Heading towards a brand name

She is someone who definitely knows how to polarize people, this “naturally” blonde Daniela Katzenberger. Nevertheless, or perhaps just because of that, Hilden-based Wenko puts its money on the saucy princess with the astringent charm as its corporate endorsement and has done well out of it. “The feedback from the trade has been phenomenal,” says Niklas Köllner, international sales director. Currently available from the company, for example, is a range of 14 bathroom accessories in white featuring the Katzenberger logo, as well as Katzenberger toilet seats. Talking about toilet seats: just this last February saw Wenko rejoicing at being awarded Dähne Verlag’s “Top new product of the year 2011/2012” marketing prize for the Ottana toilet seat, with automatic lowering mechanism and “Fix-Clip” installation system. Altogether the company from Hilden is involved in four product fields: bathroom, household, kitchen and laundry. New introductions include shower curtains with anti-mildew effect, plus bathroom accessories in a wide variety of shapes and colours. These days Wenko also offers numerous new products suitable for no drill installation, including a toilet seat with adhesive fixing. The Wenko System Shop is yet another new launch. This patented system consists of modular units designed to satisfy through great flexibility. Altogether the Wenko assortment encompasses some 4 000 pro­ducts, which are all on display in the firm’s 800 m² showroom in Hilden. These products are marketed by both over-the-counter and mail-order methods. The proportion of sales through DIY stores amounts to 40 per cent, and even as much as 55 per cent seen internationally. For quite some time now Wenko has put more emphasis on communicating not only the quality of the products, which is already monitored in Asia, but also their sustainability. The company now has membership of the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) and of the BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative), which keep a check on social and environmental standards such as on-the-job safety and child labour. These days Wenko products are available in more than 60 countries all over the world. The proportion of sales going to export is around 45 per cent and the trend is upward. The image of the wholesaler is a stage that Wenko feels it has now outgrown. The company not only employs its own designers to create new products but also development engineers to make it possible to fulfil the brand’s high innovative requirements…