Turkish Ceramics Promotion Group (TCPG), which represents the producers and exporters of Turkish ceramic products, is participating at the Big 5 to promote the country’s ceramic industry.

Turkey now ranks fifth among the tile-exporting countries, with the nation being the largest European producer and exporter of sanitary ware products.
Speaking on the rapid growth of the industry and what makes it unique, TCPG’s president Bahadir Kayan says: “The Turkish ceramics industry has developed rapidly over the last decade, thanks to its excellent production processes, distinctive designs and consistent exports. What makes Turkish ceramics unique and unrivalled are the modern designs created by interpreting 500 years of Ottoman ceramic tile tradition and reflections of 7,000 years of Anatolian civilisations.”
Based on this legacy of tradition, Turkish ceramics have a very wide product and design spectrum, with products being exported to more than 50 countries in five continents.
Kayan elaborates: “Always original and distinctive, Turkish ceramic design is distilled from a legacy of millennia of tradition, and remodelled with a modernistic outlook. Apart from the trend-setting contemporary patterns offered, internationally-acclaimed artists and industrial designers are engaged to re-interpret the images and motifs of Anatolian history to bring back ageless aesthetics to homes and public spaces across the world.”
To enhance the momentum and increase the brand value of Turkish ceramics, the promotion committee says it is now more focused on branding and image-building through global marketing and PR campaigns, besides its emphasis on quality and innovation.
Commenting on this trend, he says: “In recent times, Turkey’s ceramic industry has been changing the perceptions of Turkish products in its prospective markets. Turkish ceramic manufacturers are now paying high attention to quality and branding through collaboration and other measure, rather than focusing on competing on price.”
 “What we mean by an increased focus on branding is not restricted to quality alone,” he continues, “but on highlighting design and harmony with the built and natural environment. To effectively communicate our message to our prospective target audience, we have partnered with a branding consulting firm and an advertisement agency.”
Through this collaboration, the group’s first steps have been to rework the industry’s corporate video, create a new catalogue, run advertisements with the new concept and launch a broad PR campaign.
“Rather than sell just individual products and take individual efforts, we pooled in together to create strong brands and communicate to our different markets. Needless to say, many places exist in the world where people are not even aware of what ceramics is. We are also targeting our products to these people who have never used ceramic tiles and sanitary ware.”
“Well aware that no other product category can be substituted for ceramic sanitary ware – which offers unparalleled hygiene and comfort – or ceramic tiles, which create an aesthetically-appealing and lasting environment, Turkish ceramic manufacturers are presently committed to increase the awareness of the quality of Turkish ceramic products amongst potential users around the world,” he concludes.
Turkish Ceramics Promotion Group (TCPG) will be present in Rashid Hall at Stand E523.