Bringing light to darkness sounds like a grand mission, yet to Italian architectural lighting company, Griven Srl it’s been part of their everyday work for more than three decades. Award winning, CEO, Luca Meinardi builds on this to introduce an innovative global vision.
Founded in 1990, Griven Srl began its journey as a producer of disco lighting effects.
Throughout its history, the brand has never been afraid to be agile and has always had the highest expectations when it comes to quality. This has seen the company design a series of new products in its range over the years and Griven has a proud history of being selected by internationally acclaimed architectural sites to provide stunning illumination. A prime example of this can be seen at the Citadel in Cairo – a UNESCO World Heritage site where Griven’s products provide the lighting that thousands have stood in awe of when they visit the site.
Since its days as a family-run firm, Griven has been through many evolutions but it has always sought to maintain its traditional methods and values.
When Luca Meinardi was asked to lead the firm in 2019, he saw a wonderful opportunity to build on those traditional values and introduce a culture of innovation and global ambition.
This appointment represented a shift in the thinking of Griven owners – the international group EXPERIENCE BRANDS. They empowered Meinardi to shake up the company’s strategy and he didn’t waste any time in creating an ambitious new roadmap.
One of the most obvious demonstrations of this new approach can be seen in Griven’s own brand. Under Meinardi the look and feel of Griven is truly contemporary. The new look shouts out loud and proud that Griven will redefine industry standards by bringing a passion for ideas and innovation to combine with its history of quality and respecting traditional values.
Research and Development Setting the Tone
With Meinardi’s 15 years of experience in the lighting industry, he understands the importance of investing in new approaches and ideas for a business to succeed. The R&D function at Griven has taken centre stage and has been challenged to both redefine current products, and create brand new ones.
This has seen the current Griven portfolio evolve in line with, if not exceed, customer needs and expectations. By optimising and upgrading existing products, the company has been able to demonstrate to customers that Griven will always strive to support them as they look for a genuine partner – not just a supplier. Griven’s core business has seen the creation of brand new products with much greater attention paid to the aesthetic design and functional features.
Under Meinardi’s direction the R&D team have also been able to help Griven identify brand new products and even entire new markets. The CEO wants Griven at the forefront of the unexplored white light residential market and the commitment to continuous innovation is what the leader feels is going to get his company there first.
With Griven’s experience in the commercial/B2B market, Meinardi believes there is a fantastic opportunity to expand in the consumer market where their technical expertise and high quality production will have the Griven brand standing out compared to its competitors.
This new global, consumer market presents an incredible opportunity for Griven with the levels of potential growth truly exciting.
In the architectural lighting world, it’s as much about technology as it is about art and creativity. Meinardi challenges his team at Griven to find a way to combine the two and delight both audiences and customers.
Never Losing Sight on Quality
It’s not all about new ideas at Griven though. A key aspect of Meinardi’s strategy for growth is to maintain the highest quality levels at all times – even in brand new markets that the company hasn’t been before.
This quality obviously has to exist in the lighting products themselves but it goes much further. Customer service and genuine collaboration is at the heart of how Griven work with partners and customers. As part of this, the company has created a brand new bespoke solutions team where their engineers can work hand in hand with designers and architects from day one.
This allows Griven to get involved in the illumination discussion far earlier than other suppliers and they can bring their experience to the table and deliver ideas and solutions to problems before they become real issues.
Alongside this desire to get as close as possible to customers, they have maintained the commitment to their Italian roots. Griven continues to design, engineer and assemble their products in Italy and they still have the highest design and build standards embedded in their processes.
As part of this strategy, Meinardi decided to centralise the company’s supply in Italy and choose more and more Italian providers for materials, components and accessories. This is a key part of the company’s acclaimed certification scheme which brings security to the supply chain as well as confidence to both partners and customers.
An Active Contributor to a Sustainable Future
Alongside all this talk of global growth and industry defining innovation, Griven holds the concept of sustainability very close to its heart.
Meinardi has spoken many times about how he sets all his people an ongoing challenge of thinking how they and Griven can be responsible members of their communities. Whether it be user comfort, environmentally friendly materials or the wellbeing of individuals the Griven team are well aware that they have a responsibility to grow a sustainable brand.
Meinardi himself speaks of the company’s Sustainability Report 2021 which he regards as a declaration to his team, their suppliers, customers and even the world about how Griven will improve its role in protecting the environment by seeking ever greener engineering and production methodologies. Easy to say but Griven are living up to these ambitious commitments already by removing all the plastic from their packaging, using solar panels on their buildings and have zero emissions from their premises.
Meinardi’s New Approach
The new Griven CEO has only been in seat for two years but already his approach is having an impressive impact.
This can be seen how Griven achieved historic levels of both company revenue and EBITDA, in the same year that the world was brought to its knees by the COVID pandemic. When you also consider how badly Italy was hit by the pandemic, this is quite a testament to Meinardi and all the people at Griven.
2021 has continued in much the same vein with Griven winning yet another high profile award. The International Association of Lighting Designers confirmed just recently that the Shali Centre Mosque in Russia has been recognised in their 2021 Awards of Excellence as one of the most innovative and inspiring architectural lighting design projects in the world.
Luca Meinardi knows that there is much work still to be done but is excited by the progress and success that the new strategies are already achieving. From its origins as a company started by four brothers, Griven has already come a long way.
Immediate commitments include further investment in R&D as well as ISO certification in key areas. Overall Meinardi’s ambition is to see Griven expand both domestically and internationally and with the early successes he’s been able to achieve in some of the hardest trading conditions ever experienced, it would be foolish to bet against him and Griven.
Griven Srl is one of the most dynamic and successful architectural lighting manufacturers, delivering a state of the art collection of standard and customised solutions, visual lighting displays and spectacular effects. Comprehensive details of their products, together with the stunning projects completed, can be found on the company website, griven.com