The period we are going through now is very interesting: the familiar system of product creation, trade and communications has become a thing of the past, and it is necessary to rebuild the assortment, establish new logistics chains, and forge new relationships with suppliers of both finished products and raw materials.
The situation that arose in 2022 is partly similar to 2014, when many progressive technologies and products appeared. With a developed base of manufacturers and suppliers we had to choose from a multitude of products those that were most in demand and most attractive in price for customers. Given the existing product offering, we needed to expand the product matrix with only minor modifications.
Today’s situation differs in that many PPE manufacturers have stopped operating in the Russian market. We have to recreate our assortment, finding new products and building a new product portfolio to provide customers with a modern offering that meets their needs.
The global market offers a fairly broad selection based on different technological principles. Historically, the Russian market relied on single technological solutions supported by a competent, stable system of marketing promotion. Today marketing promotion is ceasing to be the main driving force, which allows the market to try new technological solutions and products. Of course, over time our consumer will decide which product suits them best. But this will take two to three years.
Nowadays people have to detach from old postulates/brands: products of certain trademarks are simply physically impossible to obtain today. At the same time, consumers’ mental ties to departed brands disappear, since a person’s attachment to a brand is built primarily on personal impressions from interacting with it. Such a connection is formed over years, and it can be destroyed very quickly and easily.
Now almost all mental attachments have been destroyed. Manufacturers that will replace the departed ones will have to form positive images of new brands and create new mental associations with them. This is a natural evolution, but at the same time a large-scale, complex task. We have the necessary knowledge and production capabilities for this, we understand the technologies, know how to build communications with the market and convey to the consumer the benefits that a given product provides.
At this point we have come to the conclusion that products from Russian manufacturers will make up the bulk of Vostok-Service's assortment portfolio; these manufacturers have made significant progress in producing truly high-quality goods that meet our customers' preferences. In terms of design, quality, material properties and the business processes behind their production, Russian manufacturers' products have become considerably closer to European standards.
Gradually we are also building relationships with companies from the Asian market. We have experience working with them and understand what they can offer. However, it should be noted that by shifting our focus toward Asia (still a relatively unfamiliar market for a Russian supplier), we must study a much larger volume of information in the same unit of time than before, in order to quickly form the assortment we will offer our customers.
The different approaches to doing business by European and Asian companies create certain challenges, but in time we will learn the specifics of the Asian business model and adapt to those processes.
Creating a mass commercial product is a complex, labor-intensive and lengthy process. But we have proven experience: the market is well familiar with our clothing collections SPEC, URAN, MONTBLANC and others. For many years the ZEUS-3 welder suit line has remained the benchmark for protective clothing for welders in terms of quality and protective properties. This is because our specialists know modern technologies well and understand what properties a product should have, down to the tactile sensations it should evoke in the user.
An important asset in forming the new product offering is Vostok-Service's own production base. To be flexible and respond promptly to customer requests, our company has long and steadily developed the production of clothing, footwear and personal protective equipment. Having adopted a strategy to develop the Russian production base several years ago, today we have a respectable range of our own products and plans to expand the lines.
A significant advantage in our work is that our team has a clear understanding of what we are looking for, by what criteria we will evaluate new items, and what may be of interest to the consumer here and now. The formation of the new assortment portfolio is handled by professional staff, so there is confidence that this work will be completed in the near future.
Today's situation requires a high degree of involvement and encourages the rapid search for acceptable solutions. This gives us unique opportunities for professional and intellectual development that we had not even imagined before.