Hong Kong Brand Series #02
Octopus - all in one; one for all Brought to you by the Department of Marketing, CUHK Business School CU: Prof. Leo Sin, Dr. Susanna Kwok, Department of Marketing O: Mr. Sunny Cheung, Chief Executive Officer of Octopus Holdings Limited
Back in 1979, the Mass Transit Railway Corporation
(renamed MTR Corporation Limited in 2000) entered into service, making Hong Kong one of the first cities in Asia to develop and operate a subway system. In 1993, MTR initiated investigation into the next generation of fare collection systems; the contactless smart card payment technology was soon recognized as the most appropriate platform for convenient fare collection. In the subsequent year, Hong Kong’s five major public transport operators - the MTR, KCRC, KMB, Citybus and the Hongkong and Yaumatei Ferry – jointly formed a joint venture called Creative Star Limited (renamed Octopus Cards Limited in 2002) to oversee the development and implementation of contactless smart card payment technology. The Octopus fare collection system was officially launched in September 1997. Three years later, Octopus successfully obtained “Deposit-taking Company” authorization from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in April 2000. This allowed Octopus to expand into a wider range of different applications, in particular into the retail sector. Today, Octopus cards are part of everyday life for all Hongkongers, making daily life much easier. Mr. Sunny Cheung, Chief Executive Officer of Octopus Holdings Limited was asked to explain how Octopus has managed to become a synonym for “small-value payment” and “electronic payment” within a short fifteen year period.
Clients do not come to Octopus for the card; they come for the Clearing & Settlement System behind the card.
A card with unlimited potential CU: Would you talk about what the Octopus brand identity stands for? O: I have to say that we have had a perfect design in our Brand Identification System. Our Chinese name - 「八達通」, translates literally as “reaching everywhere”. The English name - Octopus, coincides with the number eight featured in the Chinese name, since an octopus has eight tentacles. The logo is a non-orientable Möbius strip, which resembles the Arabic number eight as well as the symbol of infinity. It stands for Octopus cards’ unlimited potential.
Small in value; huge in volume CU: What is Octopus’ vision, mission and core values? O: Our mission is to “make everyday life easier by applying innovative ideas through secure and robust technology”. And our vision is that one day Octopus will become synonymous with electronic payment systems. To achieve such a vision, Octopus will always focus on “small-value payments” which can be conveniently utilized by customers from 3 to 100-years-old. Facing such a wide range of target customers, we need to keep our brand promise and core values simple and clear. To me, that’s the key to successful mass marketing. Thus, our core values are clearly defined as efficiency, trust, speed, reliability and simplicity. Users simply hold their Octopus cards over a reader, and the correct amount will be automatically deducted from their cards without the hassles of cash. Even a little boy or a little girl can get used to it quickly. What’s more, each transaction can be processed in as little as 0.3 seconds. In this way, Octopus cards offer value to our customers through efficiency, speed and simplicity. These match exactly with our core values.