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Interview: Why Pret A Manger is staying bullish on expansion in HK retail F&B scene

Interview: Why Pret A Manger is staying bullish on expansion in HK retail F&B scene

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Since opening its first shop in London 1986, Pret A Manger's mission has been simple – it is to serve freshly made food and good organic coffee.

The brand, which has a strong presence in Hong Kong, recently hired Eric Lam as head of marketing, who spent five years prior to the role at Outback Steakhouse, where he set up the new marketing department and formulated yearly marketing plans. Lam, in a conversation with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, said that the fun-loving culture and strong team at Outback Steakhouse made his experience a fulfilling one and over the five years, he had attained the personal goals he had set for himself.

Lam fondly shares that proudest achievement at Outback was in rejuvenating the brand to attract numerous opening opportunities, and broadening the customer scope. He had taken the lead in developing the new loyalty program that was customer friendly, operation friendly, marketing friendly and environmentally friendly. “We took almost a year for research, development to launch. With a successful launch, we saw it grow almost six times in membership count and witnessed the rise of the brand to building a strong customer relationship. This was definitely being one of the most memorable moments,” said Lam.

“Now I believe that it is time for me to take on another challenge and to explore in other areas of F&B, and hopefully to bring my experience and knowledge that I’ve gained in the field to Pret,” Lam added. Currently, Pret has expansion goals in its mind – especially across Asia and Middle East. Largely, it is eyeing franchise partnerships.

“ We believe that the brand can work well right across Asia and are actively seeking partners to grow. Our Hong Kong business will showcase the brand in Asia,” he said. Not long before Lam’s appointment, the brand also appointed  VCCP as its first global integrated communications agency to support Pret’s ongoing transformation into a fully omni-channel business, with the goal of bringing Pret to more people. As Pret’s first full-service global partner agency, VCCP will deliver international campaigns across Pret’s markets in Europe, Asia and the US.

The appointment is a significant one as it marks a shift in Pret’s brand and communications strategy, with a growing focus on digital communications and omnichannel campaigning. Since May 2020, Pret has also globally accelerated a strategy to help the brand reach a wider range of customers across all markets. Pret has fundamentally transformed its business model, establishing new trading channels which are providing new revenue streams. VCCP will also support Pret’s transition away from a “shops first” business and they will be responsible for leading on global integrated communications campaigns.

In Hong Kong, Pret has grown steadily up until the pandemic, shared Lam. Nonetheless, Lam remains positive that there is still significant of potential for more retail locations. Lam said:

We believe that we can still double the number of shops in Hong Kong.

This is particularly so in new territories and large areas of Kowloon. “There is a large white space for us in the new territories and large areas of Kowloon. We are working on broadening the appeal of our product offering and driving brand awareness to allow us to thrive in areas where customers may not be as familiar with Pret currently,” Lam explained.

Standing out in the cluttered retail space

Knowing your customers and understanding their behaviour are very important in today market landscape, and Pret is now steadfast in its goals to better understand its consumers in Hong Kong.  Staying true to its hunger of innovation, Lam and the team is mulling experimentations around coffee subscription programmes, and loyalty initiatives to bring the brand better knowledge of its consumers to better customise its messaging.

However, one thing that will remain unchanged, said Lam, is the brand's firm values of good quality, and high standards. “Over the years we have maintained a strong positioning on serving freshly made food with quality ingredients, and we do want to communicate further to our customers on this positioning as well as the effort we have put in place to ensure the offering and service are at a good standard,” said Lam.

Despite the challenging year retail players have faced, Lam believes the future of retail F&B is still going to be bright. He said:

Although everyone has been through a few tough years, on the positive side, this was a very good learning experience for most of us. We have learnt to change and adapt with this dynamic and uncertain environment.

Lam shared that over the past year, many F&B brands expanded their sales channel either by using third party delivery platforms, self-pick up or company owned channel. And even though dining behavior has been altered by the pandemic, given Hong Kong’s dense population, Lam believes consumers still love a good time outdoors with friends and family.

“I will say going forward with so many good food in the city, the f&b arena is still very attractive for all ,but restaurants are now better prepared and have more resources on preparing for delivery orders. So I would say instead of leaning away from dining in, there is definitely more opportunity for restaurants from the delivery platforms,” he added.

Strengthen your omnichannel marketing capabilities today with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's Omnichannel Marketing Asia on 23 November. Learn ways to build an evidence-based practice, up the ante on your strategies, and be head and shoulders above your competition. Click here to register today!

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