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Achieving Market Growth by Acquiring New Brands

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Achieving Market Growth by Acquiring New Brands

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Technology giant Toshiba has decided to sell its television division and Japanese media outlets are reporting that the Turkish home and commercial appliance manufacturing forerunners Vestel is one of the potential buyers.

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Technology giant Toshiba, the manufacturer of the first color television in Japan, has decided to sell its television division and Japanese media outlets are reporting that the Turkish home and commercial appliance manufacturing forerunners Vestel is one of the potential buyers.

Japanese media also claims that Chinese companies are among the list of potential buyers. Vestel currently produces and sells televisions under the Toshiba license and company representatives have said that Vestel is in the evaluatory process of purchasing Toshiba's TV division, adding that negotiations are still underway in line with company growth strategies.

According to the Nikkei Asian Review, a Japanese economics newspaper, based on sources close to Toshiba, some foreign buyers are interested in taking over the unit. Moreover, potential buyers include some Chinese firms besides the Turkish firm Vestel.

Toshiba, which has had a hard time lately, is selling some business lines to reduce company losses. It was stated that Toshiba's financial troubles may deepen further following the nuclear power unit Westinghouse's bankruptcy postponement application.
Bids to be collected soon
According to the newspaper, the spoken figure of Toshiba's TV division sale is worth several hundred million dollars. Moreover, buyers are also expected to make their bids soon. Toshiba has decided to restructure its business forms in the wake of a 2015 accounting scandal. While the company was focusing on TV development and sales in Japan, it had turned its overseas operations into licensed business.

Furthermore, Vestel has already signed a licensing agreement with Toshiba in September 2016 and, under the terms of the agreement; Vestel will manufacture, sell and conduct marketing and distribution under the Toshiba brand license.

The signing of the brand license agreement aims to raise the market share of Toshiba televisions in Europe to more than 5 percent in the medium term and increase Vestel's competitiveness in the European television market as well as its brand-name sales. In March 2016, Toshiba sold its white goods unit to Chinese household appliances maker Midea for $90 million.

Vestel's statement indicates that the decision regarding the purchase of Toshiba's TV division is in the evaluation stage and negotiations are underway in line with company growth strategies.

"In the past few months, we announced that we had signed a brand license agreement with Toshiba and that we are responsible for the sales, marketing and supply chain operations of Toshiba-brand TVs produced in Manisa Vestel City. At Vestel, we continue to monitor and evaluate opportunities in line with our growth strategies," said Vestel CEO Turan Erdoğan in a company statement.

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Turkish giant Vestel aims to purchase major unit of Toshiba

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Technology giant Toshiba, the manufacturer of the first color television in Japan, has decided to sell its television division and Japanese media outlets are reporting that the Turkish home and commercial appliance manufacturing forerunners Vestel is one of the potential buyers. Japanese media also claims that Chinese companies are among the list of potential buyers.

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Expanding the Market Share by Signing New Licence Agreements

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Expanding the Market Share by Signing New Licence Agreements

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Turkey’s Vestel announced a strategic brand license agreement with Toshiba Visual Solutions Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation, centered on the production and sale of Toshiba-branded consumer TVs in the European market.

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BERLIN

Turkey's Vestel announced on Sept. 1 a strategic brand license agreement with Toshiba Visual Solutions Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation, centered on the production and sale of Toshiba-branded consumer TVs in the European market.

Vestel also stated on Sept. 2 that it had signed another deal to acquire stakes in the Poland-based Compal Electronics Europe in a move to expand in Europe and to realize its targets in line with the Toshiba agreement.

Vestel will be responsible for the production, sales, marketing, and supply chain functions in the European market for Toshiba branded TVs while working closely with Toshiba research, development and quality assurance resources, said the Sept. 1 statement.

The Vestel-Toshiba partnership will come into effect after obtaining consent from the authorities in line with the relevant applicable law and under the agreement, it added.

"With this strengthened partnership, we look forward to maximizing Toshiba's potential for further growth and market reach. Already a renowned and trusted household name with a reputation for high quality, Toshiba will be positioned as our premier TV brand for Europe. Our aim is to increase the 5 percent of the market stake of Toshiba to increase. This deal will enable to climb further up in the Europe TV market, in which we have already has some 20 percent of share," said Vestel Group of Companies CEO Turan Erdoğan.

Vestel also said it plans to create a European stance in line with the Toshiba deal and to make the former Toshiba plant in Poland's Wroclaw a production and logistics hub both for Toshiba and Vestel.

"In this vein, Vestel Ticaret A.Ş., a 100 percent of stake of which is owned by Vestel, and Compal Electronics Inc., one of the major contract electronics makers in Taiwan and owns this plant, signed an agreement to acquire the TV assembly plant," said the company in the Sept. 2 statement, noting that the deal will be applicable after the required permissions are granted and the conditions are met by all parties.

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Turkey's Vestel, Japan's Toshiba sign deal with growth plans for consumer TV business in Europe - Latest News

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BERLIN Turkey's Vestel announced on Sept. 1 a strategic brand license agreement with Toshiba Visual Solutions Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation, centered on the production and sale of Toshiba-branded consumer TVs in the European market. Vestel also stated on Sept.

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Listed among the largest technology companies of the world, the operations of Vestel, which were started in 1984, continue under Zorlu Holding since 1994. With a total of 26 companies of which 16 are outside Turkey, Vestel Group of Companies offers a wide range of products from consumer electronics to white goods, and digital products to information technologies. Providing service throughout Turkey with 1.250 sales points, Vestel aimed meeting the need in the market by highlighting different aspects of the product rather than showing the price advantage and basic features during the air conditioner sales campaign period in order to show that it is a brand which cares about the consumers’ needs and generates solutions to these needs.

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Listed among the largest technology companies of the world, the operations of Vestel, which were started in 1984, continue under Zorlu Holding since 1994. With a total of 26 companies of which 16 are outside Turkey, Vestel Group of Companies offers a wide range of products from consumer electronics to white goods, and digital products to information technologies. Providing service throughout Turkey with 1.250 sales points, Vestel aimed meeting the need in the market by highlighting different aspects of the product rather than showing the price advantage and basic features during the air conditioner sales campaign period in order to show that it is a brand which cares about the consumers' needs and generates solutions to these needs.

While it is difficult to create differentiation points in the communication of products with similar features in the sector, paying attention to the needs of the consumers, in addition to the priorities of brand, ensures that the communication strategy is built correctly. We see that our real-time marketing action is an initiative that adds a high value to both sales and brand perception.
Target

To increase the air conditioner sales by featuring the technology towards the need of the consumer in the right time
Approach

Google Ads scripts were used based on real consumer insight
Results

50% increase in clickthrough rate in air conditioner searches related to Vestel

11,5% growth in offline sales

Considering the market dynamics, Vestel was carrying out its intensive communication during the summer season as the demand to the air conditioners is higher and thus the market grows during the summer period. In order to differentiate Vestel air conditioners in the market, it was required to go beyond the basic heating-cooling function of air conditioner and bring to the forefront the technological features of the product that make life easier for the consumer in line with the brand's main marketing strategy.

During this period when the search volume was high periodically and the competitor brands were intensively running air conditioner campaigns, Vestel thought it had to listen to the consumer's needs in order to distinguish its air conditioners from the others. As a result of the analysis carried out on social media, the brand noticed that the main problem stated by the consumers for the summer of 2018 was the high humidity rather than high temperature. Vestel decided to focus on "dehumidification function" in the communication related to the technological features of its air conditioner models, and to communicate the message to the right person in the right place and at the right time. The main message of the brand's communication for 2018 was the introduction of Wi-Fi feature of air conditioners, while real-time marketing was used in the areas where people mentioned about humidity problem more.

In order to reach out to the uses at the areas with high humidity rate, along with its agency SEM, Vestel chose to use Google Ads and concentrated on Search Network ads. They ran the campaign dynamically using the scripts supported by the Google Ads. A software was developed to automatically intervene with the Google Ads Search campaigns over the "humidity rate" with the data captured through scripts.

Dehumidifying air conditioner by Vestel

We focused on 3 different situations through this script. Cities with a humidity rate of 40-60%, 61-74% and more than 75%, as well as the humidity rates in all the cities were checked with this script during the day. For each case, the system ran location-based instant bid update in the Google Ads system. In places with high humidity, it was aimed to be more visible to the users with the "Dehumidification Feature of Vestel Air Conditioners".

SEM Senior Account Manager Oğuz Kansoy: "Humidity rates were changing 24 hours a day in 81 cities. The important thing in here was to reach out to the users who were searching for air conditioner at the right time and at the right city. Considering the changes in humidity rate in several cities, we decided to automate the management of these campaigns. At this point, with the support of our software team, the use of script provided by Google Ads has allowed us to achieve our goal."

Compared to the prior year period, a 50% increase was seen in the clickthrough rate in air conditioner searches related to Vestel. Vestel also achieved 11,5% growth in offline sales compared to the previous year. Keeping the right insight by better following the consumer's need, Vestel took a fast action and managed to appear on the screen at the right time.

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Listed among the largest technology companies of the world, the operations of Vestel, which were started in 1984, continue under Zorlu Holding since 1994. With a total of 26 companies of which 16 are outside Turkey, Vestel Group of Companies offers a wide range of products from consumer electronics to white goods, and digital products to information technologies.

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Success of Vestel Electronics is directly related to its dedication to innovation, to the high-quality research carried on in its large R&D centers and its connections to national and international research organizations.

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Success of Vestel Electronics is directly related to its dedication to innovation, to the high-quality research carried on in its large R&D centers and to its connections to national and international research organizations. In this article Mr. Reha S. Senturk, Project Manager at Ege University Science and Technology Centre (EBILTEM) describes an open innovation initiative resulting in a successful innovation.

Vestel Electronics continuously searches for new ideas to develop new products and technologies with the help of innovation and R&D activities. It keeps close ties with Universities and other research centers. In this respect they are in cooperation with Ege University Science and Technology Centre (EBILTEM) in Izmir. EBILTEM as an interface organization of Ege University, is an internationally recognized university-industry collaboration institution housing a wide range of offices and units providing information, technology, IPR and innovation management support to industry. As a result of its technology transfer activities, it has been selected as the best performing centre by the European Commission in 2008. It is also cited in UNESCO Science Report 2010. Vestel Electronics and EBILTEM are also partners in Western Anatolian Information Technologies and Electronics Regional Innovation Centre (BATI-BINOM) project aiming to boost the R&D and innovation potential of the region in information technologies and electronics.

Access to knowledge is crucial

Mr. Metin Nil, the R&D Director of Vestel Electronics believes that knowledge is the main input for technology development. Vestel R&D centers closely follow the European technology platforms and project calls of European Union Seventh Framework Program (FP7) and show intensive effort to be partner in these projects. He says "easy access to knowledge is very important, but another important thing is the capacity of the knowledge absorption. The company has to have the maturity to exploit the opportunities. Collaboration with research institutions and Universities create an awareness that enables a company to identify the right opportunity."

University-Industry cooperation and EBILTEM

EBILTEM, known as a "Gateway to Knowledge" by companies in Turkey, acts as an interface to direct Vestel Electronics' open innovation efforts by providing ideas, information, network connections and resources. Prof. Vardar-Sukan who is the Director of EBILTEM says, "Technology protection and all IP issues are also vitally important subjects for a well-known technology company such as Vestel Electronics. Therefore, Vestel Electronics has established very close ties with EBILTEM Relay Centre of the European Patent Office, utilizing its services for patent searches, competitor analyses and technology watch. All these free of charge services have helped Vestel Electronics and EBILTEM to build an efficient university-industry cooperation model and have established fruitful and long lasting bridges between the two institutions."

Mr. Metin Nil, states that EBILTEM has been one of the main sources of information, knowledge and networking for Vestel Electronics, throughout the years. "Through this cooperation, we never miss new ideas and opportunities. Vestel Electronics receives new project ideas, and technologies developed by the researchers in the universities via EBILTEM on weekly basis. Vestel Electronics also has access to EBILTEM's Network for international technology, business and research opportunities. With the help of these facilities, Vestel Electronics has easy and fast access to Enterprise Europe Network profile database where they can see new technology, business and research offers and requests. This cooperation allows Vestel Electronics to reach all EU research calls and partner searches on time."

Multinational projects

With such cooperation Vestel Electronics participated in an international joint research project entitled "Magneto". The project was a Celtic initiative, a European research and development programme designed to strengthen Europe's competitiveness in telecommunications. In project Vestel Electronics became a partner in a consortium of internationally well-known universities and companies from Austria, Canada, France, Ireland, Spain and Sweden.

Magneto, an acronym for; Management of the Outer Edge, provides a new level of service assurance and network management support to the "Outer Edge" domain i.e. the point of attachment of home area networks and other restricted area networks to help Operators, OEMs and Service Providers to deal with the increasing complexity and ever increasing number of connections at the Outer Edge. We define Outer Edge as "user networks" such as Home Area Networks, Small-Office, Hotel networks etc. These networks are attached to operator's network through the access network but operators do not have direct or full control of these Outer Edge networks.

This 30 month long project was successfully completed in March of 2011, delivering an innovative and autonomic outer edge management solution and a new framework. Results have been internationally disseminated and companies including consortium members are utilizing this research in existing and new products.

Magneto's main focus

The main focus of was to develop an innovative Network and Service management framework that enables integrated service and network management for outer edge devices in emerging networks. The framework enabled the management of home networks to be incorporated into telecommunication service provider management systems to provide end-to-end service management. The framework facilitated the scalability of the management systems to scale to deal with the expansion into millions of connected outer edge networks using an autonomic approach to self management. has developed novel solutions to service and network management to help operators meet the challenges posed by the outer edge in a secure manner. In particular has delivered a scenario based architecture and software proof of concept in the areas of service configuration and assurance, supported by an Autonomic framework for self management of outer edge devices.

Approach

has implemented the use of intelligent systems and process automation in its Autonomic framework to minimize human intervention at the outer edge. Inherent in this approach is a greatly increased emphasis on security and has adopted an end-to end approach to incorporating security in all aspects of the system. is access network neutral and can be applied in both fixed and mobile networks. A number of service based scenarios in the context of consumer demand for 'Anytime, Anywhere' Omnipresent Virtual Networks (OVNs) have formed the basis of its approach including:

User subscription and OVN creation. This deals with subscription process to OVN service and creating a specific OVN for a user.

Joining and content sharing. Once an OVN is created other users can join that specific OVN and share content among other users in the OVN

Service Breakdown. This topic deals with fault management; more precisely probabilistic fault identification

Service Quality Degradation. This aspect covers scenarios where the service quality is degraded and monitoring of service quality levels and SLA in such situations

Device addition to an existing session. Users can add devices to an OVN and the OVN should recognize the newly added device; in addition existing service sessions should be portable to other capable devices.

Real-time sharing. Sharing of external content between OVN initiator within his HAN and another OVN user.

Magneto has developed a common management framework to address these scenarios and prototypes have been demonstrated for the major scenarios.

Achieved results

Magneto has developed an Autonomic framework for Outer Edge management, which allows easier service specification and deployment and reduces management costs (OPEX) and help operators meet the challenges posed by the outer edge. The project has delivered a new management solution which integrates the outer edge as a network and service centric component addressing Omnipresent Virtual Network services.

For service providers, especially convergent ones, the outer edge is becoming the unique service portal which allows the customers access to a huge variety of services.

The technological innovations in Magneto particularly address:

Extension of self - management principles to the outer edge, e.g. the management of home area networks can be autonomic,

Application of probabilistic techniques to deal with the very large and increasing levels of data that must be analysed for efficient service assurance,

Implementation of Complex Event Processing and correlation of data and events for service assurance in a decentralized way, close to the event location,

Quality of Service (QoS) estimation using lower level Network Key Performance Indicators (N- KPIs).

The design of an innovative and autonomic outer edge management solution and its integration of the outer edge management in a global management framework provide service providers with a global and innovative solution for end-to-end management of multimedia services. The autonomic framework provides an integrated approach to network and service management and proposes a fundamental change to the way that networks and services are managed at the outer edge.

Impact

Research results from the Magneto project have been reviewed and accepted by the Research community through journal and book publications and at major conferences including IMS 2010, BcN 2010, MACE 2010 and IM 2011.

Results from have been disseminated through contacts with the Autonomic Future Internet (AFI) and Measurement Ontology for IP traffic (MOI) industry specification groups at ETSI, and partners have participated in a panel discussion at TMF.

By carrying out the work at international level, the results of the project offers an opportunity for European companies to take a lead in outer edge management. The diversity of the partners taking part in , facilitates the exploitation and dissemination of the results across Europe and beyond, and will maximize the intellectual and commercial potential of the project. industrial partners are currently considering the commercial impact of the concepts on existing product roadmaps and the introduction of new products based on the research results.

Vestel Electronics' contribution

End user devices testing and manufacturing by Vestel and Blusens Companies

Specification of the test environment

Adaptation to the Magneto prototypes

Dissemination Activities

Autonomic computing (self-configuration, self-healing)

Meetings and discussion with Universities

Involved in project management and all work packages

Vestel Electronics' project output

- Vestel MAGNETO4800 Device

Connected TV: New generation connected TV that adds broadband connection, IPTV, and internet access to LCD and LED televisions.

The software module developed for Magneto by Vestel is used in TV and Set Top Box projects enabling television set to receive and decode digital television (DTV) broadcasts from cable, satellite or other digital sources.

New prototypes were developed including IPTV prototype for the Magneto project.

Project impact to Vestel Electronics

The technology and background obtained from the Magneto project was transferred to Vestel Electronics' data bank for use in other research by the R&D group and for the training of employees in related departments. R&D department was expanded with new engineers hired through the project. Vestel Electronics has used outer edge management technology, the developed communication mechanism and the know-how obtained in other projects as well:

Vestel Electronics as a Consumer Electronics and R&D company plans shape long term roadmap in heterogeneous home networks and products that are closely related with this project such as wireless digital media adapters, IPTV set top boxes, IDTVs. Vestel Electronics also aims to use the knowledge and vision in all R&D projects and plans to have innovative consumer electronics devices that work seamlessly in home networks. The company believes that the output of project on Vestel products will be a big advantage at the market.

Conclusions

Success of Vestel Electronics is directly related to its dedication to innovation, to the high-quality research carried on in its large R&D centers and to its connections to national and international research organizations.

Vestel Electronics' focus on innovation, forces it to extend research efforts beyond the company facilities. Cooperation with local and national universities, partnering on regional projects opens doors to new developments and research. International collaboration allows the company to work with other successful organizations and collective research not only provides valuable information but also new product and market partnerships.

Multinational projects like Magneto bring the research power from different countries together to advance in new technologies. Vestel Electronics continues to be a global consumer electronics manufacturer by applying these technologies to the processes and products.
By Reha S. Senturk
Vestel Electronics could never have been part of a large project such as the Magneto project if it had not made the right investment into R&D throughout the years and if it had not established the right connections with academia and international organizations. It owes its competitive edge to the R&D awareness it has created at all levels of its management, production and sales departments.

Vestel Electronics should set an example to all companies, with sophisticated targets in internationalization. Regardless of size, geography and nationality, all companies benefit from new ideas. Those with ambitious objectives must be in search of new information within and outside of the borders. R&D departments can expand existing capabilities with the information obtained from open innovation, and create new products and businesses. National and international funds, interface organizations such as EBILTEM facilitating university collaboration are vital to open innovation. Such support systems need to be expanded and companies must benefit from them.

About Vestel Electronics

Vestel Group is comprised of 22 companies operating in manufacturing, technology development, marketing, and distribution areas in the consumer electronics, digital technologies, and household appliances industry. It is located in Manisa, Turkey. With 12 million units of production a year, Vestel Electronics is the largest television manufacturer in Europe. The company controls 6% of the worldwide, and 26% of the European TV market.

R&D facilities are located in Manisa, Izmir, UK, USA, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, employing the highest caliber engineers developing hardware and software solutions to provide clients with world class quality products. Exporting 96% of its production to 132 countries and realizing over 2 billion Euros of export revenues, Vestel became the export leader in Turkey. This revenue stream combined with the Group's rapid growth in international markets has established Vestel as one of the worldwide consumer electronics leaders.

Vestel Electronics' R&D activities in 2006 were carried out at the Main, High-End and Digital centers in Manisa, Izmir, Istanbul, Bristol and San Diego. Currently, Vestel R&D activities are carried out by specialized project groups individually responsible for the different aspects of industrial design, mechanical design, mechanical production, industrial applications, intellectual property rights and contracts, design verification, and hardware and software engineering. Vestel also works on a user interface customization (UI) solution based on SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) definitions of UI designs, which enables quick customizations and different look and feel for different customers. One of the major successes of the company was the implementation of digital TV software with the addition of TV controls to the existing DVB software stack.

About the author

Reha S. Senturk is a project manager of the internationally recognized university-industry collaboration institution Ege University Science and Technology Centre (EBILTEM) in Izmir, Turkey.

He currently manages Western Anatolian Information and Electronics Regional Innovation Centre (BATI-BINOM), helping to create opportunities for innovation through partnerships, financial support, and implementation of new ideas or products, thereby nourishing the R&D and innovation power of the industry in the region.

Contributing editor

This article was sourced and co-edited by Terry Young, who has 25 years experience in innovation management. He is President Emeritus of the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM ). He has extensive experience in expert services internationally, with more than 60 trips abroad. He is currently President of Beyond the First World Corporation.

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An Open Innovation Story from Turkey: VESTEL Magneto

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Vestel Electronics continuously searches for new ideas to develop new products and technologies with the help of innovation and R&D activities. It keeps close ties with Universities and other research centers. In this respect they are in cooperation with Ege University Science and Technology Centre (EBILTEM) in Izmir.

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Vestel has managed to increase its market share in both European and local markets thanks to its appealing product designs.

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Vestel Electronics: Industrial Design
The Eighties, years of radical change in the Turkish economy and of the arrival of multinational companies in the Turkish manufacturing sector, mark one of Turkey's most important milestones. Vestel Electronics' story also began in 1983, with the establishment of the British firm, Ferguson Electronics, to manufacture television sets for the Turkish market. In 1984, Polly Peck acquired the company, and its name was changed to Vestel Electronics. Shortly after this change, Vestel's overall strategy as a small TV manufacturer shifted from manufacturing solely for the Turkish market to manufacturing for export. This strategy was supported by a number of co-operation agreements with major electronics manufacturers within the Polly Peck group, such as Sansui, Capetronic and Imperial. In 1988, these cooperations produced the first colour TV set manufactured by Vestel for the European market. The first domestic monitors were also designed and manufactured that year.
Arise LCD TV, Good Design Award, 2008 In 1994, Ahmet Nazif Zorlu acquired the company, after the collapse of the Polly Peck Group. Following the acquisition, major changes were made to Vestel Electronics' internal structure.
The most important of these was the establishment of R&D units in both Manisa, Turkey and in Silicon Valley, USA. During these years, Vestel focused primarily on OEM manufacturing and product differentiation for lesser-known TV brands. During the Nineties, the company's colour TV sales increased a thousand fold, and its market share jumped to 13% of the European market.
The years from 1997 to 2006 were Vestel's most productive, as the company restructured itself essentially around R&D investments in order to produce technology, primarily for the European market. During this period, another R&D unit called Cabot-Izmir was set up in Izmir, to manufacture all the software needed for Vestel digital products. The company also opened its first production facility in Russia and began manufacturing under the Vestel brand in that country. In 2005, Vestel acquired a software and electronics company to support its ventures in the defence industries, and the company entered the notebook PC market through collaboration with Intel in 2006.
In 2008, with 10.4% market share in LCD TVs and eleven R&D units in several countries, Vestel is the fifthlargest TV manufacturer in Europe, and continues to be the leader at home, controlling 43% of the consumer electronics market.
As an OEM manufacturer, Vestel Electronics' design adventure began with its establishment in 1983, with a focus on product differentiation. The company manufactured its first 100% Turkish-made colour TV for the English market in 1988. In those years, design 64 was done at the R&D and Engineering Services group, and the company didn't establish its own design department until 2000. Like its technology strategy, the company continuously evolved its design strategy. Burak Altınordu, product design manager at Vestel Electronics, says that Vestel Electronics repositioned the design activities within its corporate structure in the early 2000s, emphasizing the strategic importance of industrial design as a key differentiator. A separate design group was established under the R&D department and began creating original products for both the domestic and export markets. During this period, the design group worked with a number of external design experts, including Italian designer Giuliano Galeazzi, Pinin Farina Design Team, and Turkish sign designers.
Twenty percent of all design activities were still being outsourced, with the in-house design group controlling and overseeing the process.
Mr. Altınordu emphasises that the design team's development can also be seen as the creation of a design culture within the company. The commitment of top management is a key factor in this sense. Although positioned under the R&D department, the design team presents its new product ideas directly to top management, which Mr. Altınordu believes helps shorten project cycles.
In speaking of the evolution of the design culture at the company, Mr.
Altınordu also highlights the importance of strategic business partnerships, especially with East Asian companies such as Sharp, JVC, Hitachi and Toshiba, which have had a major impact on learning how to position and conduct design activities in an electronics manufacturing company.
Today, with nine people, including four industrial designers, two technical designers, two design architects and one graphic designer, Vestel's design team runs new product development processes from start to finish. The team helps design four major product categories: electronic products (LCD, IP TV, remote control), digital products (laptop, PC, monitor, modem), communication (DVD, DVB, PVR, portable media player), and graphical interface platforms.
Vestel Electronics is the first Turkish member of ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design). The company had won seven awards since 2006, including Red Dot Design Award and the Good Design Award, which are two of the most prestigious design awards in the world.
The company considers it important to regularly attend trade shows (IFA, CES, CEBIT, and AUTOSHOW) and to collaborate with universities (Middle East Technical University, Izmir University of Economics, Anadolu University). It also organises its own national design competition: Golden Setsquare.
Vestel Electronics is a noteworthy case thanks to the evolution in how it uses and positions design within the organisation. The company, which successfully transformed the know- how it gained through strategic cooperations and collaborations into new products, is also remarkable for the way its use and positioning of design within the organisation has evolved. Thanks to its focus on export markets, it is starting to use design as a strategic tool. With the help of its collaboration with several major electronics manufacturers and the commitment of top management, beginning with product modifications, Vestel Electronics has gained the ability to design and manufacture its own products, and the knowledge of how to use design within the organisation.
The company's flexible decisionmaking capabilities, its competitive strategy oriented towards product ranges and short project cycles make it a favourite among its competitors. The company reinforces these strengths by continuously investing, especially in technologies to minimise costs and in product ranges, and research in niche markets.

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Vestel Electronics: Industrial Design Aslı Çetin Yıldırım [Factory] [diid 40|09] The Eighties, years of radical change in the Turkish economy and of the arrival of multinational companies in the Turkish manufacturing sector, mark one of Turkey's most important milestones. Vestel Electronics' story also began in 1983, with the establishment of the British firm,...

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How to use national pride to build a brand that’s integral to people’s lives

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How to use national pride to build a brand that’s integral to people’s lives

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The heart of the Vestel business is our factory. Based in Manisa near Istanbul, Turkey, it produces approximately 21% of Europe’s flatscreen TVs and a huge proportion of other household items such as washing machines and dishwashers.

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The heart of the Vestel business is our factory. Based in Manisa near Istanbul, Turkey, it produces approximately 21% of Europe's flatscreen TVs and a huge proportion of other household items such as washing machines and dishwashers.

Brands rarely talk about where and how their products are made but for us it's a critical part of our brand challenge for two key reasons. In our home market we have a saying: 'Turkish people can't build'. By putting our factory at the heart of our message, we are challenging that misconception, demonstrating our world-class facilities and products as well as showcasing our local roots. It is also saying we understand your needs better than anyone else.

We shoot our TV ads at our facility, explain our marketing strategy to the entire workforce and when we launched our sponsorship of cycling's Tour of Turkey, we even negotiated that the route should go through the middle of our production facility. This commitment to be production-first is part of our transition from a product-based company to a lifestyle brand, a process we started two years ago. It's critical to our success in our home market.

In Turkey, where we sell under our own brand name and not as in the UK where we operate as Servis and Electra, for example, we are looking to build a share of life approach. We want our consumers to see Vestel as partners throughout their daily lives. We want them to feel safe, comfortable and understand that Vestel is a brand that enables the lives they want to lead. We're doing this through a number of initiatives, including working with local councils to establish cycling routes where families can safely enjoy time together.

That style of communication is rooted in our new approach or moving away from product focus to consumer insight. This takes us beyond demographics and into a better understanding of consumer lifestyles. For example, our recent campaign for Father's Day was designed to promote our new Venus smartphone. It depicted calls by sons and daughters to fathers, which are then taken over by their mothers. Our communication was designed to highlight the emotion that fathers feel with the phone itself simply placed into the story.

Campaigns like this have helped us start our journey beyond a commodity brand. We are now regarded as "one of us" and an "emotional" brand. These are dramatic improvements on past perceptions of Vestel as simply a product producer.

Our brand purpose is about enabling consumers to help themselves. It is also to drive greater engagement. Our cycling efforts are a key part of that process and, ultimately, our ambition is to create a Vestel-sponsored professional cycling team, taking our brand to La Vuelta in Spain, the Giro in Italy and, ultimately, the Tour de France. This will provide us with the perfect base for the expansion of our core brand into other markets.

Such initiatives also fit firmly with our drive to be a respectful brand. We are transforming our approach from push (advertising) to pull (engagement). That's why our drive for enhanced consumer understanding is so critical. We know that we are on the start of our journey, one that our staff will be a key part of. They are our missionaries. That's why we explain our marketing approach to them all the time and make a statement about our plant and our factory.

We want to celebrate our pride at making world-class products in Turkey, our pride in our colleagues who design and build the products we sell but also our pride in becoming part of the lives of our consumers.

Follow the cause at: @WFAReconnect and @WFAmarketers

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How to use national pride to build a brand that's integral to people's lives

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The heart of the Vestel business is our factory. Based in Manisa near Istanbul, Turkey, it produces approximately 21% of Europe's flatscreen TVs and a huge proportion of other household items such as washing machines and dishwashers. Brands rarely talk about where and how their products are made but for us it's a critical part of our brand challenge for two key reasons.

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VESTEL's top competitors include Arcelik, Amica, KH Industries and Electrix.

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Training is Vital For the Marketing Team

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Training is Vital For the Marketing Team

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On March 23, Vestel's marketing management team for Emerging Markets a detailed product training to all sales executives, while on March 24 Turkish sales managers trained the participants in sales techniques.

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Vestel, Turkey's largest exporter of electronics and white goods, organized a two-day seminar for Vestel representatives from different countries for the first time in this region. Dealers from Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan gathered in Tbilisi on March 23 -24, to share their experiences.

On March 23, the company's marketing management team for Emerging Markets a detailed product training to all sales executives, while on March 24 Turkish sales managers trained the participants in sales techniques.

Particpants were greeted in Georgian by Eren Ataman, Vestel's Durable Products Marketing Co. He briefed the audience about Vestel's development plans.

Ataman expressed his hopes that these trainings would help to further improve the distribution network representative's productivity. The top executive reminded the trainees that they were not his guests but his business partners.

Volkan Oflaz, one of Vestel's representatives from Turkey, reviewed the company's data, underlying its paramount success "in a short period of time". As Vestel currently controls 21% of electronics market share in Europe, Oflaz stressed the company will continue to further develop its success.

Oflaz illustrated the specific production lines and their specifications, technical details, along with how to keep all this information in active memory to be able to inform customers fully when necessary.

The executive said that Vestel plans to produce 9 million television sets this year, a gigantic figure only 3-4 companies in the world will be able to keep up with. Since its establishment, Vestel has produced more than 100 million television sets.

Participants watched a short video about "Vestelcity" and its massive factories, where they could see the automatic production process and how synchronically the factories work. Vestel is one of the world's largest electronics and white goods company with $3.7 billion turnovers. The company accounts for 83% of television set produced in Turkey. The group is comprised of 24 companies, operating in manufacturing, technology development, marketing and distribution fields in the consumer electronics, IT, digital technologies, and household appliances, Currently, Vestel is working on a new 3D television set which can be watched without special glasses.

Vestel, together with its own subsidiary brands such as Techwood and Finlux, has a significant share in the European market of consumer electronics and home appliances, in particular TV sets. Vestel also has a subsidiary brand Vestfrost, which is popular in the Nordic countries.

Vestel entered the Georgian market in 2004.. Today it features 20 showroom and 60 sale pointsin all major cities: Tbilisi, Rustavi, Kutaisi, Batumi and Kobuleti. Four more showrooms are planned to open this year, plus a 1000 m2 concept showroom in Tbilisi.

Georgia Today

M.B

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vestel trains managers and consultants in tbilisi

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Vestel trains managers and consultants in Tbilisi | news| Georgian America

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Vestel, Turkey's largest exporter of electronics and white goods, organized a two-day seminar for Vestel representatives from different countries for the first time in this region. Dealers from Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan gathered in Tbilisi on March 23 -24, to share their experiences.