For a product to become a real brand, it has to bring a number of benefits, including functionality as well as quality, but above all character, which represents a tangible, visible asset that has a vital effect on the customer’s decision to buy and subsequent satisfaction.
DEY32M and DMY32M Yacht Concepts by Drettmann Yachts
That Claudia and Albert Drettmann cultivate and embody this sense of brand identity is clearly evident from the positive development of their firm, Drettmann Yachts. The highly committed owners have succeeded in transforming their passion for yachts into an impressively thriving business.
In the last two years alone, the Drettmanns have not only sold 200 pre-owned yachts, but also excelled in the new-build segment.
Two completely new yacht lines by the Bremen company, which are outstanding in every respect, have attracted a great deal of attention since their rollout last year.
New standards
Drettmann Motor Yachts (DMY) and Drettmann Explorer Yachts (DEY), which range from 20 to 45 metres, boast features that have never been seen before in this class: for instance, a beach club with bar, wellness area and direct access to the guest cabins or the sea, garages for tender and jet-ski or the new diesel electric pod propulsion systems with comfortable joystick steering, which makes manoeuvring the vessel fun, as it is both simple and safe.
This is altogether a new form of maritime experience which thoroughly fulfils the wish for more comfort, the ultimate closeness to the water and maximum facilities on board.
Drettmann Yachts Fleet
New options
The wealth of innovative and ingenious solutions has obviously struck the right chord in the market: the keel of the first DMY is about to be laid, no fewer than two vessels from the new Explorer Yacht series have already been sold in 2013 and other negotiations are in process.
Needless to say, Albert Drettmann is delighted that Drettmann Yachts has picked up speed so soon. Increasing interest, however, means lower capacities for building new yachts. Drettmann has accordingly been keeping its eyes open for potential new partners all over the world, for people who share our ideas and can live up to our exacting technical standards.
This search has been successful – and has taken us back to the Netherlands once again and also back to Asia:
The Dutch shipyards are regarded as market leaders in international yachting circles, and back in the early days of the company, Drettmann already cooperated successfully with Neptunus Shipbuilding in the Netherlands. By the year 1998, Drettmann had commissioned and sold more than 700 yachts with lengths of up to 20 metres by the yard.
Nor is Asia “new territory” for the Drettmanns. For almost 20 years, up until 2010, Drettmann collaborated with the Taiwanese yard “Horizon”.
From the initial figure of 90 employees, Drettmann raised the workforce to a total of 1300 and, in its heyday, purchased 80% of the yard’s production. Drettmann commissioned a total of more than 300 Motor and Explorer Yachts from its own well-known “Elegance” and “Bandido” lines, in a class of up to 55m, and found satisfied owners for them on behalf of the yard.
The Bremen company gradually evolved into the world’s most success-ful yacht vendor in this class.
The next chapter in this success story is now to be written in cooperation with shipyards in the Netherlands and Asia and – if all goes according to plan – will surpass the company’s previous performance.
“Our new partner yards belong to the top players in the high-end shipbuilding market. They have already delivered proof of their experience, skilled craftsmanship and quality awareness for many years,” explains Albert Drettmann.
Then, as today, compliance with quality criteria takes top priority. “Our brand name guarantees that we provide our customers with quality “Made in Germany” – regardless of where the yachts are actually built. The new generation of “Elegance Yachts” and “Bandido Yachts” will soon be an added attraction on the seven seas …” promises Claudia Drettmann.
