Embracing a New Eraof Integrated Omni-Channel Services

The post-COVID period is bringing rapid upheavals to consumer behavior and new business models. THL is gearing up to greet this new era through integrated omni-channel services that continue to bring the world's best products to your family and life.

The FMCG market and consumer behavior have both been abruptly upturned as Taiwan enters a new normal of living with COVID: a trend that the THL Group is meeting with innovative thinking and marketing models. COVID has also fueled the emergence of inflation and prompted countries to tighten monetary policy in a bid to curb rising prices.

THL Group President Terence Chen says that efficient agencies like THL are especially vital in times like these. "We go beyond general agency work by offering premier services and an omni-channel strategy to increase value."

As representative for a spectrum of brands, THL is well-positioned to maximize exposure and channel distribution, reduce operating costs, and create synergistic value in the post-inflationary consumer era. The company is drawing on these strengths to bring top-notch foreign products to consumers in Taiwan at the best price as an ally in combating inflation.

The post-COVID era has witnessed a mass transition by physical channels to the internet. In this environment, it is increasingly vital to think about channel marketing strategies in context of the experience of customer interaction and create ubiquitous, omni-channel integrated services that adapt to the new normal pos-COVID lifestyle of consumers.

"In addition to current hypermarket, supermarket, and other retail channel and internet platform sales, THL is increasingly active in cross- brand and cross-channel cooperation to bring products to more fields consistent with consumer demand. This includes restaurants, cafes, and car showrooms, or sales to bakeries for making dessert. We are also planning and developing specialty products to market overseas," Chen says. "We want to build a Taiwan team to market a range of high-quality Taiwan products overseas," he adds.

Recently, THL colleagues have traveled extensively overseas to keep abreast of the latest global consumer trends, bring the world's best quality products to Taiwan, and introduce high-quality Taiwanese food products on the international stage.

THL Marketing Manager Elsa Chang and New Business Development Director Joanne Chen at Innovate Distribution Inc. (THL Group) flew to Paris in mid-October this year to participate in the world's largest professional food and beverage exhibition: 2022 Paris SIAL. Founded in 1964, the biennial Paris SIAL is now in its 30th session, with displays covering food, beverages, and food machinery, technology, and services.

Paris SIAL returned in style this year after a four- year COVID-induced hiatus. The vast exhibition space attracted 10 pavilions and exhibitors from across the globe in a variety of product sectors. Sharing her experience at the exhibition, Chang noted that exhibitors widely showed their ambition to re-boot after COVID. This was evident in booth designs, product displays, high-quality and generously portioned samples, and major investment in reception staff. "I was especially impressed by the plant-based meat product displays. They were both larger and more prominent at the exhibition this year. Support for the food industry was also evident in the scale of investment by numerous countries in their national pavilions," she says.

Joanne Chen also shared her insights from Paris SIAL, the first large-scale exhibition she has attended in the post-COVID period. She noted that the show brought together products from all over the world, including processed, instant, to-go, and frozen food, dairy, seafood, beverages, organic food, fruit and vegetables, groceries, and meats. She observed globally trending products, among them plant-based meat and milk, and organic fruit and vegetable drinks. She also held productive meetings with well-known French dairy, baking, sugar cookie, and other brands to source good product fits for THL.

In mid-October, THL Group TICO President Jill Liu and Marketing Manager Irene were invited by the French Chambers of Commerce and Industry to attend the Paris Cosmetic 360, one of the world's premier beauty shows. The exhibition, held in the underground corridor of the Louvre Museum, attracted 220 European manufacturers and more than 5,000 industry buyers. Irene says that, after a three-year gap, she was delighted to go abroad and see the latest innovations by L'Oréal, LVMH, Chanel, and other industry majors. She felt the vitality and competitiveness of the beauty market in everything from the organic trend of cosmetic raw materials to new bottle packaging, and observed Europeans' brand loyalty and attention to the quality of ingredients. She hopes to bring this beautiful experience to the marketing of TICO- represented brands.

As COVID approaches its fourth year, the impact of changing habits are being felt throughout the consumer market. People are paying more attention to health and quality as evident in the health-driven trends towards plant-based meat and milk, cleaning supplies to protect family health, and economical pet food for the furry friends: all areas of focus for THL in developing its agency operations going forward. With the warm Christmas season approaching, THL looks ahead to 2023 with ongoing deployment in its omni-channel strategy, welcoming the new year with new advance across its operations, from e-commerce and logistics supply chain to sustainability and talent development.