Late last year, Director Francis Wong of N&P Maritime, a specialist in lifeboat inspection and safety certification services decided to take advantage of consultancy services provided by the UOB-SMU Asian Enterprise Institute to help build awareness and raise the company's profile. Students from SMU conducted market research to help determine N&P's standing in the domestic market, and a brand-building plan was later developed. Some of the initiatives included developing N&P's position as a knowledge hub. This involved sending out regular e-mail messages containing expert content. N&P was also encouraged to raise its profile by providing co-training programmes on topics related to ship safety. The exercise with the SMU students took several months and the firm is now implementing some of the recommendations.