新加坡

Peter Phang and Reene Ho-Phang's firm marketing global brands to China was inspired by a tripA business trip to Shanghai changed Mrs Reene Ho- Phang's life.存倉As she walked along the famous Bund in 2003, she took in the impressive city skyline, soaked up the energy of the people and was seized by a desire to drop everything in Singapore and start a business there.Having travelled in and out of Shanghai for about a year, setting up a spa for her then-employer Banyan Tree, Mrs Ho-Phang says she could feel the pulse of the city."Things were moving faster and faster. And people had such an appetite to learn and acquire new lifestyles," she enthuses, bright-eyed."This kind of force is so overwhelming. Your gut feel tells you that this is going to be a phenomenon," she adds.She immediately picked up the telephone and shared this dream with her husband Peter Phang, 43, who was in Singapore at the time.Her enthusiasm was reined in by him. "I told her to slow down, come home and talk about it. I didn't say no," he says.And thankfully, he did not.Ten years down the road, their company - BrandStory - is a leading Asian branding and travel representation consultancy, which markets international brands to the Chinese market.Their most recent coup was bagging the Brand USA account to promote the United States as a tourist destination to the Hong Kong and Taiwan markets.Other brands they have introduced to the Chinese market include The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Yeo Hiap Seng.Starting out in a totally foreign land was not easy for the duo.They started their business in the first half of 2003, about the time when the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) epidemic hit the region."I met people, people linked me to other people and I think that was how the network began," says Mrs Ho-Phang, who admits that the first years of business were slow.Mr Phang had left his job in a healthcare company, while she quit hers at Banyan Tree, and the couple risked all by investing a five-figure sum in the business.Mrs Ho-Phang, 43, says they were basically "burning savings and funds" in that first year of operations."But exactly after one year, business started to trickle in," she adds."Then we realised the business cycle is around two years, for people to know you, to understand you and then think about engaging your firm."They also realised their way of working was different from Chinese companies."When Chinese companies have a meeting, they expect you to bring a whole delegation," says Mr Phang, highlighting that the Singaporean way would be to bring one or two people who can get the job done.Some of their first clients were Yeo Hiap Seng, which engaged them to re-launch their non-carbonated drinks in China, and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf which they helped to re-launch in Shanghai.Their big break came in 2005 when they clinched the account from Australia's Northern Territory Tourism Commission to promote the Northern Territories to the Chinese market.In 2008, they beat at least seven other companies to represent the city of Las Vegas in the Greater China market.These days, they jet around the region, sometimes spending only six days a month in Singapore, which means leaving their nine-year-old daughter in the care of Mrs Ho-Phang's parents.She admits that she and her husband do not spend much time with their daughter, so they make sure they spend quality time together.They also have a private family blog."We share what we did for that day, our mood. We find ways to keep in touch with her. It's very important," she says.The duo are forging ahead with their business. They have 27 staff members in Shanghai, Beijing and Singapore, and are setting up new offices in Taiwan and Hong Kong.They hope to expand to second-tier Chinese cities, such as Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou and Xiamen, within the next five to 10 years.Mrs Ho-Phang says: "We want to make the company strong in Asia because we know that's why foreign clients are attracted to us."Quoting her mentor and former boss at Banyan Tree, Mr Ho Kwon Ping, she adds: "He once said you don't have to be a big company to be a global company... when we started BrandStory, I wanted it to be global from day one."simlinoi@sph.com.sgThis is part of an occasional series on successful partnershipsMRS REENE HO-PHANG ON MR PETER PHANGHusband's her rockWhen Mrs Reene Ho-Phang and her husband Peter Phang brainstorm ideas with their clients, she says she avoids his gaze because he has a habit of wanting to rein her in."I find that he comes in and kills a great idea," she says emphatically."I want to let us play. We should have this playing field and then pick the best ideas and let them simmer before all the realities set in," she says with a hint of exasperation in her voice."He is always asking, 'How much money are you spending?'""We always thought it would be fun working together," she says, "but we didn't know it could be so difficult."During courtship, you never realise so much about your differences, you think you are very similar."They were schoolmates at Victoria Junior College but never went out together then.In fact, she remembers telling her friend not to go out with him because he had "panda eyes" - dark circles around his eyes."Imagine her shock when she saw us years later and we were dating," she says laughing.Her mother, 66, is a retired seamstress and her father, 72, is a retired civil servant. Her younger sister, 39, is a teacher. After school, Mrs Ho-Phang and Mr Phang started bumping into each other in the street or at an ATM machine.After numerous chance meetings, he asked her out for coffee. They started dating in 1993 and were married in迷你倉1997.Returning to the topic of their different working styles, she says: "I have a lot of ideas about what I want to do for a client."Peter will come in and say, I don't think you have the money to do it... and it makes you go 'argh'." She grunts and clenches her fists at the end of the sentence, showing her frustration and irritation.But she adds that she could not do without him."He approaches things in a very different way. He is very insightful. I wouldn't implement a campaign without hearing his opinion," she says, adding that he also has great acumen in sizing up people.Their different approaches are illustrated in a client's beach party event which they attended.Mr Phang says: "I decided to go in shorts, a T-shirt and slippers because it was a beach party, but she was like, no, you are representing the client. You should be more presentable."She admits: "In the end, I regretted dressing up. My heels didn't work and I had to go barefoot."The two have learnt a lot from each other over the years, she says."He taught me in the areas of human resources and sales. I shared with him communications, public relations and campaign creation."They generally divide the clients between them, but when it comes to larger accounts, such as Brand USA, they will divide their responsibilities.For example, Mrs Ho-Phang takes the lead in handling their client, the Brand USA account, where they are promoting US travel to the Taiwan and Hong Kong markets, while Mr Phang is in charge of setting up the new offices in Taiwan and Hong Kong to service those markets.She says she considers her husband her rock. She recalls the tough first year of their business when they were "burning cash non-stop" and their bank account was close to being emptied.It was an anxious time for the two, but she remembers how he reassured her and showed his support."He said, 'Never mind, I'll go and work part-time, then I can still help you and you carry on. I know BrandStory is your dream."MR PETER PHANG ON MRS REENE HO-PHANGWife is No. 1 supporterThey were in a pitch meeting, hoping to clinch the deal to represent the city of Las Vegas in the Chinese market, and Mrs Reene Ho-Phang was in full swing, coming up with a lot of ideas, while Mr Peter Phang just sat quietly in the room.He was so quiet that the client thought that he did not speak English, he recalls with a laugh.But he is happy to let his wife do most of the talking and acknowledges that she is the more outgoing of the two."I would describe myself as shy, reserved, conservative," he says, and when it comes to convincing a client that their company knows what is best for the client, he says his wife is the best person for the job.The key, he says, "lies in her enthusiasm and her passion, which is evident in the way she talks".It is precisely this mix of her enthusiastic idealism and his quiet conservatism that seems to work for this duo.When he did speak during the Las Vegas pitch, he gave his opinion on what he thought would be "practical and feasible" ideas, he says.In the end, they got the account. "I approach things from a more practical angle, whether it's bidding for an account or working with potential partners, I tend to be a bit more realistic," he says.In contrast, he says, his wife always goes for broke."She's always eager to accomplish a lot in a short span of time. Sometimes it's more than a client can handle. Like, she wants to do something that should be done in one year in three months," he says.And it does not help that Mrs Ho-Phang is "stubborn at times" and enjoys debating the pros and cons, he says.She chimes in, saying that there have been times when they would spar with each other politely in front of a client and end up shouting at each other after the meeting."We have fought and walked out on each other... sometimes in the streets of Shanghai or Beijing, we would shout at one another," she confesses.They accept all these arguments as par for the course when working together and do not let them hurt their partnership.Mr Phang says his wife may have strong views, but when she sees the value of an alternative idea, she will support it. "When she gets my point of view, she will be able to meet me halfway and become an even stronger advocate," he says.He is the youngest of four siblings. His mother, 79, is a retired teacher, and his father, 83, is a retired car salesman.He says that he spoke very little Mandarin growing up, whereas his wife's family speaks Mandarin."We are like Channel 5 and Channel 8," he says referring to the English and Mandarin television channels in Singapore. But he says these differences "forced him to be more open to a lot of things".These days he is so comfortable speaking Mandarin that he speaks to their Chinese team members in Mandarin, even though they can speak English. He says his wife is more particular about details. For example, when they are running events, she will demand things such as a better backdrop or projector, while he is happy to accept things as they are.He says: "There are certain things not available in China, things we are more used to in Singapore. We go into the non-smoking section of a restaurant and she will be like, 'Why is it still smoky?'"I would say, 'Because it's China'."He adds that she is also more picky about where she stays and what she eats. "I can stay in local hotels for $20 a night and I'm more open to street food, but she tends to be more careful."But it is precisely all their differences - from language preferences to character traits - that "make their cooperation work", says Mr Phang."She's my No. 1 supporter and critic. She is a big part of who I am today."自存倉