Tbilisi. Our special correspondent Alexey Nevsky. Today, within the framework of KNAUF CIS press tour, a group of Russian and Belarussian reporters presenting construction-related media visited KNAUF Marketing branch in Tbilisi.
At one of the service centers in Tbilisi, the head of Marketing Department, Georgi Dzhaparidze, revealed the data on company’s operation in Georgia.
In particular, he told that annually three square meters of a plasterboard per Georgia’s resident (ref: Georgian population amounts to about 4 million people) are produced and realized in the country. At the same time, the German company accounts for 65% of the market for this type of product. Out of the overall sales volume of plasterboard, 1% is a board 9,5 mm thick, whereas 99% are 12,5 mm in thickness.
Another situation is established in Georgia on the market of dry mixes. Due to proximity of Turkish manufacturers, which engage in predatory pricing (30% - 40% lower than those of KNAUF products), positions of the German brand are not so impressive, however, still account for 28% of all sold dry mixes.
Answering the question of our correspondent about how the company manages to maintain such a high sale rate under these conditions, Mr Dzhaparidze said that it was correctly elaborated marketing policy that gained traction. Local producers increasingly prefer complex solutions, when purchasing construction mixes, what the competitors are unable to offer. The local branch of KNAUF plans also to intensify the development of online sales, stimulation measures for those who chose complex solutions.
Sales Director, Natalia Chichinadze, told reporters on the company’s education programs in Georgia. In particular, she narrated about cooperation with universities and colleges on students’ training in the field of the usage of the company’s products in construction.
Natalia Chichinadze marked with regret that in Georgia women largely are not involved in construction activity. “One won’t even see a painter here,” she noted. Reporters continued conversation at one of the construction sites of Tbilisi.
As a reference:
KNAUF products emerged in Georgia in 1998. In 2006, KNAUF Marketing Tbilisi company was opened, in 2008, it acquired a plant producing plasterboards in Tbilisi.
