In the first of a two-part series, K I Woo looks at how a Thai company uses its core strength to utilize a product name overseas.
Almost everyone growing up in the United States has heard the jingle: “Ask any mermaid, you happen to see, what's the best tuna?”
“Chicken in the Sea!”
For more than five decades, parents and children have been singing this jingle, and as they sing, they think about the beautiful blonde who appears in countless commercials recounting the nutritious qualities of Chicken of the Sea.
Here in Thailand, most us have heard similarly popular jingles for products such as Tiffy and Coffeemate, which have developed into classics that everyone seems to hum.
Although Chicken of the Sea's mermaid is a classic product icon in the US, few people realize that it is owned by a global growth-oriented Thai company.
Thiraphong Chansiri, chief executive officer of Thai Union Frozen Products (TUF), told The Nation that his firm had been continuously developing the Chicken of the Sea brand since purchasing the company in its entirety in 2000.
