HIROYUKI KOTERA
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AEON CO. (M) BHD
On how social media has impacted or promoted your business brand.
Social media is key in this age and time. It is very crucial for us to leverage on this platform and build our brand, failing which we will be left behind. Social media has tremendously promoted our business as it enabled us to communicate our messages and promotions throughout the various platforms in a very efficient manner. It also allowed us to react or respond to all our customers’ queries effectively and promptly at all times.
On the company’s digitalisation efforts and how it has helped in branding.
We have invested towards digitalisation and are constantly empowering our staff to ensure they are kept updated with the latest trend in the digital space. We have also created SHOPPU, our e-commerce website to further grow our brand and create an opportunity for our customers to shop online. This platform hosts merchandise and assortment which are not commonly available in AEON stores. With this, we are now able to capitalise by merging unique external assortment with our store offerings so as to be a competitive in the e-commerce space. It also keeps our customers abreast on the latest information and promotions. In our effort to be a preferred shopping destination, we are constantly looking at ways to keep our customers engaged through our online and offline initiatives.
Challenges faced by your company in a challenging economic environment.
In this current economic situation, we do face challenges but we are constantly looking at innovative ways to overcome it and ensure that our customers continue to enjoy the amazing shopping experience at all our malls and stores. We continue to refurbish our malls to remain relevant to our customers with the latest products offerings. We believe in the need to enhance customer shopping experience and enrich customer lifestyle through constant innovation.
On strategies put in place to boost the company’s brand image.
In our effort to boost our company’s brand image, we are constantly looking towards being relevant with the needs of our customers and upgrading our facilities. To date, we have 27 AEON malls, 34 AEON outlets and 3 MaxValu supermarkets throughout the country. We are creating a vibrant shopping destination for the family with places to hang out at. We are constantly upgrading our existing Malls to include healthy living spaces to encourage shoppers to spend quality time with their loved ones while shopping. We also reach out to the community via the AEON CSR programme in our effort to promote the brand image.
The importance of a meaningful connection between a brand and a consumer in brand-building.
It is very important for a brand to have meaningful connection with consumers. When consumers are emotionally involved in a brand, that brand has reached an important point of success. Emotional involvement in a brand leads to brand loyalty, brand advocacy, and brand guardianship that money can’t buy. It also requires the development of products or services under the umbrella brand that live up to the brand promise and meet consumers’ expectations for the brand again and again. Consumer emotions evolve over time as they experience a brand over and over. If the brand fails to live up to its promise or doesn’t meet consumer expectations, those consumers will feel let down. They’ll turn away from the brand in search of one that does meet their expectations in every interaction. In other words, they’ll seek out a brand that keeps its promise. We are constantly listening to our customer to help fulfill their requirements and needs. Hence, we are constantly building a strong connection between our brand and our customers.