Marshall Marketing Manager Discusses New Products and Technologies

In this interview we conducted, Marshall Marketing Manager Pınar Adabağ answered our questions. Adabağ provided information about Marshall's products and technologies. [caption id="attachment_123602" align="aligncenter"] Pınar Adabağ[/caption]  

Could you tell our readers briefly about yourself, your education and professional background?

After completing my high school education at Tarsus American College, I continued my studies at METU studying Chemical Engineering. From my university years, I shaped my career plan around becoming a successful marketer with engineering skills. Following my university graduation, I enrolled in an MBA programme at State University of NY. While at university, I worked as an assistant in statistics and mathematics to further develop myself. After returning to Turkey, I worked on marketing projects for many international companies. After spending 17 years particularly in the personal care sector, captivated again by the magic of colours, I began working as Marketing Manager at Marshall in 2015. In 2015-2016, I obtained coaching certification from CTI.

Could you provide information about Marshall's founding process and the stages it has gone through to the present day? What is Marshall's current structure?

As Marshall, we continue to add colour to spaces and life with our slogan "Colour Your Life". Starting operations from 1998 under AkzoNobel, the world's largest paints and coatings company, Marshall adds AkzoNobel's global perspective to its 60-year strong heritage in the Turkish market. Marshall's products and services reach consumers throughout Turkey through its dealer network and sales points spread across the country. We continuously develop our product and colour range with an innovative approach and new technologies, and we continue to inspire our consumers with the products we develop and the trends we identify, offering different creative decoration suggestions. As an innovative leader in the paints sector, we develop innovative and solution-oriented products and continue our activities with an approach focused on meeting consumer expectations. Marshall Sil-Pak product was developed according to consumers' ideal paint definition as a result of these long-term efforts. By creating a film layer on walls, Sil-Pak prevents water-based stains from penetrating the wall, and with its water-repellent property, it creates a beading effect on liquids, allowing them to flow off without spreading. With its 'Non-Staining Technology', Sil-Pak offers effective, clean application for active spaces and minimises stains on wall paint. Marshall Antibacterial product, certified as a result of tests conducted by the Turkish Ministry of Health, provides 99% protection against bacteria thanks to the silver ions it contains, without causing any harm to human health. With this product that continuously maintains its antibacterial properties, Marshall provides a healthy and hygienic environment.

Which sectors does Marshall primarily serve, and what types of products and services does it provide?

As Marshall, I can say we maintain our presence in all sectors where paint is discussed, with the knowledge accumulation, experience of many years and the support of our international brand AkzoNobel. However, primarily we are engaged in intense work with the construction sector. To elaborate a bit more on the construction sector's use; our decorative paints, exterior and interior facade paints stand out. Outside the sector, generally our high value-added products such as antibacterial paint, easily cleanable paint and Sil-Pak are preferred by consumers. Additionally, our products aimed at both consumers and masters and project channels, our wall paints, wood and metal paints are also among our heavily consumed products. Regarding services, I would like to emphasise that as a brand we are constantly by our consumer's side, in continuous close contact with them. For example, decoration ideas we developed based on Courageous Earth, which we identified as colour of the year, our holistic beauty applications at home are just a click away for all our customers. On the other hand, thanks to our virtual paint application we created, our customers can virtually paint their homes with their phones, thus minimising the possibility of encountering an unpleasant surprise. The ustamburada.com website we implemented last year also stands out as our platform that brings together masters with professional competency certificates and consumers in need with experts in the field. Here too, we try to create added value not only for our consumers but also for our masters.

Can you tell us about your domestic and international sales activities? Which regions do you primarily supply with what types of products and services domestically and internationally?

As one of Turkey's leading paint brands, we have a service network throughout the country. Today it is possible to find our dealers in the remotest village as well as in the most central location of the city. Thanks to our extensive sales and dealer network, we can reach everyone. Internationally, we operate in line with our global brand AkzoNobel's strategy. In this context, I can say we increase our presence in our neighbouring geography with each passing day. While Northern Cyprus, Uzbekistan, Georgia and Iraq are prominent countries, generally speaking I can say we are strong in the MENA region and Turkic Republics.

What kind of work does Marshall do in the field of innovation? Do you have projects developed within the scope of university-industry collaboration, and if so, what are they?

As one of the sector's leading brands, innovation and research are always at the top of our agenda. In this context, as Marshall we constantly monitor innovations and conduct research to meet needs. We gather the results emerging from these needs and open the door to these innovations in our services as well. In this context, with our ustamburada.com platform we implemented, we aimed to bring together our masters and end users without any intermediary. The participation of our masters in the "ustamburada.com" system is based on voluntary basis, however they must be members of "Marshall clubcard" and hold a Professional Competency (MYK) certificate. Subsequently, masters who can meet the needs specified by end users submit their offers through the platform. The consumer can make their choice from the offers received and have their painting done. Furthermore, I would like to mention that the masters on our platform received training on customer relations by Kocaeli University Instructors. Additionally, with the advantage given by being a global company, we can say we experienced all processes day by day from the first day of the pandemic. As we knew in advance the difficulties experienced by masters worldwide, we reached out to our masters before the pandemic was fully felt in our country and made them feel we were always by their side. Even today, we do not compromise on close communication with our masters.

Could you provide information about Marshall's environmental policy and sustainability approach? What can you tell us about your work related to worker health and safety?

Sustainability is one of the focal points not only for us but also for our global brand. Since we operate in a grey area in terms of the sector, we place sustainability at the centre of everything we do. We know this is vital for the future success of our company, our community and our planet. To fulfil our commitment to doing more with fewer resources and creating more value from fewer resources, we strive to keep all the resources we use at the lowest possible level. We aim to make life more liveable, healthy and inspiring by working together with all our customers and partners. If we want to meet our customers' growing needs and expectations without compromising quality, we need to think of new ways. We strive to do our part in this direction. Worker health is of course another subject that appears at the top of our agenda. This is a company culture and we demonstrate the importance we attach to creating this culture by stopping all our operations for one full day each year, discussing the importance of Occupational Health and Safety and celebrating our commitment to it through various activities. Our aim is to reach zero accidents in our organisation and make our daily activities safer with each passing day.

What criteria are prioritised when Marshall develops investment plans? Does Marshall have investment plans for the upcoming periods, and if so, what are they?

As Marshall, investment is always a topic on our radar. At this point, while we do not have an active plan, we strive to evaluate opportunities that come our way.

How did your company fare in 2020 and during the COVID-19 pandemic process, how would you evaluate it?

The year 2020, which was difficult for the entire world, was also a challenging test for us. Particularly after the end of March, the pandemic that included our country tested all of us materially and spiritually. Thanks to the strong global network of our global brand AkzoNobel around the world, as Marshall we had the opportunity to follow all the stages the pandemic went through moment by moment and witness firsthand all the measures taken. Therefore, when the virus came to our country in March, we had all our plans ready. Thanks to this, we were able to complete the year largely at the point we targeted.

What are your predictions and expectations for 2021?

We still see the effects of COVID-19 inherited from 2020. However, from the first days of the year, the entire world has begun to respond to the ecosystem we call the new normal. If we narrow the issue to our country specifically, the construction sector, while not much, has made a fairly dynamic start compared to the previous year. People's confidence in the economy increased. While in the early days of the pandemic the mere mention of lockdowns shook our economy, today everyone has learned remote sales and profit-making without a physical space. Therefore, I see 2021 as a year in which we will apply what we have learned. While my expectations are not very high, I can say they are in the direction that 2021 will not fall short of 2020.