World player in lifting cranes Mammoet strings together records for tallest and strongest cranes. Less known is that Mammoet sends miniature models of its cranes around the world every day to thousands of customers and fans of the brand.
In early 2024, Mammoet opened its newest merchandise store a few metres from the Nieuwe Maas river and the hoisting crane giant’s imposing main building in Schiedam.
“About 20 years ago, we started Mammoet Merchandise,” says Paul Gregoire of Mammoet Merchandise. “Back then, we had exactly a t-shirt, a cap and a very first scale model of a MAN truck coupled to a Golfdhofer heavy haulage trailer.”
“Now, 20 years later, we have just opened our new showroom from where we also run our webshop. In Schiedam, we sell a lot of miniature models of our cranes and trucks, an extensive line of work clothes and safety shoes, t-shirts, caps, bags and Mammoet Toys, our own toy line. Actually, we are an extension of the Mammoet marketing department, but as a separate business unit with a commercial angle. So we have to be able to keep our own trousers on financially,” Gregoire laughs.
Salvaging ‘Kursk’
A lot of national and international media attention for Mammoet’s salvage operations has allowed the merchandise department to make great strides. “In 2001, we salvaged the Russian nuclear submarine ‘Kursk’ in the Barents Sea. The nuclear submarine sank on 12 August 2000 after an accident that killed all 118 people on board. This salvage operation put us in the global spotlight at the time.”
“That same week, we took our European headquarters to this location in Schiedam by pontoon. The office was built in an offshore shed and towed here ready-made. In terms of concept, this was very unique and so within a week we were on the news just about everywhere. Then we also saw a huge increase in demand for t-shirts and caps,” says Gregoire.
Mammoet Gold member club
“We immediately jumped on that commercial demand, because we really got demand for merchandise from all over the world,” says Gregoire. “Meanwhile, we have our own Mammoet fan club: the Mammoet gold member club. That club consists of about a thousand members, real die-hard fans, scale model collectors from all over the world and among them also some Mammoet staff members. Around that is an even larger group of heavy transport enthusiasts who buy something from time to time.”
“From the moment a manufacturer releases a scale model that we also have in the fleet, we have it reproduced in exactly the same company colours. Usually these are sold in a limited edition of 500 or 1,000 pieces, with a numbered certificate,” says Gregoire. “Every year we launch around 10 new scale models. So we are now heading towards the 200 different scale models we have sold. Of all those models, we still have one here in a display case, which in the meantime gives you a nice overview of the history of our cranes, trailers and trucks.”
Dutch Grand Prix
For several years, Mammoet has also been an event supporter of the Dutch Grand Prix, the annual Formula 1 race in Zandvoort. The company then puts various cranes at strategic locations around the circuit to quickly remove race cars from the track that stall or crash. “This also allowed us to have very popular merchandise made, which we distribute through the shop,” says Gregoire.
The scale models are regularly used as attention-grabbers at the various trade shows the company participates in around the world. For the occasion, dioramas are then built (a lifelike three-dimensional set-up in miniature, ed) showing a miniature crane straightening a wind turbine, for example. “These are built by a crane operator from Mammoet in his spare time and carefully transported in large suitcases to the various fairs,” says Gregoire.
Mammoet also aims to familiarise children with the brand from an early age through its toy line. “If we start connecting people to our brand early enough, when they are a bit older they might also come and apply to us,” says Gregoire. “Mammoet Toys is a shot in the arm. We haven’t started it for very long, but meanwhile, through retail outlets in some 35 countries, we sell several 100,000 units a year.”
Crane Experience
A real crane cab was recently picked up from crane manufacturer Liebherr to convert it into a crane simulator. “Our fans often dream of being able to sit in a real cab one day,” says Gregoire. “During an assignment on a construction site, this is obviously impossible, but so here it is possible. Using virtual reality, they can then experience what it is like to work with a crane.”
The Mammoet store and crane experience can be visited during office hours.
