Farnham, Quebec, Canada—Following a global survey of its customers and employees about its name and corporate identity, Domco Tarkett, along with its parent company, Tarkett Sommer AG, have announced they are changing their corporate names to Tarkett. Both companies will officially launch their new identities in January—Tarkett Sommer at Domotex and Domco Tarkett at Surfaces. At the start of the year, the industry’s second largest hard surface producer hired former Pergo president, Lars von Kantzow to spearhead an identity and branding initiative “that will allow the company to successfully market and merchandise its products to each customer segment” ( FCNews, Jan. 6/13). “Over the last several months, we talked to employees and customers to assess our diverse portfolio of brands and strong corporate heritage,” explained Ulf Mattsson, president and CEO of Domco Tarkett. “With virtually half of all North American product sales and the majority of our global sales currently distributed under a brand that contains Tarkett in it—Harris Tarkett, Tarkett Sommer, Tarkett Commercial, Tarkett Residential, etc.—it became apparent this was the natural choice as we move to leverage our full potential in the global marketplace.

Despite having global sales of approximately $1.5 billion, and a North American presence of 10 manufacturing plants and 2,300 employees, the company felt it needed to streamline its many brands in order to better leverage its worldwide resources. “We interviewed customers from every category we do business in,” explained von Kantzow, “as well as key accounts at every level of the supply chain, and also held employee focus groups at our various locations, not to mention doing a global survey, and one thing was clear: people were confused about all the various brands the company markets its products under. It was felt we needed to move to one name and one brand in order to create one consistent message.”

In addition to the many brands containing Tarkett in it, the manufacturer also sells products under the Domco, Azrock and Nafco labels. Under the new brand architecture, Tarkett sheet vinyl, Tarkett tile, Harris Tarkett hardwood flooring, Domco laminate floors and Tarkett Sommer commercial products are being immediately transferred to the new Tarkett-only identity. Mattsson emphasized it has no intention of letting its other successful brands go dormant, specifically Domco, Azrock and Nafco. He said each name has a rich history in the North American marketplace, such as Domco’s 125-plus years of existence, and they will each play important roles as the company moves forward. In fact, Domco will be supported through a dedicated management team “and clearly differentiated products, services, promotions and merchandising. The new team, which will be announced in the fall, will be charged with taking the Domco name and developing the brand and products.”

Mattsson cited numerous case studies from around the world where companies have successfully marketed a product that is not related to the corporate brand. “There is plenty of room in the marketplace for brand with Domco’s reputation of high design and quality to be successful.” As for Azrock and Nafco, which have each developed their own niche—the former in the commercial arena and the later with its luxury vinyl tile—he said they will be sub-brands of Tarkett, i.e., Azrock by Tarkett and Nafco by Tarkett. “Nafco has not only been a profitable division, it has seen tremendous success through innovation in products and merchandising and we do not intend to change a winning formula. “This is also true for Azrock,” Mattsson continued, “and there is a great deal of equity in its name, but we still need to let the A&D community know it is part of Tarkett.

He noted, changing the parent company name to just Tarkett will also benefit the commercial tile line as architects and designers are more and more sourcing the globe for products and designs. “This will let them know that Azrock is supported by a worldwide organization and offers more than what they come to expect.” Though the company is changing the way it markets itself, it is not going to change its division structure, nor will it have any implication on its various distributor partners. “We’re still going to have a residential, commercial and wood division,” he explained, “and we still need our wholesale partners to help us ultimately get product to end users. “What this allows us to do is,” Mattsson added, “coordinate our resources and marketing efforts to create a consistent image across our product lines. Moving to the same corporate name worldwide underscores our commitment to raise our global profile.”

While the company may have announced the name change now, von Kantzow called it the first step in the process of creating a new identity. “The next step is to give content and identity to the brand. This will be done at Surfaces [and Domotex]. Then we have to follow that up with consistent messages, exciting products and support for our partners. “This is not something that can be done in a few weeks or at one event,” he explained. “It’s an evolving process that takes some time. This is a massive undertaking and is not something that can be thrown together. We want to make sure it is done correctly.”