Interview

Well-established Turkish Brands Contribute to Turkey’s Reputation

Written by TR Dergisi

We held an interview with Yüzyıllık Markalar (Centennial Brands) Foundation Chairman of the Board Engin Tuncer about Turkish brands which are part of our culture with their centuries of experiences, and branding.

What is the founding purpose of Yüzyıllık Markalar Foundation?

As you know, the concept of “brand value” is much widely discussed in the recent period. Yüzyıllık Markalar Foundation was basically founded in order to hand down intangible commercial and historical brands of Turkey which are cultural heritages, to future generations.

We must bring the cultural, historical, sociological and commercial values accumulated by centuries-old brands to the future, and hand these down to future generations by preserving and of course improving them, this is our goal. The fields of these brands and their centuries of experience are important, we desire more research to be conducted, and we especially think that the issue of contributing to our country’s reputation, should be taken into consideration.

Can you explain the projects your foundation carries out?

Yüzyıllık Markalar Foundation organizes activities such as trainings, seminars, informative meetings for member brands. At the same time, our foundation makes efforts to improve the recognition of our organization. We are in touch with the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology, Turkish Patent and Trademark Authority, Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Cultural Promotion Offices and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We develop projects through collaborating with such institutions.

We have developed a platform where we collect information about stories and archives of all Turkish brands with contributions of Istanbul Development Agency (İSTKA): Century-old Stories www.yuzyillikhikayeler.com. This platform is on web and we also have a book. Particularly, the archive section on the platform is of great importance.

We have an exhibition project for the coming year, we have been preparing for a long time. We also hold talks with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism for this project.

Two important research projects are carried out during summer months. These projects are researches on brands that have existed in Turkey for more than a hundred years and the factors behind the success of centennial brands.

Why do you think it is important to be a centennial brand?

Branding requires time and depth. We must defy time and improve ourselves patiently. Balance is required for this issue. It is not easy to ensure; if you have, it means you have a lot of experience which should be benefited. One of the primary outcomes of this should be contributing to Turkish brand. As you know, well-established and successful Turkish brands at home and abroad, contribute to Turkey’s image and create value for Turkey.

Turkey is at which stage of branding when you compare to the world in your opinion?

Every region, every culture has different dynamics. Answer to this question may slightly vary depending on your perspective. As for stages, we have a very dynamic and young population, and I strongly believe that we will pass the stages in which we have fallen behind or faced difficulty. Progress never ends, so we need to work harder to improve ourselves and our country.

Can you tell us about the goals of your Foundation?

Our primary goals are to reach more people, to become a brand, to draw attention to importance of subjects as branding, strategy, reputation. Creating awareness on historical Turkish cultural assets, and their brand value is also important. Our sole goal is to protect, improve and bring our brands to the future which improve Turkey’s reputation and have become parts of our culture with their centuries of experiences.

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TR Dergisi

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