By CHUANG PECK MING

MENTION OSIM and massage chairs and other health tools immediately come to mind. It's a sign of how strong and recognisable the OSIM brand is - not only in Singapore but also the rest of Asia.

Branding helps sell your products. For OSIM, a strong brand is almost indispensable to its success. But a brand is strong only when its products are also strong.

'The need to have a strong brand that consistently delivers its promise is fundamental, whether you are doing business in the domestic or overseas markets,' says Alan Tan, the Singapore-based company's head of branding and strategic marketing.

A strong and trusted brand is not built overnight. It has taken OSIM, started in 1980 as a trading company in household goods, years of single-minded focus to develop a credible and familiar brand in Singapore alone.

'The OSIM brand is dedicated to the development of innovative healthy lifestyle products in the holistic areas of health, hygiene, fitness and nutrition, to improve the overall well-being of its customers,' Mr Tan says.

Building up a brand is one thing; you also need to protect it.

'Developing and protecting OSIM's brand, design and technology patents as vital intellectual properties are extremely important to OSIM,' Mr Tan says. 'Competition is healthy for the business, but the OSIM brand needs to guard itself against unfair practice and actions, especially in new and developing markets.'

OSIM first ventured overseas in 1986, forced by the recession and a limited home market. It went into Hong Kong and, subsequently, Taiwan (1987), Malaysia (1993) and China (1994).

Since 1999, OSIM has expanded beyond the region to Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East and Europe. But it took a safer route - through franchising. By then, the OSIM brand was quite well-known in Asia to command a price for its use.

According to a survey done last year by international market research firm Synovate, OSIM came up as the top brand in Asia for healthy lifestyle products.

'In particular, the Asian markets ranked OSIM as the most preferred brand, No. 1 in spontaneous top-of-the-mind awareness, and the most preferred brand of massage chair,' Mr Tan says.

Having made its name in Asia helps OSIM tremendously in pushing into new markets.

'It's like going into unchartered territories, but with a tested strategic blueprint full of experiences, learned insights and good practices,' Mr Tan says,

OSIM today has a network of over 1,000 outlets extended to 31 countries in Asia, Oceania, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and North America.

But Mr Tan says Asia remains OSIM's key market, especially Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. 'China will be an exciting market to watch for OSIM in the next two years.'

This article was first published in The Business Times.