Guinness gimmicks could wreck, not boost, brands

He also stressed that companies should associate with only such records that are relevant to their products or services, or hot in pop culture.

At first look, the Yangzhou fried rice event didn't seem to have any Chinese corporate sponsors. But, a line of small Chinese characters in a news photograph of an advertising billboard showed Yihai Kerry was the sponsor.

Based in Shenzhen, Yihai Kerry is a leading agribusiness and food company. It has been in business for over 20 years, but it doesn't produce Yangzhou fried rice, whose history dates back to more than 1,000 years.

It seems as though Chinese companies are ignorant of what constitutes corporate social responsibility and intelligent brand building in this age.

They, and local governments, appear over-eager to associate with any and every Guinness event. Every year, they invest a lot of human and material resources to back events that challenge Guinness world records.

I believe it is important to link a Guinness event with public welfare or some charity theme, particularly when a Chinese company plans to associate with it in order to derive brand mileage and strong market reputation.

That way, companies can avoid strong negative public feelings and media criticism if the event turns out to be dubious eventually.