THE GREAT KNOWLEDGE QUIZ - Duropal

PLENTY NEW IN THE EAST
HOW DUROPAL IS FARING WELL IN THE VOLATILE CHINESE MARKET
“When i first visited China over
20 years ago, i could not imagine
ever successfully conducting business
there”, Volker Lange says of
his first impressions. a great deal
has happened since then. the
rapid economic and social developments
in China have completely
altered the face of the country and
the market. today, China is one of
the most volatile and contrasting
business locations in the world.
and in the middle of it are Volker
Lange and his team of the Pfleiderer
asia-Pacific representative
office.
one of the most important tasks
of thomas Erhardt, Jessie Bi, Nick
Wang and office Manager Volker
Lange was, and still is, to establish
duropal as a quality brand on the
Chinese market. No easy job, when
one considers that nine out of ten
German projects in China fail with
monotonous regularity. “the problem
frequently lies in the approach”,
according to the analysis of Volker
Lange. “anyone who comes here to
make a fast buck, and thinks that
they can conquer the market in the
blink of an eye has actually already
lost.” For Pfleiderer aG with its
brands of duropal, wodego and
Pfleiderer industrie, one thing was
clear from the beginning: China is a
long-term investment.
a fast contract conclusion does
not count – instead they rely deliberately
on key accounts, which are
looked after specially. “Here we are
12,000 kilometres away from each
other — including culturally. it is
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therefore all the more important to
know exactly what the customer
wants.” in order to come to terms
with these special circumstances and
requirements, one must first allow
oneself some time. the main priority
is getting to know each other
personally and developing mutual
trust. While the culture for new
business relationships in Europe is
for many procedures to take place
automatically, and all that often
remains is to agree on ways and
means, in China the foundations of
a business relationship have to be
built from the ground up. Everything
has to be specified down to the last
detail, in order to avoid misunderstandings
from the very beginning.
if possible, Lange takes his Chinese
business partners with him to
arnsberg, in order to demonstrate
to them on the spot the high performance
capability and the development
expertise of the duropal
brand. the close cooperation as
early as the product development
stage is a major decision-making
criterion for many Chinese partners,
since this gives them a decisive lead
in the highly-competitive domestic
market.
the concentration on key accounts
and a customer-orientated
marketing strategy are however
only a part of the secret of success.
the fact that duropal is one of the
leading imported brands in China is
also due not least to the selection
of the right sales partner. “today’s
trade network, which covers all
the major cities, has its origins in a
20-year cooperation with our main
distributor, and his vision of publicising
the duropal brand”, emphasises
Volker Lange.
How well the umbrella brand
of Pfleiderer aG (and, in turn, duropal)
is integrated in the Far East
market was shown in June 2008.
on the initiative of the Pfleiderer
asia-Pacific representative office
and a good friend in Beijing, several
large furniture manufacturers
came together to form a partnership.
this was an extremely unusual
occurrence in the Chinese
business world, which is characterised
by takeovers and cut-throat
competition.
No less unusual was the place in
which this cooperation was sealed.
the signing ceremony was held in
the Great Hall of the People in the
Square of Heavenly Peace, an honour
granted to very few Chinese
companies, let alone foreign manufacturers.
the ceremony was also
attended by Chinese business tV,
which broadcasted it live throughout
the country.
an invaluable image coup, which
contributes towards strengthening
the awareness of Chinese consumers
for quality and brand products, and
making other companies aware of
Pfleiderer and duropal. and Volker
Lange is sure of being able to fulfil
the expectations which have been
aroused with his team. in his view,
there are four decisive factors in favour
of duropal. First, the consistent
orientation to the circumstances
and needs of customers; secondly,
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