Ciret Ltd is part of the Storch-Ciret Group, Europe’s number one painting and decorating tool manufacturer. For the first time since Ciret and Storch merged in 2011 the group arranged a summit for all marketing teams from across Europe to get together and share their experiences and goals.
The marketing summit took place on the 5th and 6th of February at the Storch-Ciret Group headquarters in the beautiful small city of Wuppertal in western Germany. I got the chance as the digital & marketing assistant to represent our UK team and meet my counterparts from several different countries including Spain, Italy, France, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Russia and of course Germany. Operating in 17 countries with over 1,400 employees, the Storch-Ciret Group is recognised as experts in painting tools across the whole of Europe.
The Summit
After the initial meet and greet on Wednesday afternoon, we got straight into sharing information on our current situation as well as our marketing aims for 2020. Every representative explained how they go about marketing in their countries, what kinds of marketing tools they use and what the biggest challenges are. This part highlighted very clearly that our customers, business models and marketing strategies have similarities but are implemented and executed differently.
Gaining insights into other markets, customers and seeing how individual companies interact with consumers was not only informative but also inspiring for going forward. By sharing our experiences and goals we all managed to take away new ideas and solutions for the future. As we all manufacture and supply painting and decorating tools, no matter what the brand – Ciret, Storch, Colorexpert or ROTA!, kana, masq & prep – we all have the same mission.
“Our aim is to support contractors and DIY with quality products and solutions to make their projects a success – now and in the future.”
A Success
The 2020 Marketing summit was a big success and will most definitely become a staple in the yearly events calendar. Meeting colleagues from other countries was a great experience on both a business and personal level. It’s good to actually know the person you might be speaking with via emails or on the phone.
I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who thoroughly enjoyed the two-day event in Wuppertal and I’m already looking forward to next year’s marketing summit. Where will it be held next year? Russia, Latvia or the UK? – I would suggest sunny Spain :D