Why There Are No Turkish Companies in the New York Times?

There are two explanations for this. Either “no matter how successful we are, we make headlines only with negative events;” or “we don’t have enough brands with sensational enough success to be noticed by the New York Times reporters.”

The second of these explanations seems more logical to me. Thinking that one of the most prestigious newspapers of the world has no good feelings for Turks would only be being paranoid. If a newspaper mentions a wind energy company from India in its headlines, what could be its problem with Turkey?  

Unfortunately our large holdings, which have shared out sectors in Turkey, are no more than small enterprises when it comes to their activities in the USA. Most of them deal with the limousine and shopping needs of their company officials that come from Turkey instead of planning for bigger investments. The offices that they open to show off are subject to close without being making it to the end of their first five years, as it generally happens in the gold sector.

Turkish companies breathe with difficulty in a full, competitive environment, probably because keeping bonds between politics and business tight is against American logic. You cannot create a business potential in the USA by attending business visits to make sure that your minister or prime minister sees you. Thus, the only apparent solution is to move within the business rules and system of the US. A creative discovery or a crazy kind of marketing strategy may open the door to growth beyond your dreams. Of course, only if you have enough patience and determination.

The more brands a country has, the more prestigious it gets. When a Turkish company becomes a world brand and contributes to the success of its country as Ikea did in Sweden, Nokia in Finland, Samsung in South Korea, BMW in Germany, Sony in Japan, or Philips in Holland, then we will make our mark not only in the headlines of a newspaper but also in the hearts and minds of people.

Within such a pessimistic picture there are a few things that make me happy as well, like diamond brand Gilan’s advertisements that appear every second Thursday on the fourth page of the New York Times, together with Channel, De Beers, Prada, and Tiffany. You cannot say, “Well, isn’t it a matter of money? I’d pay for it and have the ad published!” because the newspaper only publishes ads for brands that it believes to be prestigious with those of other giant companies. And a Turkish brand silently and deeply walks on its own way.

(October 2006, 22nd Issue)