MARKETING LEADERSHIP AND PLANNING

Marketing Leadership and Planning

Marketing Leadership and Planning

Introduction

Hansgrohe AG is one of the world's largest manufacturers of appliances bathroom scale. The company markets its range of designer style bathroom fixtures, under the name "Axor brand" and its state of the art shower systems, shower temples, whirlpools and steam rooms, under the " Pharo "of the brand. Hansgrohe also makes plumbing fixtures and systems for recycling water. On the basis of the German Black Forest, the company manufactures its products in five countries, including Germany, the United States, France, Netherlands and China. Over 70 percent of total production Hansgrohe is sold outside Germany, with U.S. being the largest foreign market. The American Masco Corporation holds a majority 64.35 per cent in Hansgrohe, while the son of company founder Klaus Grohe and his family own most of the remaining shares of the company.

Hansgrohe has its roots in a small family business founded by Hans Grohe Schiltach, a small German town in the Black Forest. The sixth child of Karl fabric manufacturer Grohe, Hans Grohe, grew up near Berlin and learned the loom itself. In 1890, the 19-year-old Hans road and spent three years working in different locations as a traveling companion. Over the next seven years, Hans Grohe has worked as a master weaver in his hometown Luckenwalde, while starting his own family. In May 1899, he and his wife, two daughters and a son, Hans, moved to Schiltach in the Black Forest. After working as a master weaver in a local textile factory for a few months, Hans Grohe began working at Schwab & Voigt metal pressing plant, where he acquired the skills and knowledge of the stamping business. Shortly after, Grohe, with Wilhelm Schwab, one of his colleagues, has rented a studio and started a small business. In their workshop drawing Grohe and Schwab started making casings for alarm clocks. However, in March 1901, a fire destroyed the factory and all the small machines. Two months later, Grohe and Schwab ended their business partnership.

The Hansgrohe Group, with headquarters in Schiltach in the Black Forest, is a global player in the world of sanitary engineering and manufactures innovative products which are sold under the well-known brand names Hansgrohe (showers, bathroom and kitchen mixers, thermostats and waste systems), Axor (design collections for the exclusive bathroom), Pharo (shower and hydromassage systems, whirlpools and steam showers) and Pontos (fully automatic greywater recycling systems). Founded in 1901, the company now employs 2,672 people (December 31, 2004) all around the world, recording sales amounting to 428 million euros in 2004 with the four brands Hansgrohe, Axor, Pharo and Pontos.Products are manufactured at five plants in Germany and the company also operates production sites in France, the Netherlands, the USA and China. With manufacturing plants spread over three continents, as well as sales companies and consulting offices in 24 countries, the Hansgrohe Group is one of the few genuine global players in the sanitary sector. A non-listed public limited company, shares are held by the Masco ...