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Claudio Gottardi has joined Marchon as president of Marchon and CEO of Marchon International. Recently, he and Marchon's Al Berg spoke with Eyecare Business about plans for the firm's future.

According to Berg, bringing on Gottardi was a key move in taking the company to the next level in the competitive marketplace.

1 What inspired you to bring Claudio onto the team?

AL BERG: Looking for someone who could take on this level of responsibility, Claudio was the clear and only possibility. Our first goal was to solidify Marchon. Competing against people like Luxottica required that we come up with a broad footprint. Second, we needed to build the team to take Marchon to the next level as a global player.

With this structure, I have gone from 20 reports to about six, so I have more chances to be strategic. It's really having more time to execute the plans we have in place.

2 How will you influence Marchon?

CLAUDIO GOTTARDI:

Marchon is an American company with American management and with a strong entrepreneurial management strategy. I bring a little bit more of the international view. I ran Safilo North America, and I'm bringing this experience with me and hopefully that will help me integrate.

3 What is the direction for Marchon?

CG: If you want to grow the business, you have to create the infrastructure to get there. Over the next couple of years, we want to build a very strong organization worldwide for the company, and we will make improvements in IT, distribution, marketing, and product development. It's going to be a constant process over the next few years.

We have a very concrete goal for growing and there are lots of investments required. We will have to rebalance the brand portfolio based on market opportunities and find the right brands that will bring value portions for where we want to go.

AB: We added some of the more recent brands specifically to focus on the European market. By adding Claudio, we rebalance: Marchon is an American company, this balances it out.

Al Berg and Claudio Gottardi (right) discuss the future of Marchon

4 Is it risky to plan expansion these days?

CG: Al has said this is a great time to be small and flexible because you have nothing to lose. If you look at where we stand as a company, we don't have all the big brands in all the big markets, so this is a great time to prepare for the opportunities.

It's an opportunity. It's a chance for growth and setting yourself up for success.

5 How will you reach your goal?

CG: We just need one or two strong acquisitions and one or two brands to get us there. It's a tough market for Marchon in America; Marchon in the rest of the world has tremendous opportunity to grow.

Al has set a goal that's not unachievable. It's modest for a company with this leverage. EB