Our Managing Director/CEO, Basheer Hassan gives an insight
into the corporate branding of NORTHPORT

The importance of corporate branding for any company that is engaged in marketing its products or services cannot be understated. Northport, a market leader in the port industry, makes no exception to this.

“This is even more important in a dynamic environment such as the one we are now operating under. There is an exacting and constant market pressures to meet international standards and requirements of users of our facilities and services,” said Basheer Hassan, the Managing Director/CEO of Northport (Malaysia) Bhd.

“We need to remain at the top. There is a compelling need to identify or relate ourselves with globally branded names of shipping lines and shippers that are synonymous with excellence and quality worldwide,” he added.

Northport is the home of major global shipping alliances - whose members are among the top shipping lines in the world. We have more shipping lines calling directly than any other port in the country.

Major importers and exporters who prefer to ship via Northport include some of the world’s leading MNCs that read like who’s who in the international trade and distribution.

Need For Branding
“However, the current need for Northport to engage in a corporate branding, has been predicated by the corporate developments involving three sister companies substantially owned by a single ultimate shareholder that culminated in the creation of Northport (Malaysia) Bhd and NCB, as holding company,” Basheer stressed.

“The merger aside, we are now in a dynamic period of growth and this makes it even more imperative that the stakeholders that we interact and interface with are fully apprised of the corporate developments taking place in the company. This helps us to project a strong, vibrant and a purposeful image and identity,” the Managing Director/CEO pointed out.

The stakeholders include customers, shareholders, employees, govern-ment agencies, the media and other industry groups. “We could run into an image or an identity problem, like an individual, if we elect to keep silent of the change in our character. That explains why we needed to focus on NORTHPORT - to convey the message to the general public that we have new character that is even more focused, “ said Basheer. As a merged entity of two port operating companies, NMB brings better utilization of resources and exudes greater strength and confidence.

Basheer said Northport is also conscious of the fact that a company’s pro-actively established relationship with its customers causes the customers to choose a particular company over another as is evidently reflected in the growing list of users the port has secured in the last year, or two.

Positioning for Greater Awareness
Meanwhile, Northport, in addition to the corporate branding includes a media blitz, advertising and marketing campaigns, is invoking on the positive characteristics of TEAM NORTHPORT internally to project our resilient personality.

We have also had talks and held social events with the port to highlight on this new character of Northport.

The exercise no doubt raises the expectations of our users, but as the Managing Director noted, the merged entity, now constituting Northport, has invariably better resources, greater strength and stronger resolve to meet the expectations better than before.

“I am confident that TEAM NORTHPORT is an apt description of our personality and aspirations to serve the market better,” Basheer added.

Conceptually therefore, TEAM NORTHPORT also underlies the company’s policy to achieve specific corporate objectives or challenges ahead in a focused and determined manner.

“What better way can we hope to meet such challenges than being more focused both internally as we make our employees to think alike and in unison, and the market to look at us as even a stronger and bigger to cope with the rising demand and needs,” said Basheer. 

Ultimately, the pervasiveness of the TEAM NORTHPORT spirit will contribute towards enhancing business activities and volume of the company by drawing more attention towards it. “We have a clear idea of responding to the needs of the port users that aim to offer users an enhanced service level with better value for money consistent with our new character,” Basheer said.