18 June 2019

Interview "Stronger perception as an international distributor"

The Hamburg distributor Nordmann, Rassmann, has a new brand image in the course of the reorientation and a stronger internationalisation and will be active as Nordmann in the market in the future. Managing Director Dr. Gerd Bergmann explains the background and talks about the competitive situation.

What are the reasons for the new brand image?

The new brand is part of our strategy. First of all, we defined a new and sharpened strategic orientation and decided to change the brand name to Nordmann within this framework. Our strategy includes, among other things, the attributes: Visible, International and Partnership (VIP). The new name is largely due to the “Visible” and “International” brands. When we defined our strategy, it included European coverage. To achieve this, we have made a number of acquisitions since 2013. These include subsidiaries in Italy, France, Portugal, U.K. and Spain. We have also established our own subsidiary in Turkey. We now operate in all major regions of Europe. At the same time, we expanded our global presence with the acquisition of the Melrob Group at the end of 2017 and now cover the USA, Japan, Singapore, India and Korea in addition to Europe. We have 26 subsidiaries in 23 countries. Together with this process and the acquisitions, we wanted to modernise the company and increase its profile as an international distributor in the market. That is why we opted for the uniform Nordmann brand.

Dr. Gerd Bergmann, Managing Director at Nordmann

How do you assess the competitive situation in the distribution market?

Competition is steadily increasing. The market continues to be little consolidated and very many distribution companies cover it well. About 30-35 companies cover more than 80 % of the distribution business in Europe. Of these, about five are large companies and about ten are medium-sized companies, to which we also belong. The remaining 20% of the market is estimated to be supplied by a three-digit
number of enterprises. Based on this structure, we believe that the consolidation will continue.
As a distributor, we have to justify our role in the market to our business partners. It is important to always be present with customers and to create added value for our suppliers with industry knowledge. This is also the basis for our new external slogan “Knowledge in action”. In Western Europe, the market is quite saturated. Seldom do suppliers decide to change their distribution strategy. When the time comes, we have to be there.

From European Coatings Journal 06 - 2019 / www.european-coatings.com