Royal Selangor: The evolution of a brand over four family generations
KUALA LUMPUR, MAY 2014. Tan Sri1 Yong Poh Kon, managing director of Royal Selangor (RS), the world’s largest pewter company, was in a meeting with his son Yoon Li and nephew Chen Tien Yue, both executive directors of the company, to decide how to build on the brand’s current success. Since graduating from university, Poh Kon had led the third generation family members for 30 years. During that time, he had witnessed a complete transformation of the company’s branding strategy, from primarily focusing on mass communication to integrating multiple consumer touch points, including new and advanced ones like social and mobile media. It had been almost 10 years since Tien Yue and Yoon Li had joined the fully owned family business. Together with their family and employees, they had successfully grown the brand through innovative product design, frequent collection launches and intensified internationalization. To establish RS as a truly global luxury brand, the two cousins and Poh Kon knew that further growth and a rethinking of RS’s branding strategy was critical for the almost 130-year-old company. All three were aware that it was not the first time RS had repositioned itself. To define the next steps for RS, Yoon Li, Tien Yue and Poh Kon decided to first assess how the brand and the family business had evolved and how the family, through the generations, had adapted and upgraded the brand. And, during periods of change and transition, how did the generations learn from each other and develop the new practices and capabilities needed to build and reinforce the luxury status of RS’s brand?
- Role of the owning family in regards to branding and innovation
- Trans-generational learning
- Family business based brand identity
Royal Selangor
2012-2013
Cranfield University
Wharley End Beds MK43 0JR, UK
Tel +44 (0)1234 750903
Email [email protected]
Harvard Business School Publishing
60 Harvard Way, Boston MA 02163, USA
Tel (800) 545-7685 Tel (617)-783-7600
Fax (617) 783-7666
Email [email protected]
NUCB Business School
1-3-1 Nishiki Naka
Nagoya Aichi, Japan 460-0003
Tel +81 52 20 38 111
Email [email protected]
IMD retains all proprietary interests in its case studies and notes. Without prior written permission, IMD cases and notes may not be reproduced, used, translated, included in books or other publications, distributed in any form or by any means, stored in a database or in other retrieval systems. For additional copyright information related to case studies, please contact Case Services.
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Family businesses hold a unique place in the economic and social landscape. They represent not just entrepreneurship but also heritage, values and a legacy passed down through generations.
Family businesses have long been the backbone of the global economy, contributing significantly to employment, innovation, and economic resilience. As we approach 2025 and beyond, family businesses must adapt to a range of emerging trends to stay ...
We investigate family CEO birth order as an antecedent of family firms' CSR behavior. Despite psychology literature recognizing it as a key predictor of individual behavior, birth order has been largely neglected in management research. Drawing on...
Family businesses are an essential part of the global economy, as they combine the power of a common goal. Long-term vision, and deep personal commitment. But these unique characteristics create a special context in which personal relationships bl...
Ferrero, Fiat, Intesa Sanpaolo and Eni invest in pleasure assets to enhance their reputations and family ties. But collections also become a strategic tool to enhance corporate identity, stimulate employee creativity and enhance national heritage.
Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is a significant challenge, especially for family-owned businesses where family matters and business operations are deeply intertwined.
Building trust in family-owned companies involves overcoming challenges from overlapping family and business dynamics. Non-family employees often face a “glass ceiling” due to perceived favoritism and limited career growth. Strategies like transpa...
This study expands upon previous research on family firm leadership by exploring the role of CEO identity – i.e., family vs. nonfamily CEO – concerning the way media perceive the brand of the family firm– i.e., brand importance. Drawing on endorse...
Working with family members in a business setting is a unique experience that brings both opportunities and challenges. Entrepreneurial families—those engaged in creating and managing businesses over generations—often rely on the strength of famil...
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal 25 December 2024, ePub before print, https://doi.org/10.1002/sej.1530
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in Journal of Family Business Strategy 28 November 2024, ePub before print, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfbs.2024.100646
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications