MARKETCoway is the top consumer and household electronics company in Korea. Since its establishment in 1989, they have taken the lead in expanding and advancing the market. Having won recognition for its products and service quality both at home and abroad, Coway started to diversity its product portfolio in the mid-1990s to become a household electronics company in a real sense.

The company has extended its product lineup from water filtration appliances to air purifiers, bidets, water softeners and food waste disposers, which improve the quality of their customers’ lives and preserve the environment.

Since its establishment, Coway has consistently grown while maintaining transparency and ethical management principles. In 1998 they introduced a rental business model for the first time in the industry and provided before sales service by service representatives called “Cody”. As a result, Coway has topped the Gallup polls in recent years in terms of market share, customer satisfaction and brand awareness. Since the mid 2000s, the company has actively made forays

into the global market to become a leading global household electronics company, while strengthening their domestic position.

At present they operate four overseas subsidiaries, one of which is Malaysia, and a logistics centre in the Netherlands, and continue to increase exports and build a strong foundation for sustainable growth. In particular, from 2009, they have bolstered their position as a sustainable company by focusing on green management, thereby implementing customer value management and contributing to the sustainable development of humankind.

Coway in Malaysia

Coway was introduced to the Malaysian market in 2006. With the tagline “Healthy Environment, Happy People”, Coway positions itself as the brand that cares for your health and the environment, providing 100% eco-friendly home appliances for your well-being. To date, there are more than 250,000 customers in Malaysia and the number is rapidly growing.

In recent years, people have become more concerned about where their water comes from and what their water includes, and have begun to worry about the overall safety of tap water due to factors like decontamination residue.

Coway has over 26 years of experience manufacturing

water filtration systems

and has developed the most advanced water filtration technology for a better life for everyone in the world. The company applies the Reverse Osmosis (R/O) filter which is the most reliable water filter system in the current market to all Coway water filtration units and invests more than $30million on water related Research & Development per year. Therefore Coway delivers the best quality water to the user.

Coway is in the top three mentioned and trusted brands in Reader’s Digest research. Coway’s products can be seen everywhere in Korea, including restaurants and public toilets.

Current turnover in Malaysia for 2014 was RM268 million and, by 2020, Coway targets to reach RM800 million revenue and accumulated customers of 500,000. With this number of customers, Coway aims to be the number one water purifier brand in Malaysia in terms of market share.

ACHIEVEMENTSIn 1993, Coway established its own Research and Development Centre and moved to Seoul National University (Number one university in Korea) for partnership research. Coway’s R&D is recognised by the government as the official ‘Drinking Water Quality Inspection Institution’. Not only having its own R&D Centre, Coway owns the world largest indoor water filter manufacturing plant and the world’s second largest membrane manufacturer.

Coway has achieved Gold Seal recognition from Water Quality Association (WQA). WQA is known for its strict standards in assessing, so no company will apply without 100% confidence. Currently WQA still examines Coway’s factory annually, while Coway has retained its status all these years.

In 2006 Coway was the first water purifier company to introduce a rental scheme in Malaysia and aftersales maintenance service periodically.

While it is not easy to obtain certification from JAKIM, Coway was the first overseas water purifier company to acquire Halal certification by JAKIM, in 2010.

HISTORYStarted under the umbrella of a big group in Korea, Woongjin group in 1989, Coway became

one of most profitable subsidiaries of Woongjin. After successfully becoming the brand with highest market share in Korea, Coway expanded overseas branches in Thailand, Malaysia, China and USA. Coway was acquired by equity firm MBK Partners in 2012, and retains its status of having the highest market share in water purifiers, air purifiers and bidets in Korea.

PRODUCTCoway sells all of its products directly to consumers and not through retail shops.

Coway is dedicated to researching and developing environmental solutions, particularly wellness appliances and general living standards. Its unique competitive advantage is a combination of innovative design, reliable products, high-technology manufacturing and collaboration with their partners and customers.

Their products aim to provide a healthier environment to customers, with fresher air and cleaner water, without compromising design as Coway’s award-winning designs are known to be elegant and space-saving to complete a modern house’s furnishing.

Coway’s water purifiers use Reverse Osmosis (RO) filtration system to provide the cleanest and safest drinking water by eliminating up to 99.99% of bacteria and viruses, in addition to heavy metals. Until now, RO is considered the cleanest filtration method for household drinking water use. As a water specialist, Coway also provides other filtration methods to cater to different requirements from customers.

Although operating silently, Coway air purifiers contain customised filters to tackle different air conditions, filtering air-borne bacteria, viruses, allergens and furs for cleaner indoor air.

The contemporary designs of Coway products have won international design awards including RedDot Design, The iF Product, The IDEA and so on.

As Coway’s main channel of approaching customers is by roadshows, Coway recently revamped its permanent roadshow kiosks in various shopping malls all over Malaysia. It will be a more refreshed look for the public and will convey the green message of Coway’s brand.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTSVillaem CHP-08AR, the latest water purifier of Coway, has an adjustable hot and cold water temperature, which allows customers to choose to use water at different temperatures. From preparing baby’s milk to cooking cup noodles and making coffee, Villaem has suitable temperatures ready to cater to every need. Even added with new features, Villaem requires lower power consumption due to Coway’s advanced technology.

Coway has just opened four Cody branches in Puchong, Bangi, Selayang in Klang Valley and Kempas in Johor to attend to the increasing customers, adding the total number of branches in

Malaysia to 67.

PROMOTIONCoway is known for having billboards all over Malaysia, especially the one at KL-Seremban highway, which is the biggest in Malaysia. Aside from seeing Coway everywhere on the road, Coway is actively participating in home decor, furnishing, baby, family-related and other exhibitions nationwide, in addition to on and off roadshows in shopping malls. For more information on Coway, the public can visit Coway website or Facebook.

In May 2015, Coway randomly chose a few customers and took them to Seoul, Korea for a trip fully-covered by Coway, with no contest-participation or even entry required. This trip received coverage on all mainstream media (newspapers, magazines and radio/TV station included) in Malaysia, in all three languages. During Raya festival, Coway had an event of distributing pocket money for festival spending sprees. These are just two of Coway’s recent Customers Loyalty Programme, which will be organised form time to time.

Coway’s slogan of “I Love Coway” was so successful that in a brand awareness survey conducted, participants staying in areas with a billboard could recall the slogan upon hearing the brand.

Coway sends postcards directly to selected residential areas before major exhibitions, and advertises on Youtube and Facebook from time to time depending on the requirements of each marketing campaign.

BRAND VALUES Positioning as the Lifestyle Design Company, Coway thinks of ‘human’, ‘environment’ and ‘future’ in the process of researching. Coway products function to provide cleaner air and water, in line with the better environment they want to provide and the mission of ‘The first Green Global Leader Designing a Healthy Tomorrow’, Coway incorporates a green management

process and green technology into its products, including resource recycling, lowering carbon emission and energy-saving.

Coway commits to provide a cleaner and healthier environ-

ment for everyone, from green manufacturing and disposal processes to products that help to give cleaner water and air.

Guided by strong vision and mission for environmental manage-ment and clear mid to long term targets for cli-mate change response,

Coway is making sus-tained efforts to mini-mise negative envi-ronmental impacts associated with their business activities.

Coway is constantly ex-panding its line of Eco-

• Coway is the  largest indoor filter manufacturer not only in Korea, but also in the world.

• Coway is the first overseas company to obtain HALAL certification from JAKIM for water purifiers.

• Coway was the first to introduce a rental scheme for water purifiers.

• Coway’s KL-Seremban Highway billboard was recorded in Book of Malaysia as the largest billboard in Malaysia.

• Coway has its own R&D Centre in the top university, Seoul National University, in Korea.

• Coway Lady (Cody), is a team of professional ladies who visit customers’ houses for product maintenance, and is a new occupation created by Coway and proudly recognised by Ministry of Human Resources in Korea.

THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT COWAY

friendly products by identifying greener product elements and incorporating them into Coway’s R&D process, and creating a virtuous cycle of turning environmental management initiatives into products and services.

As Coway has its own R&D Centre, and the largest indoor filter manufacturing plant in the world, Coway can control the quality of products. From the selection of material to adapting different filtration methods, to green manufacturing procedure, and then periodic maintenance service by Coway Lady (Cody), they can ensure that products are in tip-top condition through the whole cycle from developing to manufacturing process. Furthermore, Cody visits each customer’s house every two months to maintain and check whether the product is functioning well, thus leaving customers worry-free about using Coway’s products.

www.coway.com.my

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