Issue 20

Founded in 2010, PLAYN Eyewear produces stylish eyewear in Thailand with German expertise. Yvonne Liang speaks with co-founder and Managing Director Jonas Jacquet to find out more about the successful business.

Why did you decide to open Playn Eyewear in Thailand?
Our co-founders Denis Beyer and Jonas Koblin have already been active in the Thai eyewear market since 2003, starting with distribution of other eyewear brands and then with Niche Nation, a premium eyewear store in Thonglor. From there it was almost a natural step to start our own eyewear brand with our own designs here in Thailand.
Being based in Thailand has a very practical advantage for us. Thailand is one of the leading manufacturers of premium lenses with labs from all major French, German and Japanese brands. It is a great fit as we not only design frames but we also develop our own hand-tinted sun lens colors together with a premium Lens Lab just outside of Bangkok. As such we are closely interacting with our lens supplier, something that we couldn’t do if we were based far away.
Last but not least, the final assembly of frames and lenses also takes place at the lab here before they are shipped to other countries or sold in the Thai market.

Why did you choose to launch in Thailand?
Most people don’t know this, but the Thai eyewear market is actually quite large. You will see more people in Bangkok wearing sunglasses than for example in Singapore – even though Singapore doesn’t get less sun. Having a deep home market is of course an advantage for any company in any business field. In addition to the local customers we are also selling to expats and tourists here, which allows us to test how consumers from other countries react to our products without having to leave our home base. It’s our window to the world so to say.

What makes Thailand different from other countries?
I can only talk about the fashion/retail segment. But it’s our experience that people in Thailand, and especially Bangkok, are very fashion conscious and have a high trend awareness. They are quite well informed about brands and often have a very exact idea of what they want to purchase before entering the store. In that sense consumers are very up to date.

What is the company website?
You can find us under www.playn.com

What is your branding strategy?
Branding for us really follows our design and core values. The design concept is 80% plain and 20% play, while we count sustainability and transparency to our core values. As such you won’t see us doing a super fancy fashion shoot with models in Italy, but rather a taking photos of friends in a more natural environment. 

How does the local market respond to your products?
The response in Bangkok has been very positive. The Thai market is quite brand conscious and prefers more flashy designs, but we always get people into our showroom that really appreciate our concept of simple design, quality materials and avoiding unnecessary decorations or labels. Of course the best proof of doing something right is getting repeat customers – so by that measure we can say we are quite successful. 

How do you measure the success of your business?
One of the key indicators for us is customer satisfaction. We purposely combined our office with our showroom in Seenspace (Thonglor). This way we constantly get direct feedback from our customers. It also makes us very transparent. As Denis Beyer our Creative Director is also working here, customers can literally see how new frames are being developed and sometimes catch a glimpse of new prototypes.

Where do you plan to expand?
Our focus last year was on product development and testing the market in our showrooms in Bangkok and London and a few selected retailers in Thailand and Germany. This year we are focused on expanding our distribution not only in Thailand but also in South-East Asia and Europe. The first PLAYN frames will be available in Singapore and Malaysia starting in February with other countries to follow very soon.

What are your plans for this year and beyond?
Over the next few months we will launch a couple of new models, mostly for metal frames. This is something that we are really excited about as they will be a great addition to our collection. Aside from product development we are in talks with distributors to take our brand into new markets, but nothing that we can announce yet.

Thailand is the world's largest manufacturer of optical lenses, accounting for 22 per cent of global output. According to the database of worldwide coatings and optical products manufacturer PPG Industries, the world's demand for optical lenses totals 800 to 900 million lenses per year. Of these, more than 200 million are produced in Thailand. Source: The Nation