Textile companies play the name game, building up their brands abroad

This article was written by Manik Mehta and published by the Taiwan Journal on March 2, 2007. It reports that in recent years, Taiwanese textile companies have been building up brand names in order to maintain their competitiveness in the global market. Indeed, these companies are spending as much time on marketing as on manufacturing.

Taiwan's functional textiles and high-end fabrics have caught the world's attention in recent years. At the recent Heimtextil Frankfurt 2007, the world's largest trade fair for both home and commercial textiles, Taiwan presented a 63-member contingent. Its emphasis was on new fabrics and new designs, such as paper fabric. This is a good example of how Taiwan is able to compete with the world's two major textile juggernauts, China and India, by relying on its "innovalue" strength -- a combination of innovation and value-added attributes.

Many Taiwanese companies are now creating brand-name products. Customers today demand not only good designs, but also quality, and they are willing to pay for them. Take the aforementioned paper fabric as an example. It was invented to circumvent the quotas that were imposed on polyester and polypropylene yarn, both of which are considered unfriendly to the environment. As a natural fiber, paper yarn is environmentally friendly and can be recycled.

Taiwan's strategic location in the dynamic Asia-Pacific region is another advantage. The region's growing prominence at shows such as the Heimtextil can be measured from the huge presence of exhibitors from various Asian countries, such as India (404 exhibitors), China (278 exhibitors), Turkey (213 exhibitors) and Pakistan (164 exhibitors). However, according to this article, one should not forget the fact that while China and India are currently among the world's major textile suppliers, they are also increasingly becoming prominent buyers of middle and top-end products. More importantly, these two countries are now developing into large markets where higher-value products can be sold, thanks to the growing purchasing power and the need to produce better-quality products.

This is why Taiwanese textile companies need to establish their own brand names, in order to survive in the increasingly global market. According to this article, the global textile trade is currently characterized by the much-touted "Asia craze". Taiwan can surely take advantage of this to showcase its best products, which carry a distinct identity that differ from products made in China.