O - B2B24 - Il Sole 24 Ore

cs in primo piano
Vogliamo far diventare i nostri clienti veri
fans!».
Attraverso quali politiche di marketing, di
prodotto e distributive intendete approcciarlo?
«Sicuramente dobbiamo investire in comunicazione
per aumentare la nostra visibilità in
Italia. In più punteremo sulle innovazioni fondamentali
dei nostri core-segments, ad
esempio sul Cromargan Protect ® : le posate
realizzate in Cromargan Protect ® sono estremamente
resistenti ai graffi.
La superficie lucida rimane lucida, quella
satinata rimane satinata: una brillante innovazione
con brevetto internazionale. Inoltre
punteremo sulla tecnologia Cool+ ® applicata
ai manici delle pentole e brevettata su scala
mondiale.
Riduce la trasmissione di calore dalla pentola
ai manici superando gli standard della
normativa DIN EN 12983-1.
Last but not least, a raggiungere i nostri
obiettivi ci aiuteranno i numerosi nuovi prodotti
che lanciamo ogni anno e la nostra
ampia gamma, che soddisfa qualsiasi desiderio
in cucina, dalla preparazione al cucinare,
servire, mangiare, bere e conservare».
Una conferma di come la macchina tedesca
funzioni nel mondo arriva anche dalle
parole di Agathe Dembski, sales manager
di Wüsthof. “Pensando alla generale
situazione del mercato nel 2012, possiamo
sicuramente dirci soddisfatti dei risultati
ottenuti e dell’andamento delle vendite
in generale: alcuni paesi hanno migliorato
le loro performance altri sono rimaste stabili.
Per quanto riguarda l’Italia, in particolare,
Walter Bongiorni, CEO of Villeroy&Boch
Italia, acknowledged 2012 has been a difficult
year. However being a multinational
company helps, as bad performance on a
market can be offset by better results in
another. Europe was reconfirmed as a reference
market, a very diverse one, but on the whole
more reliable than others. A recovery of the
North-American market had a positive impact.
What is the market situation in Italy?
‘There was an improvement in the second half
of the year, as in the rest of Europe, which showed
clearly during the Macef trade show.
Thanks to that, we will close with a profit (which
means, in a year like this, not losing ground and
catching up as much as possible on the inflation
rate). Of course, the actual performance of
Christmas sales will be crucial. I believe that, if
24 CASASTILE
WÜSTHOF CULINAR
you have the right product at the right moment,
you’ll be rewarded by the market. Our
Mariefleur decoration pattern, launched this
year, has been a global success: the idea came
from the new design teams we established
three years ago, each with focus on a different
subject, with the aim of coming up with innovative
concepts in line with consumers’ trends
and expectations. We expect our teams to
replicate this success. We are confident in our
next projects, Lina and Cooking Elements’.
What is in the pipeline for the near future?
‘In 2013 we will work on products, of course,
but that is not enough. In a moment like this,
you need to do research and implement wider
projects, such as identifying and supporting
the distribution channels that are most likely to
prove successful’.
In the last few years you have implemented
promotional activities to increase store traffic.
Are you planning to continue?
‘Yes. Promotional activities are effective as long
as they are correctly channelled and targeted,
as part of a wider set of in-store activities and
programs, including display strategies and
shop windows. Price is not the only purchase
driver; the opportunity of buying a valuable
designer product with a high perceived value
and a favourable price is more important’.
What do you see coming in the next few
months?
‘For the first time in the last 3 years, I want to
be optimistic. I think we will soon experience a
turnaround. That will happen only for a few
selected companies and stores that were able
to maintain their competitivity’.