Heatwave Shoes Pte Ltd is a small company which has been making big waves. With 29 stores in Asia and counting - including its first franchises in Vietnam and Taiwan earlier this year - the shoe company has one foot firmly planted in the regional market for ladies' heels. Now, Heatwave stores can be found in Myanmar, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
All these germinated, seventeen years ago, from a single boutique in Lucky Plaza set up by Mr G.H. Tan, the founder, managing director and chief designer of Heatwave. Since then, the company, which registered its trademark across Southeast Asia in 2000, has flourished on steady sales of its popular line of ladies' footwear, carving a niche for itself in the face of intense competition from both local and foreign shoe brands. Backed by Mr Tan's two decades of design savvy and four in-house designers whom he personally trains, Heatwave's shoes have been a hit with young working women in their 20s and 30s - its main target audience.
Quality, quality, quality
Ms Elizabeth Tan, Heatwave's business development manager and her assistant, Ms Melissa Turner, explain the factors behind the company's success. Specifically, they point to Heatwaves core strength - making high-quality, comfortable and elegant "value-for-money" footwear. Ms Turner says the company takes especial pride in maintaining high standards in their shoes' workmanship and quality, which usually incur extra material and manufacturing costs. Yet Heatwave has managed to keep its shoes affordable at prices ranging from $29.90 to $49.90 a pair.
"As the company ventured aboard, Heatwave's designs were copied by others without permission. To tackle this problem, Heatwave signed up for the Intellectual Property Management (IPM) for SMEs programme under SPRING and IPOS."
And instead of plastic or wooden soles common for shoes within that price range, Heatwave shoes boast soft, comfortable soles made from a composite of different kinds of rubber. This feature, Ms Tan adds, offers cushioning and an antislip sole - attention to detail and customers' needs which they appreciate. The soles are hand-made by Heatwave's own manufacturing team; it has another team which focuses on fi nding alternate sources of quality materials - including fabrics and finishings - at lower prices.
Heatwave, then, seems to possess a winning formula, which it has used to expand its reach via overseas franchises. But as the company ventured aboard, Ms Tan admits, it ran into diffi culties, one of which was seeing its brand name being used by others without permission.
Protecting intangible assets
To tackle this problem, Heatwave signed up for the Intellectual Property Management (IPM) for SMEs programme under SPRING and IPOS. Another push factor towards implementing an IPM, Ms Tan relates, was because of the realisation the contracts Heatwave inked with external parties were "simple and informal" ones, leaving the company open to potential abuses of its trademarks and designs.
So Heatwave jumped on board Phase 1 of the IPM. Looking back, Ms Tan reflects on the company's learning journey: "We thought it was only about trademarking the brand, but we later realised it includes business practices, models, know-how and much more." With the help of a consultant, Heatwave plugged the gaps in its documentation processes, registered its trademarks, worked with buyers on franchise agreements to place the company name and brand under legal protection, and settled other details "right down to securing the copyrights of marketing materials".
All these have paid off in its international ventures, as the company now "knows the proper IP protection procedures when pushing the brands in international markets". Evidently, Heatwave found IPM so benefi cial that it has signed up for and started Phase 2, which involves customising contracts for franchises, by allowing them to tap on Heatwaves brand name while protecting its IP.
Marching ahead
Armed with the knowledge gleaned from its involvement in IPM, Ms Tan reveals that Heatwave is already planning ahead. Despite business taking a hit from the current economic malaise, both Ms Tan and Ms Turner exude optimism on the company's future. Besides seeking to open stores in prime locations in Singapore, they are also planning more franchises overseas, and are trying to break into the Middle East market too.
Confident that its products, pricing strategy and IPM are in place, the next major project for the company will be rebranding and reinventing the Heatwave name. Over the long run, Ms Tan says, Heatwave's key focus will be on enhancing the brand name, raising brand awareness and cultivating a strong brand identity. And Heatwave, together with its customers in their heels, looks set to march on.