We-connect, innovation and coronavirus: an interview with Karen Nazaretyan

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The material was prepared by Alena Rain and Marina Chicheva

Russian version

The situation with the coronavirus was unexpected for everyone – this is a factor that no one ever planned. We didn't quite understand what was happening in the market. It didn't last so long, literally two weeks. After that, we realized that everything was not so bad. Collaborations with our top online partners yielded great results. We saw some of our partners grow by 20%. It was the same with our promotions. Therefore, the initial situation of uncertainty turned into growth. The demand for our products not only not decreased, it grew. In terms of profit and sales in Europe, we are above our expectations. We are on our feet, launching new products, opening new offices. Everything that concerns the stability of the company, the sales of products are all above expectations.

Obviously, there are companies, such as offline retail stores, that have suffered from this situation. Does your company somehow support distributors? Retail?

We, of course, understand that a certain extraordinary situation has occurred on the market. A huge number of partners in our main markets in Germany, Europe, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia had to be closed. This is something that no one has ever seen before. We understand that we were able to increase sales by switching our partners online from offline. Offline will also have to change. And we will support offline as much as possible. These are special pricing deals. These are special offers for attracting partners. We sent gifts to our distributors. Special complex solutions. But it seems to me that so far no one understands exactly what is happening on the market, in retail.

Has anything changed in the company policy in 2020?

By and large, nothing has changed in the company's policy, because we are building a long-term strategy. The crisis was a factor due to which some strategies had to be suspended. But when we realized that the situation was good for us, it became a kind of springboard for improving sales, for improving work, and so on. This year we got a new investor who bought a fairly large part in our company. This is an investment group from Singapore, which is a voucher fund with a capital of about $17 billion. If you look at that the entire industry in the world which takes about 30 billion, then you will understand that when such an investment fund with such capital is invested in one company, it shows that we are doing many things right. And this means that our policy and strategy, which we have developed so far, are working in the right direction. We are confident that with the help of financial and other instruments that a new partner provides us, especially in the Central Asian region, we will be able to develop even more actively.

Please tell us about the brands that are part of your group of companies.

At the moment, the group of companies includes such brands as: Womanizer, We-vibe, Arcwave, Romp, there are also other brands it our stores that will be gradually introduced to the market.

The Romp brand is actively sold in Russia. Tell us about it, please.

The slogan of this brand is “Pleasure to people”. The brand is young, bright and it includes a lot. Not all marketing solutions have come to Russia yet. Our partner for this brand is our distributor Kazanova 69. This is an experimental format for us.

What materials is the Romp brand made of?

Completely safe ABS plastic, completely our production, our technologies. We guarantee the quality of these products. This is not just a line of products for certain categories of people, but rather a specific idea. It is to be bright, to be open, not to exclude anyone, it is the positivity of the perception of oneself and the people around them, as well as the enjoyment of the product. This is the main ideology of Romp. This brand is made specifically for a wider audience, for those people who are not yet ready to invest in the premium segment, we are making products more affordable. This currently includes three clitoral stimulators that have received our patented Womanizer technology. Because the generation of those people is slowly growing who see the world differently than the generation that uses We-vibe.

Let's talk about an updated version of your bestseller Nova.

Gladly. Its main feature is that it adapts to any anatomy. I always say that the male anatomy is banal, but the female anatomy is so diverse that you have to adapt to it with special new solutions. The degree of freedom of the product has increased dramatically. We have changed the location of the buttons and their purpose. We slightly changed the upper tips of the processes. We listened to feedback from many users around the world and made an even cooler product.

We know that you have updated the app as well. What has changed?

Our company has always devoted a lot of resources to innovations and new technologies. We have devoted the last years to the We-connect application. We have developed a special combination of Bluetooth with a new technology that overcomes all the obstacles that could not be overcome with the old Bluetooth technology. Thus, the updated application implements the possibility of a continuous signal that is stably received both under water and through obstacles. Thanks to the new development team, the application is constantly updated, we receive feedback from users and make improvements. Our products have received a new safety class. To be honest, I have not heard from other manufacturers that they use similar chips. This is a stronger signal, faster data transfer. We also work, when it comes to our application, on the security of our products. Now the ability to connect only one or two users is enabled and no one else can connect to your phone, no hackers or other users. It is safe from the point of view of personal data protection.

We are totally intrigued by the news of your new men's brand. Can you slightly open the veil of secrecy?

The main beginning of the creation of new technologies was the understanding that receptors, nerve endings on the female genital organs and on the male genital organ react in the same ways. Therefore, we created a new technology, we created a new brand for men. The men's market has not changed for a very long time, now we are making a whole line of new products, the likes of which have never been on the market. Some products will have some new technology, others will have material improvements.

We look forward to seeing Arcwave on the market!

At the end of the interview, we always offer the interlocutor to wish something to the companies that work with them, people who buy their products, any wishes for our audience.

Be healthy, do not lose your optimism, everything will be fine, and we will all go through this whole situation together!