Weddings are fun and they put a wide smile on our faces. They are the most well thought out and normally a grand affair, especially for us Indians. In this case, weddings become a headache for the people organizing it. Just like everything else, even the wedding market has undergone tremendous changes. It has become more than getting together the caterers and the decorators. You have pre-wedding videos, stories, and a whole lot of other things which seems outlandish and like a fairytale set up. But the change is taking place now, as we speak.
Zankyou - the most renowned international wedding website with presence in 23 countries is expanding its services in the Indian market. They are the leading website in Europe and Latin America with over 350,000 registered annually and more than 50 million annual visits.
Isabel Tesch is responsible for the international development of Zankyou. Born in Lübeck, a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, she has developed her professional career in the Marketing sector at Dräger Medical and the Corporate Human Resources at L'Oreal. Isabel is open, entrepreneurial and has extensive international experience as well as being positive, and assuring that the customers have the perfect wedding experience with Zankyou. Isabel believes that weddings are, in a word, momentous. They’re deeply personal, emotional and meaningful occasions that require immense preparation. Over to Isabel recounting her journey and how she sees herself as an international careerist. She shares with us her experience of working for the Indian market. A German woman, VP-sales and marketing of a wedding website in India. That’s a googly. More from Isabel:-
“Weddings have always been a big affair in India and undeniably they have become much more grandiose, I believe. I have always been interested in cross-cultural management and ‘Zankyou’ presented me with the perfect opportunity. I’m a German native, but was living in Madrid, Spain, for over a decade. I have studied ‘Business Administration’ from --- in Germany, where I sparked the flame for an international career. I’m a highly determined character who strongly believes in a fruitful outcome.
Through hard work and great endeavours, I have worked my way up to become Vice President-Marketing and Sales of Zankyou Weddings. With my multicultural work-base and experience, I have become manager of several countries as well as formed my own ‘International Sales & Marketing’ team here at Zankyou’.
After focusing on building strong and successful commercial relationships with the best wedding dress designers, now I want to focus on establishing similar relationships with the most luxurious hotels worldwide.
Me and my international sales and marketing team have been continuously talking to hotels and resorts who offer packages to honeymooners or couples seeking foreign weddings.
My greatest triumph is the achievement that Zankyou has had in India and the glory goes to my fantastic team in India, it would not have been possible without them. Then the first edition of “Bride2B by Zankyou” was a complete success. And this is just the starting, now I want to see Zankyou to grow and expand in other growing, prosperous markets as well.
Behind every success, there are many struggles. Being a ‘Country Manager’ for so many countries, and getting accustomed to the culture and traditions of each country is not an easy task. But thankfully with my experience, qualification, management skills, and multitalented team, I have conquered all the obstacles easily. I’m a tireless worker who believes there is a solution to every problem and there is always room for improvement.
As far as weddings are concerned, we have noticed that by and large the western cultures are preferring more boutique and personal weddings. However, in markets such as the Indian wedding market, the trend seems to be: “The bigger, the better.” It has also been observed that trends change very quickly and that is why it is important, not to create any stereotypes or to simply assume that because a wedding takes place in a certain country, it will be of a certain theme.
Even though many Indian weddings remain very traditional, the western culture is certainly having a tangible impact and the results are there to see. Whilst one cannot predict with complete certainty, we have noticed that by and large the western cultures are preferring more boutique and personal weddings.
We have two sets clients; couples and suppliers. Zankyou provides the best for the best and so this is what the couples come to expect. If a couple is looking for inspiration on our page for their wedding then they will be expecting to see a list of the best suppliers available.
Suppliers want results, it really is as simple as that. Zankyou is known as the world’s largest online wedding portal and so when we suppliers advertise with us they expect a large amount of couples to visit their page. We deliver on our promise to generate interest and business opportunities for our clients.