Turkey:  A Business Travelogue
The doom and gloom of the UK seems a far cry from the positive attitude of Turkey.  Even with grey skies the optimism of delegates at this years International Marketing Conference was in direct contrast to the UK.  1500 delegates attended eager to learn about the new opportunities to grow.  To get that number attending a similar conference in the UK is unheard of.  Have we lost our enthusiasm or are we too tied to our desks to look ahead any more?

The economy in Turkey has been growing well above EU rates for several years.  When commentators focus on declining stock markets the picture seems bleak with a 30% fall in the ISE index in dollar term since the start of the year compared to 15% fall in the FTSE  Euro100 (the picture is better in local currency terms with only a16% fall). However if analysis is on Turkish GDP growth is up 7.5 %  on 2011 (Economist 10/12/2011) and 8.8 % in the last reported quarter,  compared to 1.6%  and 1.4%  respectively in the EU.  Admittedly  Turkey still has some way to go to catch up on efficiencies. I was one of the speakers at the Conference and employing 3 people  full time to do nothing other than make the coffee and tea just for the speakers is overmanning!   However it  keeps the unemployment rate to a manageable 9.2%. 

Turkey is a secular society  and as such accommodates its religious and consumerist side seemingly well.  They are innovative, friendly and passionate about football.  The İstiklal Cadessi  is a shoppers paradise  for locals and tourists. But it is not just imported brands that thrive, there is local innovation.  It is years since I have seen a real innovation in the good old toaster but look at the immage Rather than popping up and depositing crumbs everywhere,  this design elegantly slides the bread in and out. It won a European Consumer Choice Award http://www.europeanconsumerschoice.org/house/arzum/ .

This product comes from the house of Arzum:  a family run business with its origins in the early fifties with a partnership with Krups,  it is now in the hands of the third generation and focuses on small household appliances.  Innovation is part of the success of the company.  Alongside the toaster is a Steam Iron with a lifetime guarantee and a silent vacuum cleaner.  The  company now exports to Germany.   A Turkish Mittlestand 

 in the making ? 

The Turkish film industry is also booming.  Turkish Soap Operas are in high demand all over the world not just the Middle East.  When one  overseas TV company considering  buying a series asked how many mosques were in the programmes the answer was none - revealing a very secular society.   The plots of these soaps are about modern people, their jobs, relationships, sex and aspirations.  In no other country  have I gone into a mosque and been handed a leaflet that has on the front cover “ Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.)”! How is that for a new approach?

Watch this space