Since 2016, Delta has gradually expanded its business to include building control management, digital security monitoring, and smart lighting through mergers and acquisitions of quality companies such as LOYTEC, Delta Controls (DCI), Vivotek, and Amerlux. The Building Automation Business Group (BABG) was established in 2017 to integrate the software, hardware products, and services of various companies with Delta's years of experience in energy-saving green buildings to create Delta's smart and healthy building solutions. In this issue of Brand People, we invite Ms. Wen Fan, Senior Marketing Manager of BABG, to share her experience and tips on how to integrate diverse products and promote brands at Delta.

BABG marketing team members (From left: Vivian Kao, Iris Lee, Wen Fan, Monica Chao, Ishan Yeh)
"With our elite system, the marketing team of the Building Automation Group (BABG) is always multitasking!" Speaking about the organization of the marketing team, Wen gave her team members a lot of credit right off the bat. BABG's marketing department is organized as a matrix model, with product lines as the vertical axis and divided into the different areas of building control, lighting, and security surveillance, each with its own corresponding marketing team members. The horizontal axis of the matrix includes content marketing, digital marketing, as well as exhibition and showroom planning. With a cross-cut division of labor, each team member must be able to multitask and support each other to achieve maximum effectiveness.

Promoting a "4+1" integration strategy to polish and shine Delta's building automation brand
"BABG has many product lines and a wide range of application fields which makes the work we face every day daunting from either the perspective of products or business models." Compared to other business groups, BABG's organization encompasses multiple mergers and acquisitions and faces the challenge of integrating diverse multicultural products and solutions. Wen shared her strategy and approach saying, "Each merged company has a different brand identity and culture. By understanding the DNA of the various brands, we can combine the strengths of each brand into Delta and then introduce them to the world through Delta's platform." Wen emphasized that in the process of building a One Delta brand, they respect the merged company's business model in the existing market and strive to preserve the unique vitality of the brand. This allows the existing ecological chain to trust that Delta will continue to invest more technology and sales resources to co-prosper and expand the market together, so that the diversified advantages of multiple brands in terms of products and technology can play a complementary and multiplying effect.

The annual ASHRAE’s AHR Expo is an important exhibition for BABG’s integration brand.
"Creating a 4+1 integrated platform that starts from Asia and North America!" The "4" represents four brands: DCI, LOYTEC, Vivotek, Amerlux, and "1" represents Delta. DCI's market is strongest in the U.S. and Canada, LOYTEC is mainly in German-speaking regions, Amerlux is based in the eastern U.S., Vivotek has had success in Southeast Asia, the Americas, and Europe in recent years, and Delta's BABG focuses on extending brand influence to the Chinese and Taiwanese markets through the One Delta platform. In 2019, the group's overall strategic direction moved towards increasing integration in North America. We hope that a unified platform can link the capabilities and strengths of each brand together and allow us to work with partners to integrate systems and expand applications to extend our business reach.

All four brands were shown at the AHR Expo. Image on the left is a group photo; while the image on the right shows (from the left) Joe Oberle, John Nicholls, CEO of Delta Controls, Bill Plageman, Vice President of Amerlux Marketing and Product Management, David Liu, CEO of Vivotek USA, and Hans-Joerg Schweinzer, CEO of LOYTEC

Fully unleashing the strength of 1+1>2 through internal and external cooperation
Since 2016, the BABG has merged several of its units and acquired companies to create its multi-faceted capability that strengthens the brand. Cross-field teamwork is key! "In the field of building automation, it is not easy for new brands to gain a foothold because of the ecosystem's high stickiness and the high transaction costs," Wen added that it takes time for engineers to adapt to a new system and for system integrators to smooth human resource operations from top to bottom. We can take Delta's building automation business group's promotion model in China as an example. Through Delta GreenTech China's (DGC) participation in local exhibitions, the Delta Cup, and channel conferences presented by different business groups, we shared our network and raised awareness of Delta's building automation solutions in China.

Apart from collaborating with Delta's internal units, we are also expanding outwards, which requires more strategic planning. Wen further shared the story of how LOYTEC was introduced to the Chinese market a few years ago. LOYTEC had the advantage of covering 23 communication protocols, allowing LOYTEC's strategies to often surpass the current competition. Whether it is to enter the market with DALI lighting control or with integrated area control systems, LOYTEC can pursue more opportunities to become the leading building control system provider. When Delta entered China many years ago with LOYTEC, the DALI agreement had yet to penetrate the Chinese market. "We first combined cross-BG resources within Delta and successfully became a member of the DALI Consortium and the DiiA Digital Lighting Interface Consortium Board of Directors." Wen recalled the time when she put much effort into convincing the directors of the consortium to work together to expand DALI's presence in the Chinese market. Delta then held a DALI forum with a keynote speaker from the headquarters, which brought local system integrators in China closer to the DALI agreement, further inducing positive results and increasing the willingness to cooperate. In the second year, DALI headquarters became more proactive and invited other key board members to co-organize forums with Delta. Subsequently, the DALI China Annual Forum was officially budgeted as one of the major events, and a China Focus Group was established to put the China market on the official agenda. This example shows the important attempt by Delta to invite world-class industry alliances to work together to develop important markets and expand their market presence.

For the first time, Delta invited Digital Illumination Interface Alliance (DiiA) to co-host DALI China Annual Forum in 2018. Keynote speaker, Scott Wade, the Technical Manager of DiiA was arranged to visit the lighting design companies in Shenzhen before the Forum to obtain more in-depth understanding to market demand and feedback. In the middle: Ms. Wen Fan, Senior Marketing Manager of Delta's Building Automation Business

Utilizing the "three-in-one" collaboration method to capture customer mindshare
The sales model for building automation is different from that for general product sales as it places emphasis on integrated solutions. Wen believes that the "three-in-one" cooperation model that incorporates R&D and design, sales, and marketing can solve customers' pain points and gain support and trust in the market. The sales division can communicate customer needs to internal units, the product development division can propose solutions, and the marketing division presents the products/solutions to the market and continues to expand the company's reach to its target users. Wen went on to give an example, saying, "The BIC Lighting App User Interface (UI) project that the team developed in collaboration with the Brand Management Division (BMD) in recent years is an important example of this "three-in-one" method. Through this project, the R&D and design team was able to understand real customer needs of the the sales team. In the meantime, the marketing team provided a blueprint for brand promotion to increase market share and customer mindshare, displaying how the three parties worked together to enhance brand awareness and product power.

Always do better than yesterday
Wen joined Delta Foundation in 2004 and was in charge of green energy promotion and environmental education-related work. In 2009, she joined Delta Group where she started from the solar solution business unit and then entered the system integration and building automation field. "At BABG, I've met many teams with different cultural backgrounds, and I have also encountered many possibilities and challenges. I'm always trying to think of better ways to do things." Wen has experience in different kinds of work and expects herself to keep improving. She encourages her Delta colleagues to challenge themselves and pursue the unlimited possibilities in life during their careers.