Impressions 6 UK November 2014 by Van Straaten BV

IMPRESSIONS Business Magazine for brand perception through visual communication edition 06â&#x20AC;˘2014

Assembly atelier for the finishing touch Team Brunel off to a good start in epic yacht race Magnetic walls ensure unlimited creativity

Content Van Straaten Finishing raises product finishing to new heights

Visual Magnetics

Cases

At Van Straaten, we recently enlarged our finishing department to a considerable extent. This means we now have all the necessary expertise and technology for finishing off each project in-house. Our state-of-theart workshop has been running in top gear since the beginning of this year under its new name: Van Straaten Finishing. Jaap de Ruiter, head of this new department, takes us on a tour.

New at Van Straaten: Dynamic Spaces, an all-in-one concept for Visual Magnetics that really makes walls in offices, studios and exhibition halls come alive.

Van Straaten was commissioned to create various banners, panels and visuals for the Ming exhibition in Edinburgh.

The Dutch stand building company KSPD asked Van Straaten to create four hanging structures for Yotrio’s mega stand and the MWH and Royal Garden brands.

People in the picture

Market survey

For advice on branding, strategy, marketing and communication Van Straaten counts on Blind Agency. The agency based in Antwerp (Belgium) recently organised a market survey to get a sense of how customers and other stakeholders experience the brand Van Straaten. Meet the people behind Blind Agency: management consultant Bart Henau and creative director Larisa Thuije.

Via a recent market survey we asked customers, prospects and suppliers for their views on Van Straaten, and what they expect of our company. The responses show that all Van Straaten’s hard work has resulted in higher ratings for the company brand, services and product range.

The world’s most gruelling yacht race gets off to a good start

A selection of our products and services

IMPRESSIONS

Participants in the 12th edition of the Volvo Ocean Race set off from Alicante in Spain on October 4th 2014. A Dutch yacht manned by Team Brunel and skippered by Bouwe Bekking is taking part in this prestigious round-theworld yacht race. Van Straaten is doing the visual branding for Team Brunel, and we’ll be giving you a preview of this epic round-theworld race.

Van Straaten gives events and festivals personality and appeal. If you’d like to ensure dazzling branding at your festival, party, concert or event, we’ll be delighted to help you create a customised solution for the very best brand perception at events and festivals. We’ll draw up a plan that’s completely tailored to your wishes when dressing your event.

09 Business Magazine for brand perception through visual communication is published every four months, excluding ‘specials’. Responsible publisher: Van Straaten PO Box 27 - 1170 AA Badhoevedorp The Netherlands Tel. +31 (0)23 - 555 18 61 Fax +31 (0)23 - 555 19 21 info@vanstraaten.com www.vanstraaten.com

‘Ming: The Golden Empire’ exhibition in Edinburgh

In this edition This edition of Impressions introduces you to Van Straaten Finishing - our finishing department that we’ve recently enlarged to a considerable extent. Van Straaten can now finish off the most complicated projects and the biggest volumes in-house thanks to this efficient workshop. This saves a great deal of time and trouble, and it benefits our customers too. Jaap de Ruiter, head of this new department, takes us on a tour.

We’ll also be telling you about the world’s most gruelling yacht race, which started in Alicante on October 4th 2014. The Volvo Ocean Race promises to be an exciting event, and Team Brunel from the Netherlands is one of the seven teams taking part. Van Straaten is doing the visual branding for Team Brunel, and we’ll be giving you a preview of this epic round-the-world race. And we’ll be taking a look at a market survey that Van Straaten recently carried out. Blind Agency carried out a survey three years ago in which they asked customers, prospects and suppliers to give their views on Van Straaten and what they expect of our company. We’ve made a lot of changes since then, and now, three years later, we felt the time had come to look at our customers’ comments and see what they think of all these changes. We’ll be introducing you to Dynamic Spaces too. This all-in-one concept by Visual Magnetics gives walls a magnetic layer underneath and transforms them into multifunctional partitions with an endless variety of options. It really makes walls in offices, studios and exhibition halls come alive. As you would expect from us, this edition is packed with inspiring examples of visual communication. Let’s impress!

Van Straaten Finishing raises product finishing to new heights All printed products will be finished off in-house as from today

The humming of heavy-duty sewing machines can be heard in the new workshop as a team of four seamstresses finish off printed visuals in all shapes and sizes. ‘Van Straaten already had a workshop for standard finishing,’ says Jaap. ‘And we often used to commission the manufacturing company Hertol to finish off special projects for us. But this company closed down at a certain point in time, and Van Straaten took over most of its machinery - and three of its most experienced staff as well. So now Van Straaten Finishing can finish off the most complicated projects in-house.’ Jaap and his colleagues Gerda and Jolanda joined Van Straaten Finishing at the beginning of this year. ‘The atmosphere was really great right from the very start,’ says Jaap enthusiastically. ‘And we were very busy too. But we’ve set up a streamlined production line and we’re working with a well-oiled team of people who complement each other perfectly, so we’re well able to deal with all the work.’

Specialist in finished products

Professional and efficient

Hertol had been the number one specialist in finishing off all kinds of fabric for more than 30 years. ‘Our customers came from all over the Benelux,’ explains Jaap. ‘We manufactured everything from shower curtains to flags, banners and pennants. And we cut foil and stitched patterns for curtains, blankets and lots of other products. Hertol was one of the few workshops in the Netherlands that did stitching as well as cutting. And we took our know-how and technology with us to Van Straaten. They had already invested a great deal in automatic fabric cutting, but now the process has become even faster.’

A colleague comes into the workshop wheeling a mobile frame with printed visuals draped over it. ‘These visuals have already been cut to size,’ says Jaap, taking one of them off the frame and glancing at the packing slip. He hangs the visual on the rails running above the sewing tables. ‘This transport system makes our work a lot easier and more efficient, and it’s less of a physical strain too. The visuals don’t get dirty and we can finish off big orders in no time.’

Fabric finishing has developed into a fine art at Van Straaten Finishing. ‘Our workshop plays a crucial role in production, because this is the place where it’s all put together,’ says Jaap. ‘We’re the final link in the whole production chain. The most complex stands, eye-catchers, displays and blow-ups are finished and assembled here. Van Straaten uses sophisticated stretching and shrinking software, and this ensures that the printed visuals sent to us for finishing are the exact size needed, right down to the last millimetre. We’ve got all the tools we need here to create fantastic finished products, and the machines we use are the very best. But our team’s expertise is also a determining factor in ensuring that our products are the exact size ordered.’

Enlarging the finishing department has benefited Van Straaten’s customers in many ways. ‘This means that Van Straaten depends even less on external parties,’ says Jaap. ‘Our communication lines are shorter since we’ve been fully finishing our products in-house, which means we save time. Another advantage to an on-site workshop is that we can schedule everything properly. We can process orders smoothly, and the finishing process forms an integral part of the entire production. And being able to monitor the entire procedure means we don’t overlook anything. If we get an unusual order, we discuss it all with the finishing department right at the start to find out what we have to look out for when printing and cutting.’

Traditional skills

Customers benefits

Jaap goes over to a big table to show us one of the products. ‘This visual will be 10 by 30 metres,’ he says. ‘The roll of fabric has a maximum width of 5 metres, which means we have to stitch two lengths together. So there’ll be a seam in the finished product, and the trick is to make sure it’s as inconspicuous as possible. We can’t have a seam running through the image printed on the visual, so everything depends on the seamstresses’ expertise. They’re experienced enough to gauge the stretch in a fabric. Sometimes they leave it a bit looser, other times they pull it tighter. It’s a real art to finish off a visual without any creases. And that’s what makes us different from our business rivals.’

All the finished visuals are inspected and made ready for dispatching. Every single item that leaves Van Straaten’s workshop complies with the highest quality standards. If the visuals are part of a stand or eye-catcher, we first test the whole lot together. We assemble the aluminium structures in the preset room and affix the printed fabric visuals, so we can make sure that the visuals are a perfect fit in the frames. And if something isn’t quite right, we can correct this at once. Van Straaten Finishing has enabled us to make huge improvements in quality and efficiency, and our customers benefit from this as well.

Benefits

Pictures by: Simo Neri (Dynamic Spaces)

This Visual Magnetics wall is covered in MagnaMedia photo quality prints that you can easily change in just a few minutes. Visual Magnetics walls with whiteboard and chalkboard are absolutely perfect for creative workrooms.

Magnetic walls ensure unlimited creativity New at Van Straaten: Dynamic Spaces, an all-in-one concept for Visual Magnetics that really makes walls in offices, studios and exhibition halls come alive.

All you have to do is roll outMagnaMedia and the photo prints, drawings, cards or posters on the wall. We also supply magnetic chalkboard sheets as well as convenient whiteboard sheets that you can write on with erasable marker pens. You can affix visuals to them and project a presentation at the same time. This is the ideal system for presentations, brainstorming sessions and workshops, simply because it’s so versatile. Dynamic Spaces really makes your workrooms creative and dynamic.

Multifunctional walls Van Straaten is the Certified Solution Provider for Visual Magnetics, the revolutionary display system that uses magnetic force. And now Van Straaten has created a new product: Dynamic Spaces. This all-in-one concept by Visual Magnetics gives walls a magnetic layer underneath and transforms them into multifunctional partitions with an endless variety of options.

Discover it for yourself! Go to www.vanstraaten.com for more information. You’ll find videos showing practical solutions with Visual Magnetics at art academies, museums and studios. Or just drop in at our offices for a demonstration in our showroom. We’ll be delighted to welcome you!

Cases

From China, Edinburgh to Cologne

DRESSING THE MING EXHIBITION IN EDINBURGH The exhibition ‘Ming: Emperors, Artists and Merchants in Ancient China’ opened in De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam last year. Visitors were able to follow the fascinating story of the Ming Dynasty through the art treasures and exhibits on display. Van Straaten was commissioned to create various banners, panels and visuals for this exhibition. The public and the organisers were so enthusiastic about it that the National Museum of Scotland asked Van Straaten to do the entire dressing for the very same exhibition in Scotland’s national museum in Edinburgh. Project manager Patrick comments: ‘Van Straaten made panels with information on the exhibits and hung them at strategic places all over the museum for the ‘Ming: The Golden Empire’ exhibition in Edinburgh. And we made all the visuals with silicon strings, decorated glass showcases and put up huge double-sided banners. We made and tested the whole lot at Van Straaten. All the decorations were transported to Edinburgh and set up by a local assembly crew. And everyone is just as Picture 1-3 enthusiastic about it as they were about the Amsterdam exhibition.’

EYE-CATCHERS FOR GARDEN TRADE FAIR The Spoga+Gafa trade fair was held in Cologne at the beginning of September. This is a big event for the international garden world. You can find everything relating to gardens and outdoor life at this annual trade fair, from design to layout and upkeep. The Dutch stand building company KSPD set up five stands with a total surface area of 1,800 m2. KSPD asked Van Straaten to create four hanging structures for Yotrio’s mega stand and the MWH and Royal Garden brands. Petra managed this project for Van Straaten. ‘The biggest hanging structure measured 10 by 4 metres and was one and a half metres high,’ she says. ‘That really is huge. This doublesided eye-catcher was made of block-out material, so you could see the logo and the pay-off inside and out. And we also created a square eye-catcher measuring 4 x 4 metres and two big round eye-catchers as well. The larger of these round ones was 5 metres in circumference and we made this one doublesided too. These projects were absolutely fantastic and our customers were really happy Picture 4-5 with them.’

People in the picture

‘Van Straaten is innovative, it’s a master of all trades and it’s internationally oriented.’ If you see a black Mini with a Belgian number plate parked outside Van Straaten’s, this can only mean that Blind Agency management advisor Bart Henau has an appointment with us to discuss strategy, marketing and communication. Larisa Thuije, the creative director, sometimes joins us for discussions too.

this. I take my hat off to Niek for wanting to invest in it.’ ‘Markets change very quickly,’ adds Larisa. ‘You have to find out what customers really think and how your company can give them what they want. And that’s why we carried out a trend survey as well, to see what’s going on in all the relevant sectors like events, visual branding and stand building & interiors. This information tells us how the Van Straaten customers feel, so we can ensure that they’re trendsetters too.’

How did you end up working with Van Straaten?

Bart and Larisa are responsible for the branding & communication

Is this a very different Van Straaten compared to how it was three years ago?

‘The company has gone through a huge evolution process,’ says Bart. ‘They’ve taken over other companies, they’ve invested in the very latest machinery and they’ve hired new staff. So Van Straaten today is totally Bart describes himself as an all-round adviser to managers: ‘I advise them different from the company as it was three years ago.’ Larisa adds that on communication and branding, and on strategy and general corporate there is more than that: ‘We’re actually one of their suppliers, but they’ve policy as well. And I advise them on the main outlines and practical is- really made us feel at home in the team. And that’s typical of Van sues. And of course, I’m instilling some culture into a rather uncivilised Straaten. It’s a family business, and partners are included in the family nation,’ he jokes. too. This is another very special thing about Van Straaten.’

‘I first met Niek van Straaten about three years ago at Labate&Co, a German firm that manufactures aluminium profile systems,’ explains Bart. ‘I was there to take charge of their marketing and communications, and one day Niek was there too and he liked my presentation. So I went and offered my services to Van Straaten after I’d finished the job I was doing for Labate&Co. And that started the ball rolling.’ Larisa joined the Van Straaten project soon after that. ‘I’m a creative director, advising on design and branding too,’ she says. ‘And we talked a lot about the company’s DNA and the image it ought to project, especially at the beginning when we started rebranding. Van Straaten mainly had a name as a flag-printing company, but it does a lot more than that and it’s continually on the move. It’s innovative, it’s a master of all trades and it’s internationally oriented. So I converted all this into a new visual identity with a new logo, a new house style and new means of communication.’ What did you base the rebranding on? ‘We certainly didn’t intend to take any chances,’ says Bart. ‘The first thing we did was carry out an in-depth market survey to find out how customers and partners feel about Van Straaten. And we really learnt a lot from

Market survey Customers give Van Straaten top marks Blind Agency carried out an extensive market survey for Van Straaten in 2011. And they recently asked customers, prospects and suppliers a second time for their views on Van Straaten, and what they expect of our company. The responses show that all Van Straaten’s hard work has resulted in higher ratings for the company brand, services and product range. Bart Henau of Blind Agency says: ‘We learnt a lot from our market survey three years ago. The results got Van Straaten’s former marketing and communication strategies moving in the right direction. Van Straaten also made the necessary changes at operational level as a result of the

market survey. And now, three years later, we felt the time had come to look at customers’ comments and see what they think of all these changes.’ Recent market survey Customer ratings all down the line have gone up to an amazing extent compared to 2011. ‘We got excellent marks for our products and services, and some customers suggested improvements too,’ says Bart. ‘The market survey’s shown us that certain products that might have an impact on the market have been launched without enough support. This has given us some definite points for attention that we can target and catch up on.’ Van Straaten will use the results of the recent market survey to take subsequent steps towards achieving ultimate customer satisfaction. ‘It’s absolutely essential to find out stakeholders’ views on a brand and a company and its vision,’ says Bart. ‘This helps organisations to improve products and services because they discover what their strong and weak links are from the point of view of their customers. And we see that all the investments made in areas like marketing, brand exposure and positioning are really paying off now.’

Q16. What is the brand positioning of Van Straaten according to you?

15 %

30 %

45 %

Innovator Brand experience for brand & live communication

Total solution provider Best product and service in the market

Anything goes

Specialist in visual communication The thougher the better

One stop shop No idea

Trendsetter

60 %

The absolute m2 king

Most of the respondents experience VS as the real innovator

The world’s most gruelling yacht race gets off to a good start Van Straaten is doing the visual communication for the Dutch Team Brunel Participants in the 12th edition of the Volvo Ocean Race set off from Alicante in Spain on October 4th 2014. A Dutch yacht manned by Team Brunel and skippered by Bouwe Bekking is taking part in this prestigious round-the-world yacht race. Van Straaten is doing the visual branding for Team Brunel, and we’ll be giving you a preview of this epic round-the-world race. The Volvo Ocean Race - together with the Olympic Games and the America’s Cup - is one of the biggest yachting events in the world. It’s regarded as the most gruelling yacht race for the participating teams. It lasts about nine months, and the crews have a very hard time at sea. Conditions on board are tough, with cramped living space, no privacy,

instant food, hard work in shifts, and very little sleep. And as if this wasn’t enough, the crew must be prepared to encounter appalling weather conditions and waves up to 30 metres high, so you have to be really keen and dedicated to take part. More exciting than ever before Conditions are not only challenging for the crew: the yacht itself has to be able to cope as well. The teams cover a total of about 70,000 kilometres of open sea, with violent storms and gale force winds of up to 110 kilometres an hour. There is a continual risk of collisions with whales, icebergs or shipping containers that have been lost overboard. All the yachts were pronounced fit to take part in the race during previous editions, and a handicap system was used to equalise sailing times so that everyone got a fair chance. But things will be different this year, as all the teams will all sail in identical yachts specially devised for the race. The VOR 65 is a spectacular 20-metre carbon yacht constructed by Farr Yacht Design, and it’s largely based on yachtsmen’s experiences during previous races. The fact that all the teams are setting out in identical yachts means the race will be more exciting than ever. The winning team will depend

on who has the best yachtsmen instead of the most sophisticated yacht. Follow the race from start to finish So this year’s edition will not only be a lot more exciting, but you can also follow every single detail from start to finish on the relevant websites, blogs and social media. The teams have a media representative on board who will be providing live coverage, spectacular photos and on-board video clips of all the action at sea. Since this race appeals to many millions of people, it can count on a lot of attention from the media all over the world. And you don’t even have to travel very far if you’d like to see the yachts and the teams ‘in the flesh’, as the participants will be stopping off in the Netherlands during the final stage. The fleet will probably arrive here from France on 19 June 2015, and the participants will make a 24-hour

The Volvo Ocean Race is held once every three years. This year’s edition started on October 4th 2014 in Alicante. Participants will complete 9 stages and 10 harbour races before the finish in Göteburg on 25 June 2015. The race generally lasts approximately 250 days.

stay in Scheveningen and The Hague. Members of the public can watch the start of the final stage from the boulevard and the beach, and the race is scheduled to finish at Göteborg in Sweden on 25 June 2015. Visual branding Van Straaten is doing the visual branding for Team Brunel in the Volvo Ocean Race. This joint venture means that beach wings with the Team Brunel logo are now fluttering at the base camp in Lanzarote, and nautical flags are flying on the boat. Tent covers, prints and special eye-catchers by Van Straaten have been set up for media events as well. Even the sail covers are absolutely in line with Team Brunel’s corporate branding. And Van Straaten is also supplying printed products to give extra perception to events at harbours and during launches. Working with Team Brunel is giving Van Straaten a golden opportunity to show everyone what we excel in: creating the ultimate brand perception.

The Brunel International secondment agency is the Dutch team’s chief sponsor. This is the third time that one of Brunel’s yachts has set off on the round-the-world race. The yacht has a crew of nine.

The Netherlands is one of the countries that have always taken part in the Volvo Ocean Race since the first edition in 1973. The Dutch team has won the race on three occasions, and now holds the record.

Van Straaten is the leading production company for innovative visual communication. We can supply you with all you need for outsized and special print projects, from design development and execution with fantastic prints and frames to expert workmanship and on-site assembly. Come and see for yourself why professionals choose Van Straaten.

Go to www.vanstraaten.com for all info, or call us now on +31 (0)23 - 555 18 61.

A selection of our products Outdoor Banner

Backdrops and atmospheric decorations

Eye-catchers

Outdoor banners are ideal for giving events and festivals extra brand perception. If you want top-quality banners, Van Straaten is the right place for you: we’ve been the number one flag and banner specialist in the Netherlands for almost 100 years! Our banners are printed on wind and weatherproof fabric and professionally finished with a sturdy suspension system.

Backdrops and theatre visuals with full-colour prints transform shows and concerts into a magical fairyland. Our in-house workshop creates backdrops in all shapes and sizes and gives them a professional finish. And Van Straaten doesn’t stop at life-size platform visuals and speaker wraps either: we also print theatre curtains for your shows and concerts which will really make an impact.

Our spectacular eye-catchers give tents and indoor events extra appeal. At Van Straaten, we use lightweight aluminium profiles to construct eye-catchers in every imaginable shape. Affixing eye-catchers to a roof is quite a different story! Van Straaten is happy to do the assembly and dismantling for you as well.

Tubular frames

Tent covers

Logistics and assembly

Van Straaten installs scaffolding wraps and decorates main stages with stunning visuals at well-known festivals. To ensure that these gigantic prints are stretched tight and securely fastened, we first assemble a made-to-measure tubular frame and attach the prints to this. Van Straaten is happy to take up any challenge when installing tubular frames. Our experienced assembly crew can set up tubular frames quickly and safely at any location.

You can use customised tent covers to brand platform tents, party tents and refreshment tents in any way you like. Tent covers are affixed to the canvas, and are absolutely ideal for dressing entertainment and service tents in the same style as the event. They guarantee stunning brand exposure, create extra perception and contribute to clear signposting for catering and merchandise. You can use tent covers for purely decorative purposes as well to create extra atmosphere and appeal.

As you would expect from a full-service company, Van Straaten is happy to help you with the logistics and assembly. You can always call in our experienced assembly crew to set up your prints and frames in a professional manner. We can put up advertising wraps on buildings, construct stands at trade fairs and install eye-catchers at any location you care to name, in no time at all. And you can outsource the logistics of e.g. a retail campaign to us as well.

Schipholweg 939 • 2143 CE Boesingheliede • The Netherlands • Tel. +31 (0)23 - 555 18 61 • Fax +31 (0)23 - 555 19 21 • info@vanstraaten.com • www.vanstraaten.com