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TRADITIONAL ROMANIAN BRANDS: Arctic [Agerpres, Bucharest, Romania :: ]
[April 17, 2014]

TRADITIONAL ROMANIAN BRANDS: Arctic [Agerpres, Bucharest, Romania :: ]


(Agerpres (Romania) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) April 17--BUCHAREST -- Arctic is one of the best-known Romanian brands that has managed to top the preferences of Romanian consumers for more than 45 years, successfully combining special quality and high reliability in the home appliances it produces. A well-designed marketing strategy and appropriate investments have led to the rebirth of Arctic into a successful brand that in known internationally as well.



The Arctic company was established in 1968, at Gaesti, the southern Dambovita County, with the first refrigerators manufactured in 1970 under a licence of the French company Thomson Houston. Two years later, in 1972, Arctic conducted its first exports to France, while in the 1980s, over 85 per cent of its output was export bound.

In 1994, Arctic became a party to the Montreal Protocol, becoming the first Eastern-European home appliance maker to discard the use of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) in its products.


In 1997, the company turned private and was listed with the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB). The majority stake in it was taken over by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Groupe Societe Generale, and the company embarked on a wide-ranging programme of upgrading and retooling on a total investment of 30 million US dollars.

In 2002, Arctic was bought by the Arcelik Group, Turkey's biggest privately-owned industrial corporations that produces and delivers worldwide small and major home appliances and electronics components. Market research back then indicated that Romanians would look at brands and labels before considering buying things. The name Arctic was still associated with the communist era and the brand was seen as 'a good ole one.' Moreover, the range of products would comprise refrigerators only. Given the context, Turkey's Arcelik started off an aggressive image campaign while also deciding to enlarge the range of products to make Arctic a competitive brand.

The first stage of the process started in 2003, when the product portfolio was enlarged to include new products such as washing machines, gas stoves and vacuum cleaners.

In 2004, significant investment was started into new technology as well as the implementation of modern production management systems, such as Total Productive Maintenance and Six Sigma. In the same year, Arctic released a range of TV sets, thus entering the market for consumer electronics.

In 2006, the company opened a production line for horizontal freezers for the domestic and foreign markets. With a production capacity of 400,000 units a year and an investment of 5 million euros, this is Arcelik's only production line for horizontal freezers.

In 2002-2005, the Arcelik Group invested more than 35 million euros in the factory at Gaesti, thus tripling the factory's production capacity, exports and business turnover. In 2006, 10.3 million euros more were invested and the company's biggest logistics centre was opened.

Arctic is among Romania's 100 largest companies and it is an undisputed leader on the domestic market for home appliances, with a market share of nearly 35 per cent. Arcelik's brands -- Arctic and Beko -- are holding together a market share of nearly 50 per cent for refrigerators, nearly 34 per cent for washing machines, some 33 per cent for gas stoves and nearly 18 per cent for embeddable products.

The success of Arctic's home appliances is the result of excellent value for money, a full range of products with modern design and features, three-year warranties and quality service. On the other hand, the Beko-branded products, released just years ago in Romania, are for consumers interested in clever technological solutions. Beko is generating 25 per cent of Arcelik's sales in Romania.

Investment in the services segment was one of the main strategic development guidelines followed by Arcelik in relation to Arctic. In order to better meet the expectations of final users, a significant share of the investment was allocated for the development of the service network and the network of related services.

Arctic has its own network of service shops nationwide providing warranty and post-warranty technical support as well as spare parts and consumables for the entire life of products.

Arctic also set up a Call Center Expert Line service, which advises consumers about the Arctic products and the efficient use and maintenance of the already purchased home appliances.

The Arcelik Group, Arctic's parent company, is Europe's third largest player on the market for home appliances. Operating in production, sale, pre and post-sale services for buyers of durables, Arcelik A.S. was established in 1955. Arcelik is one of the renowned companies of Turkey's biggest privately-run holding, the Koç Group, operating in four industrial sectors -- energy, automotive, durables and financial services.

The company has nearly 19,000 employees and 11 production facilities in Turkey, Romania, Russia and China, as well as local representation offices in 18 countries. The Arcelik portfolio of brands comprises Arcelik, Beko, Grundig, Altus, Blomberg, Elektra Bregenz, Arctic, Leisure, Flavel and Arstil.

As much as 80 per cent of the Gaesti output of refrigerators is exported to 59 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia, with Turkey, Spain, Poland, Italy, Germany, the UK and France being the main destinations.

In October 2013, Arctic Gaesti commissioned a new production line on an investment of 24 million euros, that turned it into Europe's largest factory for the manufacturing of refrigerators, for a total capacity of 2.5 million units a year. Revenue has increased five times since its takeover by Arcelik, to 272 de million euros, while export revenue has increased nine times.

Arctic's success is based on the professionalism and dedication of its 2,500 employees. Over the last years, Arctic has focused on the implementation of modern human resources management systems, performance assessment systems, as well as employee motivation and development systems.

___ (c)2014 Agerpres, Bucharest, Romania Visit Agerpres, Bucharest, Romania at www1.agerpres.ro/english Distributed by MCT Information Services

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