A Taiwanese company whose surveillance and communications equipment played a vital role in the Chilean mine rescue effort said on Saturday it was not surprised to see its products used to stay in contact with the trapped miners.
Christine Hsu (許華玲), vice president of Planet Technology Corp (普萊德科技), said in a telephone interview that it was the first time the company’s IP Camera, an Internet-based device that allows video and voice communications, had been used in a rescue operation.
“Our product has never been used in this kind of situation before. It is not one of the purposes for which we designed this product,” she said.
“But we were not surprised when our agent in Chile told us that they planned to use it because our camera is humidity-resistant, dust-proof, water-proof and impact-resistant,” she said.
The company has been active in Central and South America since 1995.
The camera, which was connected to a fiber optic line that ensured video communications between 33 miners trapped 624m underground and rescuers, transmitted the first video images to the world showing that the miners were still alive in late August.
“The camera is very user-friendly, and this was very important for this case because no one could go down and teach the miners how to use the device,” Hsu said.
The participation of the company’s equipment in the unprecedented rescue was not made public until the miners were lifted from the mine shaft and after other international brands’ had drawn attention for their involvement in the operation.
Among them were Oakley’s contribution of sunglasses to protect the miners’ eyes and Apple’s presentation of an iPod touch to the survivors as a gift.
Some marketers may have felt Planet Technology missed an opportunity to promote itself -- and Taiwan — by not promoting its equipment earlier, and Hanson Tseng (曾漢壽), deputy head of the semi-official Taiwan External Trade Development Council’s (TAITRA, 外貿協會) strategic marketing department, agreed.
“When encountering a situation like this, if Taiwanese companies understood branding better, they would have immediately sent out the message in various ways,” he said, stressing that timing is a key factor in raising brand awareness.
Companies with big brands would not have missed such an opportunity, Tseng said.
However, Hsu said that the company was focused more on whether the rescue operation would end successfully than on promoting its brand, and it therefore made the announcement after all of the miners were saved.
She noted that media in Chile also reported on the company’s camera during the rescue mission, which she believed will further boost confidence in the brand there.
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