Published by StarBizWeek |
PROMISING TIMES FOR MUNCHY’S – Biscuit manufacturer believes winning awards certainly does wonders
While its nice to win awards, a lot of times, especially for corporations, it ends up being a bragging right than anything else. But can winning an award actually improve a company’s business performance?
Biscuit-maker Munchy Food Industries Sdn Bhd (Munchy’s), which walked away with the “Most Promising Brand of the Year” accolade at last year’s Putra Brand Awards in March, can certainly attest that winning an award certainly does wonders in terms of brand awareness.
“Our brand awareness has certainly increased over time, from 93% in the second quarter (of last year) to 97% in the fourth quarter,” managing director C.K. Tan tells StarBizweek. Citing market research company Synovate, Tan says Munchy’s is still maintaining its position as the number one brand in the “Top of Mind Awareness” category at 25%.
The company’s earnings have also been on the uptrend in the past one year since winning the award. “Well, we made decent money, growing over 7% year-on-year compared with the market at 4.3%. So we are growing faster than the market,” Tan chirps.
Tan enthuses winning at the Putra Brand Awards prompted the company to launch new products, or rather, “babies.” “It helped us to launch new babies! In order to live up to the title of Most Promising Brand,’ we had to continuously excite consumers with new innovations from Munchy’s.”
Last year the company launched Captain Munch, a brand offering consumers variety that ranges from cookies to plain sweet and cream sandwiches something totally unheard of in the biscuit market.
“We also introduced Krunch Collagen, a first of its kind in the market that combines the concept of health and beauty for women. We (also) achieved another milestone with our wafer brand Muzic by extending beyond the biscuits category, entering the confectionery segment. In 2011, we also celebrated our 20th Anniversary themed Share the Fun,” says Tan.
He says Munchy’s is constantly looking at ways to improve their brand and product range.
An innovative move, Tan says, was to create a similar looking package for the range of its crackers to make identifying its products easier. “Our range of Munchy’s crackers, namely Cream Cracker, Sugar Cracker, Vege Cracker and Marie packaging were designed to look similar. They all look the same but are actually different.”
Recognising the growing trend towards digital, Tan says the company is also ramping up efforts to engage customers “online.”
“In terms of content offering, we recognise the importance of digital. (With this) our website was revamped, giving instant access to consumers and business partners from all over the world. “Our Facebook page has 28,425 fans and counting and we engage in conversations with consumers several times a day. The response from our fans has been really positive,” he says.
Apart from digital, Tan says that the Munchy’s brand is also present across TV, radio and print. “We make sure that consumers see, hear, touch, smell and taste our products anywhere and everywhere they go whether they are watching TV, travelling on the road or doing their weekend shopping with their family.”
As a homegrown brand, Tan says Munchy’s endeavours to “stay true” to its customers. “We take consumer feedback seriously and we are always on the lookout for product innovation and improvement based on consumer changing lifestyle and habits.”
On a separate note, Tan points out that running a business is more then just about raking in profits. Just as important is the need to give back to society.
“We always give back to consumers through charity. At Munchy’s, we believe in spreading the fun and goodness in hopes that we can sweeten the lives of the less fortunate. For example, during Chinese New Year, we invited the children from Ti-Ratana Welfare Society for a fun day out at Munchy’s. The children were decked out in costumes and performed the Lion dance and we all had a jolly good time.
“Other initiatives we drive include our contribution and participation to the Kiwanis Club of Kepong, Spina Bifida Foundation, SMK Methodist Klang Children’s Day, Rumah Perlindungan Nur Qaseh and World Vision for Japan Tsunami & Earthquake Fund.”
