Coway - Super Brands

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.
MARKET
Coway 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
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SUPERBRANDS VOLUME VIII
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.
ACHIEVEMENTS
In 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.
HISTORY
Started under the umbrella of a
big group in Korea, Woongjin
group in 1989, Coway became
PRODUCT
Coway 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 DEVELOPMENTS
Villaem 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.
PROMOTION
Coway 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 contestparticipation 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 energysaving.
Coway commits to provide a
cleaner and healthier environment 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 management and clear mid to
long term targets for climate change response,
Coway is making sustained efforts to minimise negative environmental
impacts
associated with their
business activities.
Coway is constantly expanding its line of Eco-
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 worryfree about using Coway’s products.
www.coway.com.my
THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT
COWAY
• 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.
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