Marlesreuth, Germany — Gebruder Munzert is one of the few weavers left in Germany after laboring away for 90 years. “Within the next two years we expect a clear growth of considerably more than 10 percent in sales,” says Bernd Kout, one of the two Managing Directors of the firm. “We currently produce 20,000–25,000 running meters a week in different widths,” “We definitively want to tap into new markets and business fields in the foreseeable future. The brand relaunch is underlining our claim to be recognized internationally as premium manufacturer of the finest woven art and a component of the overall corporate strategy. We are working on a closer dialogue with our key-account customers and a new way of product sampling to shape the collections even better to their needs and requirements. The weaver has finally decided to break with its conservative roots brag a little bit about its core competencies for fear that the world is taking it for granted. The family owned mill is dominated by two Managing Directors, Klaus Munzert, Production & Engineering and Bernd Kout, Product Development & Marketing. “Over 90 years of success in fabric production always creating new and innovative weaving processes and outstanding fabric collections gave us the impact to appear a bit louder,” said Kout, a very conservative leader who is not prone to boasts about his business. In doing so, Gebruder Munzert says it is reemphasizing its corporate identity and brand appearance.“Franconians are not likely to step in and beat the drum as we say. However we felt the time had come to clearly demonstrate and point out our strength. Furthermore, when we launched our new exclusive brand PIVOT we realized that we should feature and highlight our core competences and corporate values, which have worked well for us during the past 90 years. Time was ripe to modify our CI, since we are celebrating our 90th jubilee last year.” “Our ambition was to confer on our brand appearance this fresh and dynamic impetus that is the hallmark of Gebrüder Munzert and that our customers appreciate. So in a way we had to catch up on our corporate identity and brand appearance and ensure its future viability. “Especially during the last years we experienced that in the framework of this globalized world everybody knows our price range, but only a few know our true values; Authenticity & Innovation, 100 % Made in Germany! This observation prompted us to start the relaunch. The new brand design sharpens our profile and shows what makes us stand out and actually unique: our claim to deliver the highest level of performance for our customers.” “Nobody wants to purchase products on the market that do not live up to their promises. The benefit for the customer was always there; we just did not talk about it. It is important to state clearly that we offer premium products at fair prices. Our distinguishing mark ‘made in Germany’ is vital in this context. It stands for excellent quality, credibility, reliability and confidence in the product.” Kout further says the company’s social commitment and responsibility as well as environmental efforts are major benefits that he wants to highlight clearly. “Our code of conduct includes salaries fairly above average minimum wages, guaranteed social standards, going beyond legal provisions and directives, resource-friendly production to just mention the prime directives. We use azo-free dyes only and we strive to generate our entire electricity from hydropower and our own solar panels. LED tube lights help us to halve our energy consumption for the production lightning. Last but not least we follow a sustainable personnel policy. Fluctuation is a word we do not know! We highly value the continual expansion of knowledge and keeping know-how in house. Our people think with us – This provides added value to our customers. Authenticity in word and deed – that is what Gebrüder Munzert stands for.” “It goes without saying that we are also heading for new customers not only in Europe, but also in the US and Asia. However primarily we intend to confirm our current customers in their choice for Gebrüder Munzert and assure them that they may still rely on our creativity and reliability in the future. We will have a stronger focus on the outdoor market and particularly on solution-dyed acrylic fibers. We have a couple of new projects coming up, however too early to talk about. Our passion for textile innovations manifests itself in the transfer of new technologies and masterful weaving into functional product ideas.”