This question is raised by everyone who is to purchase a horse-drawn carriage. It is worth taking a deeper look at the benefits offered by renowned horse-drawn carriages, in relation to those from the lowest price segment. Especially that, according to Philip Kotler, a brand is something more than a trademark. According to the guru of modern marketing, a brand is a kind of promise that determines and shapes the functioning of the whole company, finding its expression in the quality of finished products or services.
Values
The essence of the brand goes beyond the scope assigned to the trademark, i.e. distinguishing the goods and services of a given company from the products of the competition. Modern brands are more and more often products or services created on the basis of complex mechanisms of marketing, advertising, business and psychological activities that create added value, which sometimes prevails over functional elements.
However, the strongest brands are characterized by something more than a purely marketing or business approach. It is a natural and at the same time unique set of values that penetrate every area of the company's operation. These are the brands where the values came first, and only after that the marketing appeared. Where marketing does not create a brand, but only describes it. Values which are extremely difficult to be adopted into another company's ground, and their maintenance in the long-term is almost unfeasible.
These brands best reflect the essence of branding presented by Philip Kotler. The GLINKOWSKI brand is an example of such a brand, with traditions since 1956, representing such values as safety, innovation and the perfection of carriages.
Security guarantee
- For us, the brand concept is primarily a set of values and organizational culture of the company, which guarantees their compliance - emphasizes Henryk Glinkowski the co-owner and father of today's GLINKOWSKI management - They are the essence of the company, and the brand is only their emanation - he adds.
GLINKOWSKI is a family-owned company whose traditions date back to 1956. The company's history was initiated by Walenty Kołak who opened a forge, in which, apart from steel processing services for local companies, he started with the renovation of elements and then the production of entire horse-drawn carriages. Henryk Glinkowski took over the management of the plant in 1983 and profiled the production for the manufacturing of sport horse-drawn carriages. From the very beginning, he focused on innovation, workmanship and safety of drivers. It is thanks to these values that the GLINKOWSKI brand has become the world's best recognizable brand in the category of horse-drawn carriages.
- Father has always instilled in us the importance of quality, which was reflected in investments in the state-of-art production technologies, such as numerical machines and the best raw materials - recalls Damian Glinkowski, co-owner of the GLINKOWSKI company, responsible for the technical area - The key elements for us were the carriages elements that have an impact on the safety of the drivers, and hence the chassis, structural stability of the carriage and the strength of the individual components of the suspension system - he adds.
Already at that time a professional design and construction department was created, where several engineers took care that the designed carriages contained solutions guaranteeing the highest manoeuvrability and resistance to large overloads encountered during professional competitions. Before the solutions hit the market, professional drivers from their own equestrian club tested them in extreme conditions, to be sure that they would meet the challenges that championship races pose to them. Innovation has never stood before security.
The company continues such a model of introducing changes in the manufactured horse-drawn carriages. Today, it's Bartłomiej Kwiatek (GLINKOWSKI TEAM), the current World Champion in singles, who consults and tests new solutions. Anyone who buys sports carriages of the GLINKOWSKI brand can be sure that they bear the spirit of the world champions in driving carriages.
Uncompromised devotion to perfection
The quality of carriages is also the raw materials used for their production. The hardest steel is purchased from a world-class manufacturer, SSAB brand, brakes are well known from the automotive market manufacturer "BREMBO", paint products is a global brand PPG. These are few, but striking examples of the Glinkowski family's attachment to quality, which well reflects the company slogan "Uncompromised devotion to perfection".
The technological perfection of performance is guaranteed by semi-robotic production carried out on the basis of numerical machines including, for example, a modern plasma-oxygen cutter and experienced craftsmen with many years of experience in the production of horse-drawn carriages.
This dedication to quality has brought the brand recognition and a series of orders also to classic carriages for recreational and commercial driving, such as the production of Landauer carriage for the TIFFANY brand. And also in the area of renovation of old horse-drawn carriages, where many renovations of old carriages for famous museums were made, including the latest order, reproduction of the carriage by Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States.
Innovation
In 2004, the brand launched a marathon sport horse-drawn carriage called Double Sport, containing unique solutions in the chassis. The carriage quickly gained recognition on the global market of high-performance drivers, confirming the highest competences of the brand in the category of sport horse-drawn carriages. Its success is best demonstrated by the common copying of the design and technological solutions as well as numerous titles gained by the best players, including world-class ones. Already in 2005, the individual and team world championships were won by Austrian Rainer Pointl, and recently, in 2018, Bartłomiej Kwiatek [GINKOWSKI TEAM] repeated this feat.
The Glinkowski brand values were also fully expressed in the latest FALCON horse-drawn carriage, in which, as a standard, in the rear part of the chassis, there is a double-bearing, pneumatic suspension made of high-strength steel. This is a novelty on the marathon horse-drawn carriage market. A great chassis forgives many driving mistakes.
For those players for whom excellent driving characteristics are not enough, top-class craftsmen, during the manual finishing of the FALCON, take care of giving the carriage an individual character. The possibilities of customizing the carriage as part of a specially created X-Line production line are unlimited, and the designers of the brand are willing to meet all professional expectations of drivers.
Quality culture infiltrates every area of company management. The work is based on an advanced ERP class IT system that registers individual production stages. The ERP system is supported by additional, dedicated programs used, for example, for the design and visualization of horse-drawn carriages. Every year, the company invests significant resources in the latest production technologies, especially in those that allow increasing the level of robotization of production and provide technological perfection of performance. A team of over 100 employees is regularly attending trainings raising their qualifications. The company cares about the quality of the work environment. The basis of employment is only a contract of employment, guaranteeing the life stability of the employees.
Global dealer network, original spare parts for carriages
GLINKOWSKI to także najlepiej rozwinięta w sektorze powozów konnych światowa sieć dealerska. Marka ma swoich oficjalnych reprezentantów na kluczowych rynkach europejskich, w USA, Ameryce Południowej i nawet w Australii. Dzięki temu jest bliżej swoich klientów. Wyspecjalizowani przedstawiciele stanowią pierwszą linię sprzedaży i obsługi posprzedażowej. To ważne ponieważ dla wielu nabywców powozów konnych kluczową determinantą wyboru producenta są możliwości marki w zakresie serwisu i dystrybucji oryginalnych części zamiennych.
GLINKOWSKI is also the world's best dealership network developed in the horse-drawn carriages sector. The brand has its official representatives on key European markets, in the USA, South America and even in Australia. Thanks to this, it is closer to his clients. Specialized representatives are the first line of sales and after-sales service. This is important because for many horse-drawn carriages buyers, the key determinant of the selection of the manufacturer are the brand's capabilities in terms of service and distribution of original spare parts.
- We do not forget about the aftermarket, the need to supply the market with original spare parts and the service of our vehicles. - emphasizes Hubert Glinkowski, the co-owner responsible for the sales area - It is a matter of driving safety, and for us the most important dimension of brand responsibility. - he adds.
All carriages parts are catalogued and marked with an electronic bar code. As a result, the identification of spare parts for the service needs is instant and the delivery is extremely efficient.
Why is it worth paying for a brand on the market of horse-drawn carriage?
GLINKOWSKI brand horse-drawn carriages of the mean safe driving, the highest quality of workmanship, advanced after-sales service and the availability of original spare parts. Above all, however, it is the prestige of running carriages that are used by former and current world champions. They guarantee a better comfort of mind and more self-confidence, and this is essential while competing for the highest trophies.
- The DNA of our brand is a triad of features: innovation, perfection and safety - says Krzysztof Glinkowski, co-owner of the GLINKOWSKI company, responsible for the area of finance - They are vaccinated in each carriage that leaves our factory. If the brand is a commitment, then we guarantee to respect these values at every stage of carriage production. - he adds.