Embracing Change Lighting up brand recognition by Edward Chung In a busy and increasingly automated world, it can sometimes be difficult to grab the consumer's attention. Rolling out the new Towngas Avenue flagship centre concept helped Towngas to re-establish contact with its core customers and bring in a new generation of gas users Most people just flick on their gas appliances without a second thought. After all, the steady and reliable provision of gas allows millions of households to cook and heat their homes with minimum fuss. Imagine the surprise, then, when Towngas customers first entered the company's two flagship 'Towngas Avenue' stores, opened in late 2001 and late 2002. Far from compounding the drudgery of paying the bills, customers are greeted with a showroom layout not dissimilar to a cutting-edge homeware and furnishings outlet, with an adjoining coffee shop and cooking area. Is this an example of an established company deviating from its tried and tested core product? Not according to Towngas executive director and chief operating officer James Kwan. Although satisfied with most aspects of the company's operational performance, the management felt that more could be done to get closer and become more relevant to the consumer. "Towngas has been around for a long time, more than 140 years, and is widely considered to be a well-established and traditional utility company," remarks Mr Kwan. "That's fine with us, but we also wanted to emphasise our innovative philosophy and therefore needed a more modern image." The company decided to achieve this through refurbishing its front-end consumer interface - the customer service centre. Such tasks as bill payment are now largely automated, which meant that far fewer people had a reason to visit Towngas outlets. "Reduced customer exposure inevitably has an impact on a brand, so we decided to overhaul our image in this respect," explains Mr Kwan. "We need to attract customers to our service centres and therefore needed to give them a reason to visit." Holistic service Twelve months after first tabling the concept, the first Towngas Avenue was opened in Tsim Sha Tsui, followed a year later by a second outlet in Causeway Bay. "We want people to visit this as a one-stop shop for all their domestic lifestyle needs. From service centres that only stocked white goods and basic services, we now have a pair of stores that boast a multitude of attractions," says Mr Kwan, adding that the stores are very much works in progress, continuously evolving to incorporate more items to attract visitors. "It's a truly interactive medium, where people can get information on all kinds of appliances and ideas. For example, shortly after opening, a number of customers started asking us where we got our fixtures and fittings from. Of course, we never planned to become a furniture store, but realised that, by also stocking these items, we could further enhance our brand and get even closer to the consumer." Apart from the time needed to bring the Towngas Avenue concept to fruition, the company also poured several million Hong Kong dollars into the redesign. "Hong Kong still has purchasing power," he says, "But companies have to ask themselves, 'How can we tap into this?' The only way is to improve your customer service." The 16 customer service centres have also received a facelift, although they lack the dining facilities of the flagship stores. "Simply planning and running the new Towngas Avenues has given us a great insight into consumer thinking," says Mr Kwan. "During the planning stage, we benefited greatly from the synergy between customer feedback, which we collected through monthly 'tracking' exercises and our own ideas. We also employed focus groups to make qualitative evaluations of customer expectations, while customer focus teams conducted face-to-face meetings with customers in housing estates to collect their views." Marketing opportunities While it is difficult to quantify the exact benefit that running the Towngas Avenues has on the company's overall bottom line, Mr Kwan notes a marked increase in customer visits ever since the stores' opening. "People don't visit just for the service, they also come to enjoy browsing through the products in a convivial atmosphere," he says. "For us, the benefits are clear: we have learned much more about our customers' expectations and have created many more opportunities to introduce our related services to a core demographic." Before & After How Towngas ignited its new image Before - Corporate mission - competent, efficient and friendly service - not as effective as it should have been - Image of tradition and reliability failed to emphasise the firm's innovative edge Service centres were basic shops for account queries - Dwindling numbers of visitors to Towngas service centres only paid bills - Towngas's cookery classes no longer seemed relevant to modern consumers After - Towngas Avenue stores are more inviting, with more opportunities for the company to introduce its services - New, more modern and more relevant corporate image - The new stores incorporate a complete sales service - Broad range of visitors, with the greatest increase among professionals aged 25 to 35 - Towngas has interactive cookery sessions with a special dining area Taken from Career Times 30 May 2003 Your comments are welcome at [email protected]