic later. You want that new phone because it's cool, then you rationalise it by talking about the camera specs.

B2B is the opposite. Everything starts with logic - ROI, efficiency, risk mitigation. But here's what most people miss - there's still emotion involved. It's just different emotions. It's about not looking stupid in front of your boss. It's about feeling confident in your decision.

Also, with B2B, you're usually dealing with multiple decision makers. The person who'll actually use your software isn't necessarily the person who approves the budget. So your messaging has to work on different levels.

I remember working on this enterprise software account - can't remember which one now - and we kept focusing on features and technical specs. Wasn't working. Turns out the IT managers were worried about implementation headaches, the finance people were worried about cost overruns, and the executives were worried about competitive advantage. Same product, but we needed three different conversations.

9. What about social media? How does that fit into brand building?

Don't get me started. Everyone thinks they need to be on every platform, posting constantly. It's exhausting.

Look, social media is a tool. A very powerful tool, but still just a tool. It amplifies whatever your brand personality is - good or bad. If you're boring offline, you'll be boring online. If you don't know who you are as a brand, social media will just make that confusion visible to everyone.

The smart brands pick one or two platforms where their audience actually hangs out and where their voice feels natural. You don't see law firms trying to go viral on Instagram right? Well, maybe some do, but they probably shouldn't.

The other thing about social media - it's not a broadcast channel like TV or print. People can talk back. They will talk back. You need to be ready for that conversation, and that means having someone who actually understands your brand managing those interactions.

10. How do you turn customers into people who actively promote your brand?

Give them something worth talking about. Sounds simple, but it's not.

People share things that make them look good - that make them seem smart, funny, in-the-know, whatever. So your brand needs to give them that social currency.

Sometimes it's about exclusive access. Sometimes it's about being first to know something. Sometimes it's just about having a great experience that they want their friends to have too.

I think brands focus too much on trying to get people to share their content. Instead, they should focus on creating experiences that people naturally want to share. There's a difference.

I mean, nobody wants to repost your company's press release. But if you create an event that makes people feel special, or a product that solves a problem they've been complaining about for years... that's when they become advocates.

11. How do you keep the momentum going once you've built a brand?

That's the million-dollar question, isn't it?

You know what I've learned? Building a brand is like getting fit. You can't work out for six months and then stop. The minute you stop actively building your brand, it starts declining.

Markets change. Competitors emerge. Consumer preferences shift. What worked five years ago might not work today. In fact, what worked last year might not work today.

But here's the tricky part - you need to evolve without losing who you are. It's like... imagine if McDonald's suddenly decided to become a fine dining restaurant. Even if they executed it perfectly, people would be confused. That's not who McDonald's is.

So you keep the core consistent - your values, your personality, what you stand for - but you adapt how you express that as the world changes around you.

I've seen too many brands make the mistake of thinking they've "made it" and then just coasting. There's no coasting in this business. If you're not moving forward, you're moving backward.

12. Any final advice for someone trying to build a brand from scratch?

Be patient. I know everyone wants results yesterday, but good branding takes time. You're trying to change how people think and feel about something - that doesn't happen overnight.

Also, be honest about who you are and what you can deliver. Don't try to be everything to everyone. The brands that try to appeal to everyone end up appealing to no one.

And... this might sound obvious, but make sure you actually care about your customers. Not just their money, but their problems, their needs, their lives. If you don't genuinely care, it shows. People can sense authenticity, and they can definitely sense when it's missing.

Oh, and hire good people. That's always important!!

At Orchan, we don’t just build brands - we give them personality. Want to explore how we can help your brand stand taller, sound sharper, and stick longer? Let’s talk.

Image Source:

(1) daisywang326.wordpress.com

(2) www.agbrandlanguagedesign.com

(3) www.firebrandtalent.com