Newsletter - February 2008
Dear SENZ friend!
Last November, we sent out the first ever SENZ newsletter, which led to a huge amount of great reactions! Since then, our rollercoaster ride has continued and will probably do so for a while. With this newsletter we would like you to join us for a ride that takes you through our last three months, so enjoy the ride!
All the best from the SENZ crew,
Carolina , Gerard, Gerwin, Jacqueline, Marcia, Niels, Peter and Philip
SENZ goes USA... our American dream on Super Tuesday!
Last week, Philip and Gerwin were in New York City for the first international SENZ press conference, to mark the start of SENZ in the USA! The SENZ Super Tuesday took place at the totes>>Isotoner brand new showroom, located at 5th Avenue! The showroom was filled with tons of reporters from media like MTV, USA Today, Oprah Magazine, Elle and The Wall Street Journal. Additionally to the SENZ brand, R&B star Rihanna's (umbrella-ella-ella) new umbrella line was also introduced at the event, with Rihanna making a guest appearance! She sure left Philip & Gerwin in awe...
Rain protection for the rising sun
Although Japan is often referred to as the land of the rising sun, we have come to terms with a great partner for our umbrellas! The Japanese are crazy about umbrellas and design, so we're expecting big things from our design umbrella over there! In a few months, the SENZ brand will be available in a large amount of department stores and design shops on the Japanese market.
BUZZ Awards
Last December SENZ was nominated for the annual BUZZ Awards, which honors the most talked about and recommended product of 2007! Unfortunately, we lost to the Nintendo Wii, but to be mentioned in the same category is already a big honor for us! Our thanks go out to everyone that buzzed SENZ!
SENZ goes global!
It's pretty cool to realize that our umbrellas are shown all over the world now. Over the last six months we were represented on the following international trade fairs:
- PSI Fair Düsseldorf, January 9-11
- New York International Gift Fair, January 28 - February 1
- Tokyo International Gift Show, February 5-8
- Ambiente Frankfurt, February 8-12
- Living room Tokyo, February 12-14
SENZ XL: Apparently, size DOES matter!
This April, we will introduce the SENZ XL umbrella, the big brother of the SENZ Original umbrella. The most requests for the SENZ XL came from the US, where everything is big! Just like the Original, the SENZ XL umbrella can resist storms up to 100 km/h without turning inside out. You've probably already seen a preview of the SENZ XL, because Gerwin's legendary video in the wind tunnel is actually with the one of the first ever XL prototypes!
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Additionally to our regular retail shops, the SENZ XL will also be introduced in golf stores. The SENZ XL is the perfect golf umbrella, because the unique SENZ shape provides a perfect view to see the ball flight of your golf partner, while using the XL umbrella requires minimum strength!
We have also taken steps to further improve the design of the SENZ Mini umbrella. You will recognize these by the ‘new & improved' sticker on the packaging, in retail stores around mid March.
FUN STUFF: big necks!?
We've had some great fun since we started SENZ, and we'll share some with you in each newsletter. This time it's:
"The big neck story"....
After officially founding SENZ Umbrellas BV on January 2nd 2006, Gerwin, Gerard and Philip were riding their bicycles back to their newly rented office space. On the way back a comical discussion started. The memorandum of association stated that all three co-founders were empowered to act as the CEO of the company. But now the question arose: Who is the real boss of the company?
As none of us believes in hierarchy this was obviously a funny discussion. We started thinking about the general characteristics of a CEO. We mutually agreed that a CEO is usually the person in a company that has the biggest neck. Therefore, we measured the circumference of our necks and found out that Philip's neck beat Gerwin and Gerard's by a landslide! Since that day, Philip has been the unofficial CEO of SENZ Umbrellas. Gerwin and Gerard have been trying hard to catch up, but it seems like an unachievable mission!
In about three months from now we will send you our new newsletter. If you have any questions, comments, tips or feedback, please let us know!