With 25 years of experience under his belt, Wilan van den Berg is poised to bring his expertise and network into his new endeavour. As the newly appointed CEO, he is bringing fresh ideas and strategies to Princess Household Appliances. Started in 1994, Princess is one of the world's largest manufacturers of small domestic products such as kitchen, household and personal care appliances. Thanks to its great innovation, creative marketing strategies and close relationships with clients, Princess has grown into a world-renowned brand. Princess carved a niche for itself even before it was acquired by WMF in 2010 to boost growth in its consumer electronics division. "Princess has the purchasing and selling power. We are planning to expand our international network with sales offices in the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Lebanon, the Middle East, Hong Kong and the Far East," van den Berg says. Leveraging the WMF network, Princess aims to reign in the mainland market through co-operation with 40 major suppliers in the country. Through the company's strong and lean organisation on the mainland, it creates a win-win situation with its suppliers. "We don't try to get everything at the lowest price possible. Instead, we try to build a relationship with them as part of our development," he says. Demonstrating the company's commitment to its markets, Princess conceptualises and develops products with clients. The Princess theme is "business is entertainment" and it uses alternative advertising channels such as promotional activities to reach out to consumers. Aside from expanding its products worldwide, the company's collaboration with famous designer brands such as Swarovski and Philippe Starck is a testament to how far Princess has come. "We will continue to deliver good quality, good service and good products at the right price and be in every market," van den Berg says.
