Giving something back
Tasa Meng is an interesting company. It has evolved from strength to strength in the duty free sector since gaining duty free concessions at Taipei’s Chiang Kai Shek International Airport in the late 1990s, but has not sought the limelight. Its business culture is grounded in enterprise and innovation, yet also ensures the benefits of a well-run business flow back to the community.
A survey of its recent activities provides a model of corporate social responsibility in Asia – something that is highly visible when the travel retail industry responds to disasters such as the December 2004 tsunami, but carries on as a component of corporate strategy once the media attention moves on.
A 12-year duty free concession at Taipei’s Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport – as CKS International Airport is now known– provides a reliable investment climate for the Taipei-based retailer. Although the airport’s name may have changed this year, the name Tasa Meng is firmly established in Terminal 2.
Looking at its current store profile and brands indicates the breadth and depth of its offer at the airport. In Terminal 2, Tasa Meng has nine fashion boutiques – Dunhill, Bally, Burberry, Coach, Ferragamo, Prada, Bvlgari, Cartier and Gucci – plus three multi-brand fashion stores selling Aigner, Benetton, Borsalini, Fendi, Celine, Hunting World, Lancel, LeSportsac, Longchamp, Givenchy, Montblanc, Furla, Tumi, Samsonite and Shanghai Tang.
Speciality stores are a focus for this operator, with its three sports shops (Adidas, Fila and Nike), two electronics shops and two bookstores; three mixed outlets selling liquor, tobacco, chocolate, Taiwanese food and souvenirs; and one arrival shop with liquor, tobacco and chocolate. Add to that a cosmetics and fragrances outlet, a jewellery and watch store, and a toy shop, and the scale of operations is evident.
This has only increased in 2007. In early April Tasa Meng opened an Omega boutique featuring watches and jewellery, and a multi-brand watches shop that includes Franck Muller, IWC, Piaget and Corum.
At the end of April it opened a Bvlgari twin-shop with accessories as well as jewellery and watches.
Beyond the boundaries of its own stores, Tasa Meng has worked to enhance the airport environment and contribute to visitors’ image of Taiwan. As Nancy Ku, president of Tasa Meng, puts it: “Duty free shops should provide not just ideal shopping areas, nor only a place for passengers to look around and occupy waiting time.”
To complement that dual function, from September 2006 the company has renovated a number of areas near its shop in order to “provide a multi-functional service for a relaxing and cosy space that replenishes passengers’ energy”.
Typical of that approach is a striking recreation of the landscape of Alishan, a beautiful zone in the mountains of Southern Taiwan, complete with flora and a replica train. This resting area is located near to the boarding gates in the airport and, according to Ku, “introduces Taiwan’s unique scenery to
international passengers. It gives the chance for tourists to take back with them the memory of Taiwan’s beauty.”
Also classified as a ‘resting area’ is an art and exhibition space, which Nancy Ku says is used to provide a showplace for local artists and sculptors. Not only is this another area for passengers to take time out before travelling, but its rotating displays offer passengers a rich diversity of local culture.
Close to its sport shops, Tasa Meng has set up more facilities to help passengers unwind. “The China Airlines VIP lounges [are] also quite close to these shops and we recognise that first-class and business-class passengers can relax there, but others don’t get the chance,” Ku states. “Working with the airport authority, we provide a relaxing environment with massage chairs for all travellers.” Use of the chairs is free, but to ensure everyone has a chance to use them customers must get tokens from a Tasa Meng shop.
The massage chairs “relieve passengers’ tiredness from long-distance travel,” notes Ku. The Zen design of the setting amidst bamboo and green trees, with piped birdsong, can help passengers forget the stress and noise of the outside world.
That said, Tasa Meng is also helping its customers and other passengers to stay connected. It offers a free internet service in an area strikingly painted to provide a trompe-l’oeil outlook onto open sea. The three workstations (each divided to allow for two terminals) are designed to resemble yachts, with the navigation here being in cyberspace.
Through the Tasa Meng Foundation, the company seeks to develop sound personality, sophistication in democracy, human rights, tolerance of others, ecology and environmental protection. This year the Foundation organised a lantern-drawing competition for children that recognised the close relationships of lanterns to Chinese daily life, and helped the young artists to appreciate the historical art that has been forgotten by recent generations. It collected 1,303 lanterns from 186 elementary schools; no mean task when the sizeable lanterns had to be classified into different groups.
The final selection of 70 top lanterns was put on display from February 1 throughout Terminal 2. “Our Taoyuan airport became a big art gallery,” Ku enthuses, “and each lantern is unique. Our
Foundation keeps to its mission to discover a future Picasso.”
On March 14 the winner was announced in an awards ceremony at Terminal 2. Ku reports that the winning entrants and accompanying parents and teachers were thrilled to see their work on display.
There are useful benefits to business from these initiatives, of course. Relaxed passengers offered a massage token by a retailer will be favourably disposed to shop, and rest areas near stores boost dwell-time and allow one partner or parent to shop while the other minds the luggage or the kids.
Hearing and seeing the efforts made by Tasa Meng, there is manifestly a genuine commitment to social well-being. Whether in providing a memorable impression of Taiwan to visitors or helping the young to express themselves, the initiatives at Taoyuan Airport are a constructive reminder that business is about serving not only customers but also the community. n
Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Facebook
