Before the open market economy of the 90s
almost no one in Poland had any opportunity to
learn about marketing. It was widely believed
that only companies with bad products
advertised; with nothing in the stores, anything
good would immediately sell. Advertising told
people that your company was selling junk.
The acceptance of advertising was slow at first, but
eventually caught on. And then came the
Internet. Many companies around the world are still
trying to figure out how to exploit the Internet and
yet a small Polish company manufacturing fishing
bait has used it very effectively.
Picture the situation for them in 1990: For years
they had been part of a state controlled monopoly
with state distribution; then one day they were a
private company thrown to the lions of competition.
They had lost their distribution network and did not
even know how to contact the customers. Many of
their former customers thought they were out of
business.
They knew they needed help but believed that they
had good, competitive products. They faced both
stiff competition from China and bankruptcy.
Despite the odds against them the management
decided to go for broke.
It so happened that the new boss bought a computer
for his son. And his son introduced his father to the
Internet. And there they found a firm of Internet
consultants.
The company were advised that the use of the
Internet had to be part of their overall marketing
plan and not an end in itself. It could not do
everything. But it could make their telephone ring
and expand their reach. Because of the cost
considerations they wanted to put up a site in Polish
only. So they made a very simple site with a few
pictures of products and a little information about
the firm. As no sporting goods distributor worth
his salt would order directly on the Internet without
knowing his supplier, the company just wanted the
right people to visit it and to be enticed into
establishing an off line relationship.
The firm visits many trade shows and given their
financial condition brochure costs were prohibitive.
So brochures were reduced in size and emphasised
that people should visit the web site. And to pick
up extra traffic their e-mail and web site addresses
were posted everywhere and on everything,
including their cars.
The company reported that within 6 months profits
increased 50%. "Not all of this is directly due to
the Internet, but we are extremely happy with the
results and have renewed our advertising for
another year," says the managing director with a
knowing smile. "In fact, we have made very
profitable export contacts directly through our
Internet advertising. At first we simply put our
Polish-language catalogue on the Internet. Even so,
we received orders from importers in Sweden and
the United States, all of whom happen to be Poles
living abroad. We were also invited to a major
German trade show because of a contact made
through our Internet Page. We now exhibit our
catalogue in English as well and plan for an even
bigger response."
Management is now convinced that "just having
a site on the Internet enhances the prestige of our
company. When we, visit trade shows, especially
in Western Europe, the other exhibitors and
potential customers are impressed by how
advanced we are. They are surprised that a small
Polish company is using the Internet so
effectively. Just being able to tell them to look at
our page for the latest products and news is a big
plus for us."
The company is profitable and doing well. They
have moved from the brink of bankruptcy to
profitability using the Internet. They did not use
new business techniques. They simply used the
Internet as a medium to disseminate information
and properly publicised their site's address.
Visit their site at www.polsping.com.pl
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