Brand-new Pelikan
by Heike DieckmannArno Alberty gives OPI a rare insight into the workings of the new Pelikan, the company that, after years of separation from some of its former divisions, has finally come under one umbrella again - with some strong brands to boost.
It's all change at global manufacturer Pelikan. For some, the name Pelikan is synonymous with the fountain pen and school supplies, for others it refers to the alternative ink and toner market. Throw two other companies - German Hardcopy and Geha Präsentationssysteme - into the fray and you have a heady mix of highly recognisable and long-established office supplies brands.
Arno Alberty is an office products veteran, but he's a relatively new kid on the block at the 170-year old company. As a member of the board and executive vice president, he is focused on the European marketing, sales and country operations. His main task at the new Pelikan is to realise a Europe-oriented marketing strategy in order to underline the company as a global player.
While Pelikan has been a market leader in some of its product categories for decades, Alberty believes that the biggest challenge in the future will be to continue to create products that attract consumer attention. It's a challenge that the new Pelikan embraces wholeheartedly, he is keen to point out.
OPI: When you joined Pelikan Hardcopy in 2006, it was a very different company to what it is now. Can you explain, please?
Arno Alberty: When I joined Pelikan Hardcopy (International), based in Egg, Switzerland, about 18 months ago, plans were already underway to merge some activities that were operating under the Pelikan brand. On the one hand, there was Pelikan Hardcopy in the printer supplies business, while on the other hand we had Pelikan PBS selling fine writing instruments, office and school products.
Many years ago, Pelikan as a company was divided into these two segments. As such, it has developed independent brand cultures mainly due to the different products in its portfolio. The one strong link between the two separate divisions was ink and the tradition of a worldwide quality brand. And that's still the pillar that Pelikan's success and experience is built on now: a 170-year-old knowledge of ink in the specific areas of today's product lines.
2007 was a very important year for the Pelikan group. "The new Pelikan" was our leading slogan last year and a new milestone was set in the company's history: Pelikan Hardcopy and Pelikan Vertriebsgesellschaft became one strong company again. The majority shareholder of the European Pelikan Group is Malaysia-based Pelikan International Corporation Berhad (PICB).
Merging both Pelikan activities under one umbrella brand has been achieved, but we are still fine-tuning the organisation on a worldwide level and this is being finalised right now.
The new Pelikan is already working efficiently at a European level and we also have a strong international marketing team.
OPI: How are your brands affected by all the change in the company?
AA: We have started to streamline our brand portfolio and have dedicated to each brand a specific product line in order to cover different distribution channels and consumer target groups.
As a general statement, we now have an efficient group being consolidated under the Pelikan umbrella. This allows us not only to react to forthcoming changes with regard to product development, but also to changes in distribution and alterations in consumer buying behavior.
OPI: How autonomous are the various divisions under the overall Pelikan umbrella?
AA: Well, the focus in 2007 and also this year has been and will continue to be on a strong internalisation of all activities. We decided to create a specific strategy for each brand in order to avoid overlaps and to better exploit market potential.
Overall, Pelikan's top management is responsible for the efficiency of the brands, but there remains large scope for autonomy for brand management in the various countries we operate in.
The recent merger with German Hardcopy works a little differently. It further strengthens Pelikan's unique standing as a global player. That said, German Hardcopy continues to operate as an independent company, although it is a member of Pelikan-Holding.
OPI: Let's stick with German Hardcopy for a moment. How does the coming together of former rivals Pelikan Hardcopy and German Hardcopy work and how does it benefit the customer?
AA: As I said, German Hardcopy has been integrated into the Pelikan group. Being part of that group requires the acceptance of the rules of the overall Pelikan strategy, but it also allows German Hardcopy to maintain and even emphasise the assets of this particular brand and its products.
Pelikan and German Hardcopy are the strongest brands on the alternative ink and toner market in Europe, offering the best choice for all channels - either Pelikan or German Hardcopy-branded products.
There is more or less no channel overlapping between German Hardcopy and Pelikan Hardcopy, which means that the acquisition really makes sense and results in additional revenue for Pelikan-Holding.
OPI: What about Pelikan's 'other' Geha (the acronym for German Hardcopy) brand that incorporates presentation systems and shredders. How does this company fit into the overall picture?
AA: In order to further strengthen the Geha brand name, we are now repositioning the brand and are working on a re-organisation. Going forward, there will only be one Geha brand, encompassing German Hardcopy as well as Geha Präsentationssysteme.
Our target is to reinforce Geha and create a product range that emphasises the technical competence of that brand in a separate company that will be established later on this year.
I believe this approach works to the advantage of the whole group.
OPI: More generally speaking, in terms of sales, how would you describe the market share for the individual Pelikan divisions?
AA: As our product portfolio is extremely large, we can't really talk about market share of each specific segment. Overall, our position is very strong in categories such as fine writing instruments, school and office products. We are market leader for hardcopy products in Europe.
You also have to bear in mind that brand awareness is different from country to country. Overall, our strongest markets in Europe are Germany, followed by Italy, France, Benelux and Spain as well as Austria, Switzerland, the Nordic region and Turkey. But there are a lot of potential markets that we are now ready to enter, including Eastern Europe.
OPI: How would you describe your go-to-market strategy?
AA: It depends on the product or the product group and also on the distribution specifics. The advantage of our differentiated brand portfolio is that we are flexible in terms of adapting our strategy to the market and to consumer requirements. It also ensures that our brands don't compete against each other in any way.
As far as demographics are concerned, our strategy does not vary greatly within Europe. Most of our customers have a Europe-wide network, including the mass merchandisers or even through the buying groups, and the markets where we're most active have become harmonised some time ago. This also enables us to develop a pan-European marketing strategy and present ourselves as an international rather than merely a national brand.
OPI: You recently referred to 2008 as the year of innovation. What's on the agenda for this year?
AA: Innovation and attractive products as well as concepts are the source of our success. The main challenge over the last few years has been to convince our customers that Pelikan is the best choice in terms of products and service.
The marketing focus of the stationery business in the first quarter of this year has been on Griffix, the world's first comprehensive four-step learn-to-write system. We are developing an extensive TV campaign around this product at the moment, for example.
Griffix has already convinced the experts. The product recently won the ISPA & Innovation Product of the Year Award 2008 in the coveted back-to-school category.
Other novelties at the moment are the Pelikano fountain pen, new water colours, painting aprons and a range of office products.
Another recent development is our mini-friends programme where we particularly address the younger pre-school children. It includes creative sets with high quality painting utensils that encourage children to play and paint.
On the Pelikan Hardcopy side, 2008 is the year of our sensational 100 new products. The biggest innovation here is the Pelikan PowerPad, a clever refill system for HP and Canon cartridges.
Another milestone in Pelikan's innovation power is the introduction of compatible cartridges for Canon CLI-8 and PGI 5 cartridges (Canon Pixma series IP 4200) which will happen later on this month.
OPI: You've just touched on this - what are the trends in the print sector and how is Pelikan Hardcopy in its new expanded format exploiting the potential that exists?
AA: The supplies market is a very "colourful" and fast-moving market. On the one hand the demands from our customers have reached new horizons. They expect Pelikan not only to sell them products, but they want customised concepts and a full service.
The OEMs, on the other hand, continue to invent new features such as chips with high security coding and it takes all the abilities and capacities in our R&D centres. These developments will continue.
To keep ahead, Pelikan has recently opened a new Inkjet Technology Centre near Zurich in Switzerland. On this 28,000 sq ft site, around 50 employees are working on advancing inkjet developments with their high-tech requirements. With this move, we have set the course for increased growth and a clear structure. The PowerPad for the HP series I mentioned earlier was developed at this new centre.
OPI: What's your vision for the future, where do you see Pelikan going with such a broad product portfolio?
AA: A broad and distinct product offer is the key for success if one has to satisfy different consumer target groups and distribution channels. Our customer survey results prove that our strategy to be a diversified global partner in the office supplies business is the right one.
A true office supplies specialist - like we are - must have at its disposal a large product range for all customer segments. "From the cradle to the grave with Pelikan products" perfectly explains the positioning of Pelikan as a strong player for office and school products.
As Europe still offers plenty of potential for expansion, we are always considering other acquisitions that can help us to further strengthen our position.
But it's not just about the European markets. We aim for a globally strong position in office and school products. The reunited Pelikan will be empowered by more critical mass, synergies in logistics and IT, more financial power, a strong organisation and positive effects from internalisation.
