Faber-Castell invests in toys
Valor Econômico
A sense of familiarity takes over those who enter the meeting room of the Faber-Castell, a German company with 250 years of existence and one of the most traditional ones in the world in the área of office supplies. On the walls of the space where dozens of colored pencils and boxes of ballpoint pens are spread, used by one out of three adults who were in school in recent decades - the company has little more than 30% of the segment in Brazil. This control of the market, which should take companies to a comfortable position, had the opposite effect in the Brazilian branch. Faber-Castell Brazil, the biggest subsidiary of the German group in the world, wants to sell more than pens and pencils for children and adolescents.The command of the company has worked on a plan to expand the brand and, with that, reducing the dependence of the writing area, which exceeds 80% of the sales. This project has evolved in the last three years, but this month a cycle was closed within the company. The first online educational toy brand, for children between one and three years old, was launched. This way, Faber-Castell starts offering lines that serve from children to adult audiences.
Within this context of seeking new markets, some decisions were made. The company gave up working in the computer segment last year, and with that, abandoned the manufacture of items such as cartridges and CDs to recording - after five years in the industry. With that, it made room to plan new strategies, like the current production of educational toys, named by the company as "Creative kits". It is also an attempt to broaden the group cash here. In the fiscal year ended in March, the company grew 7% in Brazil and the forecast is of an increase of 8% in 2010. The revenue reached R$ 408 million (US$ 207 million) in the last year - since 2006 the company grew 20%, as found out by Valor Econômico.
This process of extension of lines, however, requires caution. "There is an attempt to extend the emotional attributes of the brand to other lines", says Marcos Machado, managing partner of Top Brands. "The main question is: in a new category, that tradition will make a difference for the company"? While the results do not appear in the new area, the company, secretly, is preparing for a celebration. This year, Faber-Castell completes 80 years in Brazil. The company will launch a limited edition of some classics, like the box of crayons in 36 colors. The sale only starts to be made in early 2010.