Cultivating A Culture That Invites Alliances
Drawing on decades of experience in the stone industry, a seasoned team at Trajus Surfaces strategized to create Alleanza, its premium quartz line
The Alleanza Quartz brand, simply known as AQ, was developed with the consumer in mind.
AQ’s message is tailored to assist homeowners decide the best surfaces to meet their lifestyle needs.
When it came to developing a new line of quartz products, Trajus Surfaces made it a point to prioritize quality and service. With more than 30 years of experience in the stone industry, the company leveraged the knowledge of its seasoned staff to develop its Alleanza Quartz brand, simply known as AQ. Trajus Surfaces comprises EGM and Marva – two companies with a combined total of 10 showrooms stretching from Boston to Charlotte.
Trajus Surfaces was inspired to create Alleanza by the beauty of the natural stone the company has sourced and imported from all over the world. “What we accomplished in the stone world, we wanted to accomplish in the quartz world,” explained Mario Persico, president, and chief commercial officer. “We built a core team with decades of experience in this industry. We embarked on building our own brand -- Alleanza. We wanted to develop a curated brand that incorporates the best of the natural stone world with the key attributes of quartz.
We spent almost two years developing and curating our color palette,” Persico went on to say. “We launched these colors successfully in 2021. We have a comprehensive and integrated marketing program tailored to our four core client types: homeowners, designers, kitchen and bath centers, and fabricators. All these client types expressed a need for certifications and warranties. We are Greenguard certified, Kosher certified and NSF certified with a lifetime warranty. Strategically placed design centers and a robust rebate program round out the Trajus’ offering.
The team dedicated a great deal of time, effort and resources into the development of the Alleanza brand. “We developed a premium brand and surrounded the brand with the tools and team members necessary to support it,” said Persico. “We even put thought into our name, Alleanza which means ‘Alliance’ in Italian. We invite partners to join our alliance.” According to Persico, the company does all its own branding for Alleanza. Nico Maganuco, senior director of marketing added, “This in-house branding gives us the sophistication and presence of a national brand with the flexibility and cohesiveness of a smaller company.
“Homeowners are armed with knowledge and information from multiple digital sources,” Maganuco continued. “Our messaging -- both internally and externally -- has shifted to education. We tailor our message to help homeowners decide the best surfaces to meet their lifestyle needs. The National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) has been a key partner helping us bring that message to the design community. “We started our focus on New York and then expanded further south,” said Persico. “In 2022, we also began collaborating with strategic partners outside of our key distribution areas.”
“Design professionals and fabricators alike love our high-resolution photos in Slabsmith,” said Maganuco. “While homeowners and our kitchen and bath dealers love our easy-to-use visualizers.”
Both Persico and Maganuco emphasized the importance of building relationships with all client types, but underscored the importance of the fabrication community. “We have gotten a lot better at connecting the dots,” explained Persico. “We have direct and indirect customers. We have specific teams that build different relationships and provide support and technical training. In the end, if we do not have fabricator buy in, we are not successful. We make sure Trajus Surfaces provides a competitive value proposition to fabricators and ensure the surrounding kitchen and bath community is aligned. If we have a misalignment on any side, then we are not successful.”
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