Integrating resources, building brand awareness
The conversion channel theory tells us that brand building goes through four stages: awareness, interest, desire, and action. Startup Island TAIWAN is currently at the first stage, creating international awareness. Well before its launch, however, several government and private entrepreneurship initiatives had already made names for themselves internationally—projects like Taiwan Startup Stadium (TSS), Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA), and Taiwan Innovation and Technology Arena (TITAN).
TSS is promoted by the NDC and implemented by private enterprise. Its mission is to introduce new companies to the global market. Industry mentors teach marketing and fundraising knowledge and techniques, providing startups with investor and corporate connections. Moreover, TSS leads teams to overseas exhibitions, connecting them with the international startup ecosystem. The Ministry of Science and Technology assists new startups both through its incubator, TTA, and its TITAN program. Recently, these organizations have made their mark at international exhibitions: In January 2020, for example, TTA took part in the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the US, where 13 Taiwanese startups won innovation awards, with one even receiving an order from SONY at the exhibition.
But the resources behind these initiatives were not integrated; hence they lacked a consolidated “Taiwan image.” When exhibiting at overseas trade shows, each startup has used its own logo, making it hard to leave an overall impression of Taiwanese entrepreneurship on international media and investors.
Jan Fang-guan, director-general of the NDC’s Department of Industrial Development, says that the government has hitherto led groups of startups to international exhibitions as “Team Taiwan,” so that individual startups don’t have to go it alone or miss out on opportunities for exchange. But setting up booths at exhibitions isn’t enough—rather, a consolidated Taiwan image is needed to arouse the international media’s interest in Taiwanese startups and draw them to those booths. That way, “When people see the logo, they’ll immediately think of Taiwan as a place with a strong startup culture.”
Taiwan Tech Arena takes Taiwanese startups to exhibitions abroad, increasing the companies’ visibility and promoting exchanges in the global startup ecosystem. (courtesy of NDC)