Keskin Color is one of the three largest manufacturers of paper stationery and the market leader in licensed stationery in Turkey. The Turkish company started its activities in 1962, by the production and manufacturing of postcards. Within a few years they have expanded their product range. In 1995 Keskin Color went into the paper stationery sector and in 2000, they started to produce licensed stationery products. In addition to its own branded products, Keskin Color also works with more than 50 partners in 35 countries to produce OEM products.
We spoke with Duygan Öztaş, the general manager of Keskin Color. He revealed to us why he’s looking forward to Insights-X and provided insights into the company.
Next year, you celebrate your 60th anniversary. In addition to greeting cards, tourism books, calendars, slides, posters, planners and maps, your product range has also included preschool education products and jigsaw puzzles since 2011. What distinguishes your sub-brands "Keskin Çocuk" (preschool products) and "Puzz" (jigsaw puzzles)?
Duygan Öztaş: 2023 is the 60th anniversary of our company which makes us both proud and excited. Our kids range offers a wide range of children's story and activity books under Keskin Cocuk (Kids) umbrella. These are both local and translated books and most of them are tied with licenses or popular cartoons. For our puzzle brand Puzz, we have revised our box designs as well the puzzle pictures. We will be presenting a totally new look on Puzz.
Keskin Color focuses on unique collections in addition to a wide range of products. Where do the inspirations and ideas for new designs come from?
Duygan Öztaş: Our marketing team follows international design trends and is in touch with our consumers to understand their needs to improve existing products and introduce new lines. Our sales team provides market insight as well.
You’re the market leader for licensed stationery in Turkey. Which licenses are you particularly proud of?
Duygan Öztaş: We have been business partners with leading local and international license properties for more than two decades. Disney carries a big weight in our licensed product line. We also work with LOL Surprise and LOL OMG as strong brand names.
Every Thursday you give away different products on your Instagram account. Why was the promotion created?
Duygan Öztaş: A big percentage of our consumers consists of young adults and university students. We wanted to engage them with give-away promotions as a way of sampling our products and creating an excitement around the brand. This has been so popular among our Instagram page followers that they sometimes remind us on Thursday mornings to start the promotion!
And how important is social media for Keskin Color as a marketing tool in general?
Duygan Öztaş: We see that stationery category is becoming a lifestyle sector and thus driven by trends, fashion, and design rather than simple needs. Social media is a great tool to showcase our products as lifestyle items as well as being in a continuous communication with our consumers.
The long wait is over: the stationery industry is finally meeting again in Nuremberg this year! What are you looking forward to the most?
Duygan Öztaş: Yes, finally we will meet again. We look forward to being part of the energy and dynamic of the stationery industry in Nuremberg.
Will you be presenting any new products at Insights-X 2022 that you can already tell us about?
Duygan Öztaş: We will be introducing a new paper-based category other than notebooks. We will also present new notebook lines both for office and school. Our consumers love buying into capsule collections of the same design so we will be seeing more of them at the Insights-X.
Thank you for speaking with us!
