Established in Denmark in 1997, C. T. Hansen International (CTHI) is a leading one-stop provider for events management specialising in events production, artist management, entertainment or media content provision and sponsorship marketing.
Starting out as a corporate gifts company in Copenhagen, CTHI initially focused on the import and export of corporate gifts. The company later ventured into eastern Europe and Asia to institutionalise subsidiary offices in Hong Kong, the Philippines and Australia in 1999, Czech Republic and Slovakia in 2002 and subsequently Singapore since 2005. It also provides business development consulting services.
Today, CTHI owns and operates two major internationally recognised brands ‒ Miss Earth Singapore and John Robert Powers ‒ and pioneered a magazine for eco-friendly modern living called ecoMode.
Under the leadership of its founder and managing director Cheryl Hansen, CTHI won a Spirit of Enterprise Award in 2009.
In an interview with Biz Daily, Hansen shared CTHI’s amazing journey of expansion and why the business has been successful despite facing the challenge of shifting to a new focus area.
Why did you start out as a corporate gifts company?
When we started our corporate gifts business in Copenhagen, things there were very expensive and I saw an opportunity to import items from Asia and sell them in Europe at a reasonable quality standard and price. So I established a business in Hong Kong to facilitate two-way import-export of corporate gifts between Europe and Asia.
In the course of my work, I also identified my clients’ need for business development consulting services. So when I travelled to Asia, I bought products and provided business development consulting services at the same time. This allowed me to hit two birds with one stone and I would advise Asian companies wishing to establish businesses and networks in Europe and European companies wanting to do the same in Asia, particularly mainland China, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Vietnam. So I did the import-export business and business development consulting services concurrently.
Why did you decide later to move into events management with a ‘green’ focus instead?
When I was still in Europe, my friend who was the owner of the Miss Earth franchise asked me to help with the Danish Miss Earth pageant in 2001. While I did not have experience in the entertainment field at that time, I had many friends who were in the industry such as modelling agency owners. So I asked them to partner with me on the Danish pageant and Denmark won. As a result, I found myself committed to continue supporting the Danish pageant because many people were impressed. So that was when we shifted to the ‘green’ campaign because the purpose of Miss Earth is to raise environmental awareness.
Because I was well connected in Europe, we later expanded the Miss Earth pageant to the Czech Republic and Slovakia with local partners in those countries.
I moved to Singapore in 2005 because my husband worked for a shipping company in the country, and I left the European business with my partners back in Denmark to run it concurrently while I am in Singapore.
Once in Singapore, I shifted away from the corporate gifts business because things are already cheap in Asia, so the import and export of such items between Asian countries would no longer give us much profit margin. The Singapore market for corporate gifts is also very small, especially because vouchers are preferred as part of the local culture.
After a few months in Singapore, I took over the franchise for Miss Earth because I saw its potential. As beauty pageants are not as hyped about in Singapore compared with other countries, I focused on the ‘green’ campaign instead of the pageant itself. Events management is a good niche market because we have no competitors for the ‘green’ movement and I don’t see other beauty pageants as competitors because of their different focus. And using beautiful models is a good way to catch attention to improve environmental awareness.
As an events management company, what is your value proposition to corporate clients?
We don’t just handle events with a ‘green’ focus. The value proposition for every client varies depending on their needs. But as an events management company, your creativity should be one of your value propositions. Our creativity depends on what our clients need. So our value proposition is a combination of our extensive events management experience, local and international resources and networks, as well as creativity on how the event can be handled. While not all our resources are based in-house, they are all connected and we also provide value-for-money services.
After you moved into events management, was there any change in the nature of your business development consulting services?
Even after we moved into events management, there was no change in the nature of these consulting services. Today, we still provide such services to a growing number of clients in various countries.
Your vision is to increase awareness and encourage action towards environmental protection. What prompted you to have this vision?
I’ve lived in countries, namely Japan, Australia and Denmark, where environmental consciousness is part of the culture. So being environmentally friendly is like second nature to me. While there has been much progress in environmental awareness in Singapore, there is still room to improve day-to-day awareness of certain ‘green’ practices for things such as water and electricity consumption or not leaving the engine on while the driver sleeps in the car. We are like a mediator to remind people of the ‘green’ message and not only seek to raise awareness but also to set off a trend of ‘green’ practices.
How important is it for you to get your partners and clients aligned to your vision?
When looking for partners, it is not only my vision that matters but theirs as well. So I have to connect my vision with theirs. Raising awareness on ‘green’ sustainability is what we do with Miss Earth, but we do not limit ourselves to ‘green’ issues only for our business development consulting services. I don’t want people to misunderstand that I am only doing business consulting on the ‘green’ side. But we may raise that as an issue for consideration and corporate social responsibility if the ‘green’ practice is in line with the corporate client’s vision and strategy.
What is your advice for aspiring entrepreneurs who wish to change their area of focus like you did?
As an entrepreneur, you need the right attitude and passion. You need focus and flexibility at the same time although both seem like conflicting concepts. With focus, you have to know exactly what you want and when to stop when it’s not working. Being an entrepreneur, you may sometimes have ideas that you think would work, only to find out that the market is not yet ready or geared for it.
With flexibility, you will know when to cut your losses. If you need to shift to a new area, you have to study the market first and have a passion for and understanding of the new business, while familiarising with your target customer group. From there, you can form a solid concept of what you want to do.
If I was still in Denmark, I would have continued what I was doing. So it’s not about changing for the sake of changing but to capitalise on market opportunities, like what I did when I shifted to the new business in Singapore.
