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Sectoral Interview of the Month: Baby & Kid Store

Mehtap Akyel

Baby & Kid Store Coordinator

Sectoral Interview of the Month:

Baby & Kid Store

1- Baby Kid & Store Magazine has been published for about 10 years and is a publication closely followed by the industry. We also know that you have made very important innovations in the digital field in this process. Could you please share the details of the process with participants and visitors of CBME Turkey and İstanbul Kids Fashion?

As Baby & Kid Store magazine, we are in an effort to guide our industry in the B2B field by continuing our print and digital publishing life for more than 10 years. For this purpose, we open booths at international industrial fairs organized in many different parts of the world and distribute our hard copy of magazines to all exhibitors and visitors, conducting a commercial acquaintance and international shopping. Due to the process we have experienced recently, we, as a publication group, are doing our part, and we continue our efforts and investments to expand our place in the digital world where communication has evolved with this process, our primary goal is to deliver Baby & Kid Store online to the target audience of domestic and foreign purchasers. Because the sale should continue and the economy should not stop. If they cannot come, we go to them online.

In this context; the biggest share of our work in the cake is online magazine submission to our international visitor data. This is the area where we are constantly developing and investing. In addition, we took our place in Magzter, Yumpu, Issuu, the world's largest online magazine platform. Baby & Kid Store is followed online from these locations in the international arena. On the other hand, we are working mutually with fair organization companies, which are our important solution partners. For example, we get them to make a newsletter of our online version of our magazine to their international fair visitor data. We share the link of the magazine to all our participants and visitors on WhatsApp. We provide faster access by adding the link of the companies with advertisements in the magazine. We are trying to bring our companies to the right target audience with updates and new additions.

2- Do you have any suggestions for our exhibitors and visitors to promote their brands in digital media?

Actually, all promotions are structures that provide relationship management. For this reason, I would like to answer them from different angles as digital, fair, and magazine. In our opinion, the era of digital mastery started with the new world. Firms with infrastructure in this regard were more fortunate. Those who live far from the digital world have noticed their shortcomings. There was a need for more or less digital awareness in everyone to keep up with the age. They saw that their commercial communications with the world were cut off and contracted when no investment was made in this area. First of all, they should take seriously the advertisements to be made in areas such as digital and social media and allocate a budget. The work done in these areas is not a cost but an investment. In digital advertisements, promotions should be made in the target audience, which will stir the appetite and arouse curiosity. In the fairgrounds, stands that give the image of a big company, look charismatic, and give a corporate image should be preferred. In magazine advertisements, designs that are trend and informative, not power, but the information should be studied.

3- Do you think printed publications will evolve over time and be transferred to digital platforms entirely? Or will those with an established readership continue to live in print format?

I would like to deal with the subject here as commercial and final publications. Because commercial publications are specialized publications that bring together producers and buyers in the sector. It is a resource and a guide where they can find sectoral information, developments, and related issues collectively in one place. Moreover, it is a reference because it holds the leading companies of the sector together. It will be valid as-long-as the trade continues. Publications intended for end-users, on the other hand, have contents that are consumed faster. They are open to research and comparison. For this reason, it will be transferred to digital platforms over time. The diversity there is more attractive to end-users

4-The Ministry of Commerce has recently announced that physical fairs will start to be held as of September 1, by taking new measures. Do you think the value of the fairs that brought the sector together physically in this period was better understood?

Fairs are actually, as the big dominoes of commercial life. Important organizations in terms of hosting international trade agreements, contributing to tourism, and creating cultural integration. And it creates serious employment. Both manufacturers and buyers make all their plans according to the fair dates. Being deprived of the fairs, which are a season-defining showroom task, of course, upset everyone and negatively affected the economy. Considering all these and many other advantages that we cannot figure out, we understood the value together.

5- You follow the sector very closely, not only in our country but also throughout the world. If you need to make comparisons with the sector which rules in Turkey? What to do to stand out in the world? 

We say we are a textile country, but we have deficiencies in the sub-industry before the product becomes a product. For example, we import fabric. We import a snap button zipper. In design, we mostly feed on abroad. I wish we could invest more in R & D in these areas. Because we are good at sewing, in the field of apparel. Product pricing, quality customer service, and deadlines are extremely prone to comply with the date. It is possible to reach much better export figures. It is possible to do more to create a brand, but of course, everything is directly proportional to the investment. In our sector, we have companies that participate in fairs abroad with their own brand, and they are very proud. We hope that these numbers will increase over time and more Turkish brand names will be mentioned in the world showroom.

6- You have been supporting CBME Turkey and İstanbul Kids Fashion exhibition. Could you evaluate the contributions of our fairs to the sector from the perspective of the publisher?

CBME Turkey is the first trade exhibition in the baby and children products industry in Turkey. As a platform that hosts the transformation in the sector, you have made great contributions to the export channel of the sector. We wish you permanent success and meet again in the place we miss.

7 - Finally, what would you like to add furthermore?

I would like to add that need to popularize new generation textile and the work in textile production. It appears to be a common concern when we consult with various companies from the industry, and it is an important issue for the future of textile production. I think this issue should be examined and solutions should be produced. Baby & Kid Store is the link between advertisers and advertisers' customers. We continue to introduce our industry to the world. Thank all the readers and wish you healthy days. Hoping to meet again at the fairs we missed…

Published Date: 10 September 2020

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