| CCO Group extends contracts with Corus and Randstad Holding |
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Corus
and Randstad Holding have pronounced their commitment to CCO Group again
by extending the current contracts, both for their national and their
international activities.
The
cooperation between Corus and CCO dates back to the time when the Dutch
part of Corus was still Hoogovens and CCO was still Cravat Club. After
the merger with British Steel, CCO Group also started supplying premiums
and business gifts for the new (international) organisation.
CCO
Group has compiled a new collection of custom-made products for Corus,
which are available via a catalogue and via the CCO-developed Corus
webshop. Maarten Spaaks, responsible for the Corus account: “The
advantage of a webshop is that users can see whether a certain product
is available stock. The shop can also capitalize on current events or
seasonal offers.”
Two-year contract with Randstad
CCO Group is currently the only contracted supplier of promotional
products within the Randstad Group. The new contract has been entered
into for a period of two years.
CCO
Group has been working for the Randstad Group for quite a few years. The
first activities concerned Randstad Nederland and Tempo Team. Later on
Yacht, Capac and various other labels of Randstad the group became
client’s of CCO. From 2003 onward, CCO started to work for Randstad
Holding in the other European countries, the US and Canada, explains
account manager Monique Groot. “For the international branches, we work
both directly with the local organisations and via the holding in
Amsterdam.” |
| World Cup 2006 campaign? You can still do it! |
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Do you
still want to organise a WORLD CUP 2006 campaign? You still can! CCO can
supply products available from stock. CCO can also still supply a wide
range of custom-made products. Contact your CCO account manager and it
will all be arranged.
At the
present, CCO Group is preparing and producing WORLD CUP campaigns for a
number of clients. The most diverse premiums are used. Frequently
requested products are particularly footballs (both made of leather and
PVC), table-football games and face paint for painting on the Dutch
colours. |
| CCO Supplier in the Spotlight |
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Casper
van Maanen (AVM Productions):
‘We are the extension of CCO Group’
In
view of the fact that all promotional products are used to bring the
company or the trademark to the attention of the recipients, the
upgrading of the product is of crucial importance. CCO Group has been
working with AVM Productions, a specialist in the printing of premiums,
business gifts and promotional textiles, for many years.
“CCO
Group is a demanding customer,” says Casper van Maanen, director of AVM
Productions. “Rightly so as they need to supply their customers with a
perfect product. And it is naturally beneath our dignity to be satisfied
with less than perfect, whether printing fifty golf balls or several
hundred sports shirts.”
No
hitches
“A printer has to be fast, precise and flexible. A premium specialist
has to have the same qualities, and in that regard our work is similar
and we are each familiar with the market demands that the other has to
deal with. We consequently see ourselves as an extension of CCO Group,”
Van Maanen continues. “After all, we each work on the orders of their
end customers. A great deal of work is involved before the finished
printed product leaves us. However, CCO is an very well-organised
customer. Of course, they have the know-how when it comes to graphic
techniques. The company knows what’s possible and what’s not, and how
the products should be supplied ready for printing. The hitches that
you’re bound to encounter with less experienced customers were dealt
with by CCO in the first round.”
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| CCO Group attends marketing meeting of Symantec in Budapest |
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Software leader Symantec recently merged with Veritas. To celebrate the
occasion, the company convened an international marketing meeting in
Budapest, which CCO Group attended.
Account manager Monique van den Enden: “The meeting was an ideal
occasion to meet new members of staff, exchange information and answer
questions. We furthermore made use of the opportunity to present the
completely new collection of promotional products.”
CCO
Lottery
On one of the evenings, CCO Group organised a boat trip along the Donau.
All Symantec marketers were invited by a mouse pad especially produced
for the occasion, including a unique lottery ticket for a prize from the
CCO Lottery held during the round trip. |
| ‘The human factor’ behind the CCO webshops |
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Darina
van den Berg (CCO Group):
‘I’m
the human factor behind the webshops’
Darina
van den Berg works as customer service representative with CCO Group.
Anyone calling the helpdesk has a very good chance to get Darina on the
phone.
Darina
is one of the people responsible for managing the webshops behind the
scenes. All work required to allow the webshops to function without any
hitches, from monitoring the orders and stock management to financial
settlements, is the responsibility of Darina and her department. For the
customer, it is an invisible and silently-operating department, and this
is the way it should stay, because the purpose of the webshops is
precisely to enable people to view and order products from their
workplace on-line.
Human
factor
However, there will always be a role for the human factor, even in the
digital age. Darina: “People really like the idea of being able to talk
to someone when they have a question or a problem. If they call the
helpdesk, I’m always happy to help them out. People often call about
orders, or have questions about when certain products will be in stock
again. They sometimes also ask us whether we can supply certain products
that are not normally part of our assortment. Or they’ll ask whether
it’s possible to get a different print on a product. Those are typically
the kinds of questions that are that little bit different, and that
require personal attention. We are well aware that customers are very
appreciative of this service.” |
| Business gifts keep Randstad top of mind with target group |
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Each
year in January, a number of (inter)national branches of Randstad
conduct a direct mail campaign aimed at acquiring requests for temporary
staff. Each customer placing a request in response to this campaign
receives a business gift as a thank you.
“All
gifts are custom-made and have the Randstad look & feel. The square in
the logo, for example, is always in the design of the gifts. The
products fit into an office environment, in order to keep Randstad top
of mind within the target group” explains Monique van den Enden of CCO
Group.
Magnet
board
This year, the gift was a magnet board. CCO supplied the gift for this
initiative for the third consecutive year. CCO manages the complete
chain from the first creative proposal up to the international
distribution. Two years ago, Randstad’s gift was a square wall clock
while last year a puzzle photo frame was chosen. |
| Further professionalising of CCO webshops |
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CCO
Group continues to innovate and invest in the webshop application that
is part of the Corporate Programs solution. This solution is used by a
large number of (inter) national customers. Recently, further
professionalising has been implemented. User-friendliness is one of the
key issues.
The
CCO Group Corporate Program has been developed for (medium) large
companies, which require the entire process with regard to promotional
products to be covered by a single partner. CCO Group offers a
custom-made solution for effectively managing, collecting, buying and
(world-wide) distribution of promotional products (see also
www.ccogroup.com).
User
friendly features
“The
shops were recently improved. For CCO this is a continuous process,”
explains CCO Group’s Monique van den Enden. “For Symantec, for example,
we have now given the webshop new even more user friendly features.
Examples are items like a welcome page showing the latest products, the
offer of the month and the best-sellers. We may also include a so-called
FAQ, an overview of frequently asked questions. We can also handle back
orders via the shops.”
“For
international customers’ shops, it is interesting to know that transport
costs are charged automatically. Customers placing orders can opt for
standard or express delivery and can see what the costs will be on-line.
Another new feature is a gift-wrap service that can be ordered on-line
in the CCO webshop,” Monique tells us. |
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CCO is a full service importer and distributor of
premiums, business gifts and promotional textiles.
Through a 'One Stop Shopping' concept for
promotional products and related services, CCO
offers all facilities to service medium and large size
companies.
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