GÜLPERİ ODABAŞ
“Beyond the colors” is not only brand motto of San Deco. The brand shines at more than 40 countries in 4 continents.
Offering many different projects in interior design or in the construction industry in general, San Deco focuses mainly on textured effect paints and coatings. The company addresses to high-end architectural paint projects. We made an exclusive interview with San Deco that recently took its part in Istanbul Airport project with its decorative effect paint products. Full text of the exclusive interview with Gülperi Odabas, Chairwoman of the Board of San Deco, follows:
Could you summarize the story of your successful brand?
San Deco was established in 1965 in Istanbul, Turkey. During the first years of establishment, the company was on the local business market, manufacturing and selling several products only. Through the years, thanks to the intuition and creativity of the management, and to the careful selection of the product range with especially value added product and its developments, San Deco expanded and offered different products and solutions to the market by also starting the export operation where the success story begins.
The success of our company is the result of an outstanding quality products and services coupled with a reliable basis for partnerships. We achieved it with strong values and commitments. The expert, passionate and dynamic team of San Deco also contributes significantly to the sustainable progress of the company.
Could you mention about your product range and production capacity?
As San Deco, we offer products to our customers in 7+ product segments by having main activity in effect paint and coatings. However, interior paints, exterior paint and coatings, high performance paints, acrylic isolation paints, primers and putties, and hobby paint products are the other ranges within our product segments. While we are serving variety of products through our customers, we produce with the production capacity of 28,000 tons per year in our factory.
You are the first and the only painting producer that has A+ certificate in Turkey. What are the features that make San Deco different?
Having principle of producing by never compromising of quality, we always invest for producing value added products and their unique features differentiating us from the others. A+ certificate is one of them and allowing us to prove our products features with having the right awareness to human health and environmental responsibilities. As San Deco, we are the only effect paint and coating products or decorative product producer having this certification and proud to offer it to our customers with minding our responsibilities to them in highly manner.
Nonetheless, A+ is not the only factor differentiates our product to the others; we also have the widest range in high-end effect paint and coatings blended with the right know-how by offering unique products in very high quality, consistent performance, variety in effects and usage purposes by also having in affordable prices. Moreover with all segments we produce, we make a point of outstanding quality, in consistency and reliability all in different geographies all over the world with always supporting with our innovative R&D works.
What are 3 main principles of San Deco?
‘Beyond the colors’, yes it really is. Like in our brand motto, we set ourselves for something beyond the colors, and we do everything to make things more than paint, more than colors. In order to this, as our principles I can count many of them which we certainly follow no matter what but can summarize them in 3 as working always with passion for what we do, never compromising of quality and committed for our customers’ satisfaction.
You mentioned that you are specialized in “decorative paint”. What is decorative paint? What are the reasons of preferability of it?
Decorative paint with also some saying as effect paint is a paint leads you to have textures and effects on surfaces applied in order to achieve desired decorative look with its specific features according to type of product selected. With having cutting edge, innovative, artistic and also many other impact features allows end user to select decorative paint and coatings in their interior and exteriors. Sometimes a designer, sometimes an architect or a project owner or evermore a final end user, there is always a reason for them to select decorative paint. Whoever wants to enhance their vision with some paint, decorative paint will be the selection and it will be San Deco!
What kinds of solutions do you offer to the contract industry? What are the most preferred painting varieties in this sector?
Since operating more than 40 countries in 4 continents, I can count and order many projects and tenders San Deco involve within these countries we are in. With all the approach and reasons I mentioned above San Deco adopts, we are ambitious for any projects fits for San Deco. With the all segments we manufacture, we offer many different projects in interior design or generally construction market. Solutions we make are simple, we offer our products for the ones differentiate themselves from others and with also giving the right support after sales. Through our segments, since we focus mainly for textured effect paints and coatings, addresses seek for high-end architectural paint projects are the target and they mostly select from our range according to their desired effects such as a premium hotel chain project where they use our natural stone effect paint until a government project use special textures such as silky metallic coating for all over their interiors. Apart from decorative paints, in contracting projects we also take part in emulsion paint projects where we offer mainly interior paint or exterior paint with their supporting products such as primer or putties. However, I would like to stress out our contracting projects in Europe especially France where we offer high performance roof and facade paints where we achieve many housing projects where country government endorse for renovation.
Do you explain 2019 trends that overlook at the contract projects?
It is relatively hard for me to tell a specific color or product of San Deco since we involve with many different cultures and so many different tastes all over the World for the countries our product exist. For instance, European country tastes for soft colors and light texture products where another country taste for colorful and high glossy textures or etc. But many contracting projects we involve recently is mainly selecting loft theme or earthy colors where current trends follows all over the world in common.
Could you mention about contract projects you provided solutions for?
Like I mentioned earlier, with the operation in more than 40 countries, we are delighted to involve many different contracting projects in different locations all over the world. This could be a well-known hotel chain decorative texture effect project in Balkan countries or a landscape paint project in Qatar supported by government or a well-known coffee shop chain project using loft theme decorative texture paint in Mexico. Apart from that as a local contracting projects, involving many different government endorsed housing projects using decorative effect paints or emulsion paint as well as supporting products from our range. As an example of local business contracting projects, we recently took part in Istanbul Airport project serving our special expertise decorative effect paint products for more than 15,000 m2 or a tender for presidential project where a museum is being built in Ankara for loft theme texture paint more than 10,000 m2.
Can you touch on activities of San Deco in abroad? What are the countries you export and you target?
San Deco remain its activities in more than 40 countries with also promoting its expertise together with strategic partners. These countries are Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cayman Islands, Ethiopia, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Macedonia, Malta, Mauritania, Mexico, Montenegro, Netherlands, Nigeria, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Tanzania, UAE, UK, and Vietnam.
With the ideology of expanding as much as countries all over the world, San Deco sets the expansion target to 6 continents and as much as country to serve in.
Which fairs does San Deco attend?
For more than 25 year, San Deco take part in Istanbul Turkey Build fair in the same hall and stand and again you can find us in the same spot this year. Moreover in local market, you can also see San Deco in some prestigious architect fairs where we exhibit for cutting edge architect world.
Furthermore, in abroad you can see San Deco also in many prestigious Construction exhibitions such as Big 5 Dubai, Qatar, Batımat France Paris or recently Farbe Germany fair where you can experience the championship of the paint manufacturer World. We are proud to perform there for our country and present our brand & products. Moreover, again in many exhibitions specialized for architectural events and organizations all over the world.
Are there any investments you have realized or you will do soon?
As San Deco, for our export business all over the world, our investments can be listed as direct and indirect. Together with our partners, we support our efforts in achieving success with innovative investments and providing relevant development into the business. With our market-oriented product development investments, marketing models, activities and according endorsements, we carry out all investments that will affect the end-user purchasing decision in a sustainable format based on the relevant countries and their dynamics.
In our local business actions, we also continue to provide the most accurate message to the end-user by trying to pass the highest level of product awareness. The marketing activities we carry out to promote the product range, product promotion investments and many side activities and all of other related investments related to sales and marketing will continue as an investment by us. For instance, recently we joined one of the leading Construction and building materials chain store and we continue our sales and activities in successful manner in there. In addition, we will compose a new era with San Deco Bodrum investment very soon with our solution partners which will keep the show in the Aegean region in order to create accessibility to our products in every way possible.
