Brand & quality bring success in Russia
Posted by meb at February 27th, 2008
Companies looking to enter and increase their share in the Russian market, where Turkish businessmen have $5.5 billion in investments, have been advised to focus on branding and high quality standards.
Turgut Gür, the head of the Foreign Economic Relations Board’s (DEİK) Turkish-Russian Council subsidiary told the Anatolia news agency that some foreign companies had faced extortion in Russia prior to the year 2000. But he went on to say such practices have stopped because the state’s authority has been strengthened in recent years.
Saying that foreign businessmen who are interested in investing in Turkey are now more comfortable trading and doing business, Gür stressed that Turkish businessmen should not be afraid of doing business in Russia, either. Gür emphasized that Russia has a large economy that grew by 7.5 percent last year, adding: “There is a significant consumption culture in Russia. Turkish companies are taking advantage of this.”
Furthermore, Gür also noted that Turkish-Russian relations were getting better each year. He said Turkish companies should focus on high quality standards to increase their share in the Russian market. “There are shoes sold for $3,000 and purses sold for $7,000 in Russian stores. They pay attention to quality because they are a consumer society. Quality and branding are the very important for the Russian public. They buy trademark commodities regardless of their prices, spending all they have on them. Thus, Turkish companies may market many products there, but we have to create quality brands,” Gür added. There are 144 Turkish contractor companies operating in Russia along with 972 Turkish projects there, according to Gür. “Two-thirds of these projects have already been completed. The Turkish contractor sector is a brand in Russia,” he said.
source: Today’s Zaman
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