Established in 1993, the 25-year old Cosign has emerged as the unsurpassed reference with regard to architectural signage with variety of options for indoor or outdoor use, flexible or modular, with or without LED technology, if desired with fabric, advertising pillars or spacers. Cosign is a global player with production facilities and distribution centres in Belgium (headquarters), India, Mexico and Hong Kong. The modular signage solution major constantly works on innovative solutions for the sign industry together with top designers like Stefan Schöning, Bart Bauwens (IDnA) and Fabrique.
To know more about the company’s milestones that the company has achieved over the years and its future strategy, we at Sign & POP World interacted with Tejasa Purandare, Director, Cosign India Ltd. over phone & email. Excerpts of the conversation are here to follow:
How is Cosign placed in India? How has been the journey so far?
Cosign India started operating in 2010 in India. From the early phase of creating awareness for Modular signages to becoming known in the market for quality, we have come a long way! Over the period of time, we have learnt the pain points and needs of signage industry in India and adapted our global solutions accordingly.
What challenges did you come across during the course of your establishment in India?
We have got compared with conventional signages initially. Crossing this hurdle and making minds think ‘modular’ for its flexibility, uniformity, ease of manufacturing and maintaining and good looks, has been a challenge. Also India is a vast country and the markets’ requirements vary over the span. Getting accustomed across states is a time consuming process.
What comprises Cosign’s product portfolio for Indian customers? What is your distribution model here?
Cosign has various verticals which are namely, Architectural Modular signages, Display products, Safety Signs, LED solutions and Fabric media for soft signages. We will be focusing on promoting all verticals more strongly this year. In India we work directly through sign partners to provide complete solutions to various premises requiring signages.
How many preferred partners do you have in India? What supports do you offer to them?
Over the years we have been working with many sign making companies across India. From 2018 we started our Preferred Partner Program. Through this program we work closely with our Preferred Sign Partners. We provide technical support through our Cosign Academy of Training. We work along with their team from pitch to installation. Through our network of Preferred Partners we can provide better solutions and service to end customers pan India. Together, it is easier to educate the client about the system benefits.
What sets you apart from your competitors? Why should one opt for Cosign for the specific signage solutions?
Cosign products are designed keeping in mind the functional needs of signages. The systems are very high quality and easy to use. We focus on quick service through our sales team based in 10 plus cities in India. We do maintain stocks to support prompt deliveries.
Which new products have you come up with recently? What are their specific attributes?
We have introduced our Safety Signs range. The systems follow the global fire safety norms and are CE approved. The signs have a three-hour battery backup and have classy looks to suit all environments like hotels, offices, malls, hospitals etc. We have launched three models of Safety Signs for now and will soon expand this range.
We got to know that the company is celebrating the Silver Jubilee of its establishment. What are the major milestones that the company has achieved both – globally and with reference to India?
Cosign completed 25 years of global operations in 2018. Global milestones will include increased international offices over the years, Cosign Mexico (2009), Cosign India (2010) and Cosign Nordic and Cosign Brazil (2017). Cosign products are being sold in over 100 countries. We crossed the 100th one in 2018! Cosign launched own premium LED brand Lucoled in 2018. We also launched our own safety signs range in 2018.
In India, our sales presence is now in more than 10 cities. Our Preferred Partner Program started last year. In the meantime, we also initiated Cosign Academy for training of our preferred partners as well as our own internal team. At present, we have well-established products with high inventory levels to cater to the needs of our customers here.
Where do you see Cosign India in a couple of years from now?
We would like to be the preferred supplier for quality signage materials. We would drive this through continuous innovation.