Hurrairah bin Sohail speaks with Jeffrey Liang about how BenQ responded to the disruption caused by Covid-19 and how the challenges spurred the brand to see its products and its solutions in a new light.
Everyone should be familiar with the disruption caused by Covid-19. To varying degrees, the pandemic has had an impact on
every individual in some way.
The challenges caused by
Covid-19 are unique and
businesses have had to deviate
from established game plans to
respond. Jeffrey Liang, president
at BenQ Asia Pacific, talks about
how the brand navigated tricky
waters.
The Covid-19 crisis has
caused disruption to
businesses across the
world. As an international
brand with offices all
around the globe how
did BenQ respond?
BenQ’s response was informed
by the directives and
recommendations from
the WHO and the governments
of the countries where we
operate. But in some respects,
the government standard for
tackling Covid-19 and the
measures they put in place
represent the minimum standard
that everyone must meet to stop
the spread of the virus. As a
company with a global footprint,
BenQ had to go above and
beyond to ensure the safety of
its employees and its partners
and this started with very clear
communication of our objectives
through the different phases of
our fight against Covid-19. We
broke these objectives into three
aims. Firstly, the key is to protect
and safeguard our employees
and their families by maximising
social distancing and enabling
them to work from home.
Secondly, we have to make
sure that the company and
the facilities are still profitable
during the pandemic. Lastly, we
have to analyse and re-evaluate
the market opportunities in light
of the ‘new normal’ for both the
B2C and the B2B businesses of
BenQ.
What role did technology
play in your response to
the disruption caused by
Covid-19?
Last year, at InfoComm India,
we launched our first smart
projectors for business, the E600
and E800ST series, which come
with an Android system allowing
users to install a range of apps
to increase the projector’s
functionality. With the
disruption caused by Covid-19,
we looked at the product again
and found that its relevance
to the market has increased.
Internally, we found that
we were increasingly using
videoconferencing to make sure
all our teams and all our branch
offices were able to communicate
and perform their duties.
However not everyone could
have access to videoconference
rooms and occupying anyone’s
laptop, smartphone or tablet
for the purpose is not the most
optimal solution especially for
group meetings. But with our
smart projector, you have the
ability to turn any space into a
videoconference room. At BenQ,
we found that our own products
were the answer to the
disruption.
Can users also leverage BenQ’s
smart projector to address the
challenges caused by
Covid-19?
There has been a change in
consumer behaviour, and we
have to embrace the momentum
of technology. Right now,
videoconferencing solutions,
remote collaboration solutions for
communication are in demand.
But the videoconferencing
experience has changed
drastically.
We have a wide range of
both consumer and enterprise
products which includes a range
of flat panel displays. But we
found that while users were
interested in setting up fixed
working spaces at home, what
they really wanted was a flexible
solution that would adapt to
the work from home scenarios
that come up. The BenQ smart
projector is compact which
makes it ideal for the home
setting as well and it provides
users working from home the
flexibility they need. As long as
you have a wall to project on, you
can use the projector to enable
videoconferencing for big teams
with rich information and serve
your display needs.
What lessons has BenQ
learned from the challenges
posed by Covid-19? How
has BenQ evolved as an
organisation moving forward?
At BenQ, we’ve been in
communication with our
employees and the feedback
we have received is that they
would like to work in an office
environment. There is still value
in having dedicated office space
where workers can focus, have
face to face communication and
just have the human element
present. But we are also aware
that working from an office may
not be possible based on the
situation in the specific region
and country. Moving forward,
I think we have to be flexible.
We don’t know what course the
pandemic will take and the key
for us is to be able to adapt and
switch our working format as
needed. This means continuing
to ensure that our workforce is
digitally connected and that
they have the support and the
infrastructure to be able to work
from anywhere.
With regards to technology
and solutions, what products
does BenQ have planned to
address the ‘new normal’
scenario?
The disruption caused by
Covid-19 made us relook at
our products and our business
which spans across B2C and B2B
segments. What we had to do was
to analyse the demands coming
from our customers and what
their needs and requirements
were. During the lockdown and
work from home phase, users
have to be able to learn from
home and work from home
with high productivity. With
this in mind, we found that our
display products, monitors and
projectors, were especially suited
for the situation. The other main
need for users is entertainment,
and this also makes our B2C
portfolio more attractive.
These core demands from
our users are also driving our
research and development now
and our upcoming product
roadmap. We are looking at
fine tuning some features
and adding new ones for our
projectors to make them a better
fit for the future. The business
landscape has changed, and I
really believe that flexibility is
going to be the key. Everyone
from big enterprises to SMBs,
they are feeling the pinch caused
by business disruption and they
are looking to manage the crisis.
In times like this, investment
is done carefully and only if
solutions can demonstrate that
they can deliver returns. Our
focus is to show them that BenQ’s
smart projectors and wide range
of interactive flat panels can
help alleviate their problems.
The moment when a crisis
arrives is also a time to thrive.
BenQ has readjusted its
organisational thinking and
operating model to meet
the continuously changing
environment. Be agile and
digitalise, that is what I believe.
BenQ continues to study
customer needs and offers
corresponding smart technology
and services. By empowering
its employees, partners, and
customers with problem
solving solutions, BenQ and
its associates can remain
competitive and prosper in
the new normal.