As the Hong Kong government has set out to rebrand Hong Kong with a new iconic image, the topic has occupied center-stage in public discussions these days.

We encounter different brands every day and consume products and services according to our confidence in them. Our city is full of iconic buildings and signature monuments designed by globally acclaimed architectural firms. But very few of these are our own brands. Foreign brands make our cities accessible, recognizable and user-friendly, but we are paying for this day by day, not only in franchise fees but in the loss of our cultural pride. Even our neighboring cities are tagged with nicknames such as the Venice of Asia, the Las Vegas of the East, or Paris in China. We see Soho here, West End there and Manhattan everywhere. Heaven knows, we are liable to forget that we are in Hong Kong.

Branding has different meanings for the economically advanced West and the developing economies in Asia. Instead of being an act of revitalization, developing economies make use of branding to fight against unfavorable stereotypes and to eliminate misleading and undesirable name-tags. In some economies, branding helps restore consumer confidence and survive the tough competition.

However, in the search for brand integrity we must understand our key strengths and guiding principles held by our communities.

Unlike brand names that are easily recognizable, innate qualities and indigenous values are not readily discernible. But for me the most important and meaningful part of the branding game is community involvement.

It's so easy to imitate, so difficult to create. It is so easy to borrow brands, and so difficult to create our own. But still, I firmly believe the wisdom of the community can arrive at a common realization, through active and open debate about the cultural values that underpin our city's brand. Without sharing the aspirations of a city or a nation among its citizens, branding will only become empty slogans.

Just as creative industries are also known as content providers, so the branding of Hong Kong should also be about content, and the core principles and cultural values that underline the content. Cultural products are numerous; creative products, abundant; and creative content plentiful, but local brand-names are few. Creative products evolving from similar fundamental values constitute brand integrity. Our cultural depths and the core essentials of community values actually provide for the very foundation through which brand names emerge with all their glory and splendor.

I always believe that a new branding of Hong Kong will come about one day. When we, the citizens of Hong Kong, share each other's aspirations and invite one another into our dreams that life is celebrated through cultural pursuit, and our people are enchanted by the arts, enlightened by cultural differences, and enriched by social diversity. We must come to learn with mutual respect that despite our different backgrounds and upbringings, there are some fundamental values that we all hold dear, there are some basic principles that we all respect, and there is certain core understanding that we all embrace, which bring all of us together, and together under one brand - Brand Hong Kong.

The author is former secretary for home affairs of the Hong Kong SAR government.

(HK Edition 03/31/2010 page1)