Macau story-selling

Macao Ideas is a cohesive first step to promoting locally made merchandise

By Joana Freitas

In any given marketing strategy book, brand and product awareness are among the fundamentals for creating a successful venture. To help local companies promote their merchandise and look for business opportunities, the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute has set up the city’s first display centre for “Made in Macau” products and brands.

Located on the ground floor of the Tourism Activities Centre, near the Polytechnic Institute, Macao Ideas opened three months ago. The 595-square metre centre boosts about 500 products from 90 companies, for exhibition purposes only. It has already received more than 6,300 visitors, including tourists.

The goal of the centre “is to give the public an idea of the most famous Macau brands, designed, made and created in Macau and by local people, and to get them exported or franchised,” explains Echo Chan Keng Hong, the trade institute’s executive director. Macao Ideas also provides on-site professional business-matching services.

There have been no deals yet but the feedback has been positive, says Ms Chan. “There are definitely interested companies,” she says, adding “it takes time to negotiate”.

All Macau services and products are competitive internationally, Ms Chan stresses. “They have value, quality and [good] price.”

Before reaching the exhibition floor, the merchandise is inspected by a team of experts from the institute and the Finance Service Bureau to ensure they are free of copyright breaches.

Additionally, Macao Ideas also acts as a sole distributorship for products from Portuguese-speaking countries. Some, like Cabo Verde or Mozambique, are represented in Macao Ideas with traditional coffee and handcrafted wood decorations.

Region’s outreach

Ms Chan says Macao Ideas goes beyond displaying products and it tells a story – Macau’s story.

“Since we started thinking about this project last year, we were trying to understand how we could pack all Macau’s products and brands under one roof, showing our culture and the city’s atmosphere while at the same time promoting them commercially.”

The solution found was to design the centre in a way inspired by the microcosm of the city, with exhibition shelves with Sino-Portuguese characteristics or individual themes.

In Ms Chan’s opinion, this not only increases the value of the products but is also attracts the general public to the centre. “We are promoting a region. We have to be creative and we’ve been well received because the way we present the products is different.”

For now, the institute is looking at boosting Macao Ideas’ profile within the business community. There are also plans for special activities and exhibitions.

In the longer term, it is possible that similar centres could be created elsewhere to promote Macau products. If the concept proves to be successful, the institute will look at expanding as early as the end of the year, says Ms Chan.

Source: In Macau Business, issue 88, August 2011