Being a mindful consumer.

Without a doubt, we Filipinos are very aware when it comes to consumerism. We know the latest trends, what the ‘good’ products are, partly because of our convenient connection to the world using social media or the Internet as a whole.  I, myself, have a preference on what to buy when it comes to electronic gadgets for example, because I look up certain features that I want in a gadget and see other people’s product reviews from all around the world before choosing a particular product.

In that sense, when it comes to consuming imported goods, it is better to know which brands offer the best quality products. The Taiwan Excellence campaign for example, which was started by the Taiwanese government as a part of a 5 year plan in the 1980’s to raise Taiwan’s international competitiveness by supporting its local brands, allows consumers to be able to choose the best Taiwanese products among the rest.

The “Taiwan Excellence” was awarded to the products based on R&D, design, quality, and marketing efforts by an international panel of judges. Each product must score evenly in all four categories. All Taiwan based brands could be part of the campaign: from consumer and business IT, to fashion, arts and culture, sports, education, transportation, etc. If selected, the brands and products were allowed to use the “Taiwan Excellence Seal” locally and internationally. From the selected products, the judges will choose thirty from the original winners, and ten will be given the Gold Award (which is the highest recognition under the campaign), while the remaining finalists will be given the Silver Award.

Even if the campaign’s main goal is to promote products of Taiwan, the “seal” can also guide us Filipino consumers in distinguishing the best Taiwan-made products and brands from others and have an “Excellence Lifestyle” for that matter. This 2014, the campaign was introduced to the Philippines. We gadget junkies might already be familiar with some of the brands that have the “seal” like Acer and Asus but this is a great opportunity for us to learn more about the best products from Taiwan that we still are in the process of getting to know of. These other quality brands include, Transcend, BenQ, HCG, MSI, etc.

Personally, I think that with this campaign, we could get to know more quality products that could be part of our choices when it comes to buying. Sometimes it is also better for us to try different brands, especially up-and-coming ones so that as consumers, we could be more smart in choosing and finally, buying products that should be worth our money.

For more information about the campaign, you can check out their website: http://www.taiwanexcellence.ph/ or their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TaiwanExcellence.ph/