eppi Magazine - european promotional products industry magazine

The Italian industry: Not all roads lead to Rome

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:40:00 CEST

Our trip to Italy comes to a close with this issue. eppi magazine concludes the series by taking a look at the size and structure of the Italian market. Current market data, which beyond the continuing crisis is drawing a very promising picture, forms the basis for our findings.

Responsor top level personalisation

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:30:00 CEST

We are a typical Italian family business, confirmed Mauro Chech, CEO of Responsor the Italian company located in Conegliano, near Venice. My father Mario, my brother Federico and I work as hard as ten employees put together. With our team comprising of around 15 employees we are a flexible, committed and above all effective business, which offers our trading partners the highest level of quality and service. We sell our products that are manufactured on-site exclusively via distributors, whom we offer a high level of service and consultation. Responsor gains additional support from a number of freelancers, who increase the flexibility of the company. The company is located at its own premises which like the company belong to the Chech family. 300 m² of the total surface area measuring 2,000 m² is dedicated to office space and the remaining area is occupied by the production facilities and the warehouse. The company was founded in 1982 by Mario Chech, who initially offered innovative promotional products to the promotional products market. Mauro Chech: Originally we started off supplying die-casted articles made of plastic, i.e. notepad boxes, and we produced among other things desk accessories. Then approx. 15 years ago we converted our production and started to specialise in eye-catching products made of paper and cardboard as well as high-quality accessories also preferably made out of these materials. We manufacture in-house individualised promotional products made of paper that are constantly in view on the desk in some cases using machines adapted or built especially to meet our needs. Responsors product range includes among others patented items of their own-brand memo-stick, diverse paper blocks with an integrated writing instrument (the pens are purchased elsewhere), notepads and memo cubes including attractive holders or dispenser boxes, notepads and memo stickers including page marker sets of innovative design, i.e. in the shape of houses, note blocks in diverse shapes and a new product the patented notepad block for the shopping trolley with an integrated ballpoint and special holder.

Baldo Srl: Good brands good customers

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:50:00 CEST

My father Mario Baldo founded the company 50 years ago. He started off by selling among other things calendars and items made of PVC. And although he is 75 years old now, he still comes into the office every day, explained Marco Baldo, CEO of Baldo Srl. Marco Baldo has already been working for the company for 30 years himself. For around two years the company has been located in its own building in Pastrengo near Verona, which encompasses approx. 300 m² of office space and a warehouse that covers approx. 1,000 m². We employ ten people at our offices plus seven sales representatives, who travel all over Italy. We offer our customers we exclusively deliver to promotional products distributors, never to end users strong brands and an excellent service. In Pastrengo the emphasis lies on quality and continuity. Alessandra Baldo, Marcos sister, who has also been working for the family business for 17 years and who is responsible for customer services and project management, remarked: We started off with very good supplier partners and today we offer famous brands like Papermate, Parker, Waterman, Tavecchi, Ritrama and Arti Grafiche Johnson that belongs to Bertelsmann, to mention but a few. About 15 years ago we added T-shirts and textiles to our program and we have held the exclusive distribution rights in Italy for the Spanish brand Roly for the last three years. The product range of the Spanish specialist for high-quality textiles in the promotion sector is fashionable and very convincing in terms of quality. Thanks to its huge warehouse that stocks around 20 million items the company can offer almost unlimited product availability within fast lead-times. Furthermore, over the last few years we have started specialising in specific custom-made designs, small volumes for exceptional customers, whereby we pay particular attention to the individual personalisation of the products. We manufacture these products from exquisite materials and they are embellished and personalised using innovative methods under our exclusive and registered own brand T-MADE.

Plastoria: Dedicated to luxury

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:30:00 CEST

Most of the visitors cannot help themselves from being impressed to some extent. Because the registered offices of Plastoria, which are located in an inconspicuous old industrial area not far from the Charleroi canal in the Anderlecht district of Brussels, is indeed remarkable: Spacious and light-flooded rooms, high-quality floor and wall designs, noble furniture and carpets as well as numerous pieces of art indicate that a lot of work has gone into the architectural and interior design planning. In 2007 the company moved into its new premises. Here, 60 staff members work in the administration and production departments, the offices, admin department, showroom, creation, prototyping and customising departments as well as two large warehouses are spread over 5,000 m² of floor space. Several glass walls make all of the departments transparent. When we decided to relocate four years ago, we wanted the new premises to reflect our image as a manufacturer of luxury goods. At the same time we wanted to create an open design, so that all of the departments can communicate with each other, explained Lionel Wajs, Chief of Operations, who runs the company together with his father, Michel, and his sister Chloe. Lionel and Michel Wajs are responsible for the operating business, Chloe runs the design department. In spite of its current size, Plastoria is a 100% family-run business. The company in its present form was founded in 1973, however Plastorias roots date back to the year 1935. My grandfather set up the company back then as a leather processing business, said Lionel Wajs. After the war when real leather was hard to come by, we were one of the first manufacturers of products made out of PU imitation leather. When the company was re-founded in the 1970s Plastorias alignment had changed. Lionel Wajs: We added gift items to the portfolio of leather goods, the business concentrated more and more on the B2B sector. The import business took off in Europe at the same time. Plastoria began to design and manufacture products on behalf of their customers, also from the promotional products industry. The first brand that we produced leather collections for was Balmain. Further brands were added to the list gradually and leather goods were followed by writing instruments and watches.

Ippag summer meeting: Business & fun

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:10:00 CEST

TK This years get-together of the Ippag members International Partnership for Premiums and Gifts was held from September 7-11, 2011 in Istanbul, the only city in the entire world that is located in two continents, Europe and Asia. The Turkish member ON-Net Promotion had invited the guests to the meeting, which it organised perfectly, and prudently with the accustomed traditional Turkish hospitality with the aid of its sister company, ON-Net Biggtravel both companies belong to the Sanal Magaza Group. While the managers of the internationally operating distributor alliance held intensive discussions about the further strategic alignment of the group in diverse meetings, meritable representatives of the sales teams had the opportunity to get to know each other and exchange ideas. Not only the excellent evening dinner, but also breath-taking events such as a boat trip on the Bosporus or a visit to the fascinating Old Town with its century old, eventful history served to cultivate the social relationships a long friendship binds many of the Ippag members in the meantime way beyond their business dealings.

Margt smatt : Escaping the crisis with resourcefulness and intelligence

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 11:50:00 CEST

It really was a memorable experience, recalled Árni Esra Einarsson of Margt smatt the dramatic occurrences of October 2008, when quite literally overnight we lost our economic capacity to act. The banks were nationalised, we couldnt earn any money, were not able to pay in foreign currencies. Our own currency, the Icelandic krona, was drastically depreciated, which led to the products of our suppliers costing us double the price. Nobody knew exactly what to do, how one could carry on doing business anymore. And of course a lot of our customers were also affected by the crisis. Around 10 to 20 large companies that were our customers went bankrupt straight away. But Margt smatt took on the challenge. Árni Esra Einarsson: We also saw the crisis as an opportunity. Of course we suffered big losses and had to fight to survive. Unfortunately, we also had to make people redundant and had to reduce our original team of 30 down to 20 employees. Today, we have increased our workforce up to 25 again and are on the way to achieving our former size. This includes predominantly canvassing new customers, providing an optimal service to our existing customers and reinventing ourselves. As well as plenty of creativity, the desire to be innovative, enjoying selling and the courage to tread new, unusual paths is essential here. One also has to risk being a touch extraordinary. And the Icelandic promotional products agency located in the capital city Reykjavik certainly is something special. We are the market leader in our country, explained Árni Esra Einarsson. There is one other rival company of similar size, together we hold between 60% and 70% of the market shares, whereby I estimate our share of the overall turnover of the promotional products market in Iceland where less than 320,000 people live, the most frequently populated region is the Reykjavik area with 150,000 inhabitants at between 35% and 40%. There are approx. 15 promotional products firms overall, most of which are very small and they predominantly operate on a regional basis. We on the other hand are represented all over Iceland, 90% of the one hundred largest companies are our customers. Furthermore, we also export goods, above all to branches and subsidiaries of those customers whose headquarters are based here in Iceland.

Iceland has recovered from the financial crisis: Recovery after the crash

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 09:20:00 CEST

After the collapse of its banks Iceland was on the verge of national bankruptcy. The future prospects seemed to be bleak, but the Icelanders managed to stabilise the situation quickly. Iceland, the country of Northern legends and myths, lies in the middle of the North Atlantic, halfway between the European Continent and the USA. It is the largest volcanic island in the world and lava rock dominates its landscape. Only strips of land along the coast are populated, and although the coastline spans over 5,000 kilometres, Iceland only has just under 320,000 inhabitants. Most of them live in the milder regions of the south west, 120,000 of them alone in the capital city, Reykjavik. The magnificent solitude of the country has not only led to the Icelanders becoming a nation of poets, but also attracts countless civilisation-weary holiday-makers: The tourism industry is the countrys second largest industry. Primarily, fish and wool products are exported, but also aluminium, because Iceland offers a clear locational advantage for the manufacturing processes that require a huge amount of energy. As a result of the many hot springs and waterfalls eco-friendly electricity can be produced cheaply.

20 Years of Macma

Tue, 9 Aug 2011 16:50:00 CEST

Silicon: Import business competence & service

Tue, 9 Aug 2011 16:20:00 CEST

Promotional Project: Competence & social commitment

Tue, 9 Aug 2011 16:00:00 CEST