"We must take a sharper position"
Cedric Bartelt, Marketing Director at TWK, explains why a sensor manufacturer needs corporate values and a brand core
Nowadays it is not enough to offer only good products. Service quality also plays an important role. If you want to be successful in the long term, you have to develop a brand with defined values - and live these values credibly. TWK goes this way. Cedric Bartelt, the company's marketing manager, talks to us about the details.
TWK started to give itself a new market and brand image about two and a half years ago. What were the main reasons for this?
Cedric Bartelt: The main reasons were the increasing competitive pressure and the great homogeneity of suppliers in our target markets from the customer's point of view. In other words, we want and need to position ourselves more sharply and differentiate ourselves from the competition - on the basis of our brand values and product range. That is why, after a comprehensive analysis, we have defined our corporate identity and derived a new positioning from it, which of course builds on the history of TWK and the values we have up to now.
Heretical question: Are factors such as brand identity in the capital goods industry really as relevant as marketing experts think? Isn't it (almost) only the hard facts that count, i.e. the characteristics of the products and of course the price?
Cedric Bartelt: Of course, hard facts such as product specifications and prices are key factors for a purchase decision - in the B2B sector even more so than in the consumer goods market. But the trend in the B2B business is also towards customers not only considering these hard facts, but also soft factors such as service quality, advisory skills, degree of individualisation and, of course, the corporate values of the supplier. A very simple example: Hardly any company today can do without guidelines on environmental protection or sustainability, and many customers take a very close look at this document, which ultimately lays down unacceptable values.
"Supreme sensoring" is your claim. What do you offer that your competitors do not? What makes the characteristic "supreme"?
Cedric Bartelt: In short: We put customer benefit at the centre of all our activities. Our business processes are based on partnership and proximity to our customers. This can be seen in the quality of service and the degree of individualisation of our products. This is exactly what "Supreme Sensoring" means to us.
In the course of the reorientation of your market presence you have corporate values defined. How do you implement them in practice? And how do you take the employees along this path?
Cedric Bartelt: First of all, it is important to know the way. Then you have to actively involve all employees in the change process. That is work in progress, so to speak. It is not about defining measures and then implementing them step by step. It is very important to have a personal exchange with employees at eye level - it leads to constructive feedback and a reflective attitude in the practical implementation of the company values.
You have set up your repositioning as a process for four years, under the term: "Becoming supreme". This process has started in 2018. What have you achieved now - in the second half?
Cedric Bartelt: We have not only defined the brand values and repositioned ourselves here, but - derived from this new corporate identity - we have given ourselves a new corporate design. This applies to all instruments of market communication - from the website, trade fair stand and print ads to the image brochure. So the foundation has been laid. We are now in the process of analysing relevant markets and customer groups in greater depth - with the aim of working on existing and new market niches in an even more structured manner in the future.
The central question from the customer's point of view is probably: What do customers notice about the fact that you have defined new corporate values?
Cedric Bartelt: The directly visible differences - new homepage, new trade fair stand, new brochures, etc. - have led to an aha effect because we now present ourselves clearly differentiated in the market. The deeper differences, i.e. the even stronger focus on the wishes and requirements of the markets and users, will be noticed by customers when working with TWK, because we live these new values throughout the company.
Two questions in light of current events: How did your business and internal processes develop during the pandemic? What has changed - and how did you react to it?
Cedric Bartelt: We have adapted to the new requirements in a very short time and have become digital very quickly. Our IT department has done a great job of preparing the company for the still ongoing home office era. It was a happy coincidence that we opened our international online shop for spare parts at the beginning of the Corona pandemic, which went better than we expected. Now we are working on further expanding the functions of the shop and the homepage. For example, in the coming weeks we will launch a function that will make it possible to configure a sensor independently down to the smallest detail. Mass customisation is the keyword here. In short: We are becoming more digital. The pandemic is accelerating this process.
Some components of market communication (in particular trade fairs and field service visits) were only possible to a limited extent for months. How has your communication changed since March 2020?
Cedric Bartelt: The Corona pandemic has hit the trade fair industry particularly hard. For many years we have regularly exhibited at international trade fairs such as Hannover Messe, Sensor+Test and SPS IPC Drives. However, as part of the reorganisation of the communications mix, we decided as early as 2019 not to attend any trade fairs as exhibitors in 2020. How we will position ourselves here next year remains to be seen and will also depend on the development of the pandemic. From a marketing point of view, this is an exciting question: Is it possible to attract new customers with "onboard resources" alone, i.e. without multipliers such as trade fairs and the trade press or online media? I think not. We are still dependent on information brokers, which - see trade press - are also increasingly digitalised.
Finally, let us look ahead: what are the next steps on the way to manufacturer of "supreme sensor systems"?
Cedric Bartelt: We are currently working on a new content strategy and are taking a lot of time for an in-depth analysis of markets and customers. In 2021 we will develop a new communication mix on this basis. Here too, the aim is to manifest the reputation of the TWK brand and its clear positioning in the market.