Focus on the category

A creative partnership can generate a unique category management model that makes four individual companies into one category captain. In Norway four suppliers of painting and cleaning tools, sandpaper, respirators and tapes are working together to demonstrate how such a scheme can function. Norway is a small country with fewer than five million inhabitants. It boasts a high standard of living, as well as a great number of DIYers who contribute to an average annual per capita spend of NKr 23 600 (€ 3 000) on home improvements. The DIY business has experienced increased turnover during the last few years. This high turnover is due to several factors. To start with, Norway is a high-cost country. Next, most Norwegians buy their first home at a young age, unlike in other countries. And finally, there is a marked interest in design in all the Nordic countries. Having said that, a large part of the sales increase is also a result of directing consumers towards high-end products. This can be done because the population have a strong interest in interior design and so in the quality of the end result as well, which they see as an investment. “We have realized that we do not just sell tools; we also sell smart solutions for home improvements,” says Helge Vangen, director of Jordan DIY in Norway. “I don’t want to sound clichéd, but this way of thinking creates a new and beneficial approach to our business. For Jordan and Tesa, this has led to a partnership of brand-name producers that complement each other.” Despite being the dominant tape producer in Europe, until recently Tesa was a small, unknown company in Norway. “An opportunity presented itself, when we were able to play a part in a broader cooperation with the other quality products. Jordan dominates the market with its painting and cleaning tools. By entering into a partnership with Jordan, Tesa became part of a team, which by 2011 will be category captain in the paint department of all the DIY chains within the Norwegian market,” says Nina Gangnes, manager of Tesa Norway. Having started the cooperation with Jordan in 1997, Tesa has grown from being a small, virtually unknown presence to become the leading tape supplier to the DIY segment in Norway. The marriage reached its full potential when Mirka sanding paper and Moldex respirators were added to Jordan and Tesa. For retailers, this means that they can practically get all the products they need for the preparation, maintenance and application of paint…