| Northampton-based Bambino
Mio is a specialist producer of cotton nappies and associated products. Founded
in 1996 by Guy Schanschieff, the company has grown quickly and has a current (2004)
turnover of £3m; the company plans to increase this to £10m by 2006,
when around half of its sales are expected to be from countries outside the United
Kingdom. "Doing business in languages other than
English is an essential part of our drive to increase our sales overseas,"
says the company's MD, Guy Schanschieff. "The growth in our business between
2004 and 2006 will come in large part from sales to continental Europe, and we
simply can't expect consumers there to purchase our products unless we communicate
with them, and our distributors, in their own language." This
philosophy underpins all the company's overseas trading. The extensive Bambino
Mio website is accessible in a staggering option of fifteen languages. The translations
were carried out by a professional translation agency in Cambridge in consultation
with the company's overseas distributors. "The cost was significant,"
says Guy Schanschieff, "but we are serious about establishing ourselves in
these countries and believe that the sales we will generate will more than justify
the cost." In addition to the website, all the firm's literature and packaging,
as well as its promotional video, is produced in the local language of the target
market. Currently (2004), export sales represent just under
10% of the company's sales; France, Portugal and Belgium are the main markets.
Entry into other countries has been the result of clear strategic planning and
meticulous recruitment of overseas distributors through trade fairs and other
contacts. The company's willingness to produce web-based and other materials in
local languages has led to enthusiastic partnerships with agents throughout the
EU.
The company has recruited a number of employees with language skills
to support the drive to increase export sales. In 2003, it hired two overseas
students, Antoinette and Alex, from Switzerland, who worked on targeting potential
distributors before a major European trade fair. Like many of their compatriots,
both are multilingual, speaking Italian, French, German and English: their ability
to converse in all these languages means that they have succeeded in establishing
distributors in a dozen countries.
Bambino Mio was
a finalist in the 2003 East Midlands Languages for Export awards: it is clearly
a prime example of how languages, as part of a systematic and committed export
strategy, can bring benefits in terms of increased sales. -
back Source:
RLN East Midlands |
