Craft Focus - Jun/Jul (Issue 73)

86 the write stuff Samantha Hedley, marketing assistant at edding, reveals how the company’s markers have been used by everyone from astronauts to beekeepers Tell me a little about the origin of edding. Things began in 1960. While The Beatles were setting the music world on fire, edding founders Carl-Wilhelm Edding and Volker Detlef Ledermann were quietly beetling away themselves. Armed with a tiny start-up capital of just 500 DM (about £150) and a typewriter, they came up with the edding No 1, a permanent marker which is still produced today. “In those early years, everything was exciting,” Ledermann remarked. After just 10 years, the pair had sold almost 100 million edding markers around the world. Today, some 600 staff all over the globe produce more than 200 million markers each year and we are overjoyed at every one of them. We are looking forward to celebrating our 60 th anniversary next year! What are the company’s core products? ‘Power of expression’ is the focus of edding’s brand strategy, with our long-lasting and authentic writing and marking products central to our success. In fact, according to the latest GfK data (Jan-Dec 2018) we are not only number one in the EU6 countries’ marker segment for value, but also volume. We feel that we truly offer the best product with which to realise oneself and one’s ideas. What are edding’s bestselling lines? edding is distinctive, direct and has an individual solution for everything, so whatever your area of focus or expertise, we have a product to suit. Whether you are producing creative works of art with our extensive range of fibrepens, paint markers, textile markers and porcelain brushpens or marking wet, dirty and rusty objects in an industrial context, we believe in the freedom for everyone to make their ideas visible in a straightforward, open and self-confident way. Are there any significant new launches coming up? We have six new pastels in the edding 1200 colour pen range. Our gloss paint markers will soon be expanding to include four pastels for e-751 (stroke width 1-2mm), three brilliant metallics for e-780 (stroke width 0.8mm) and three new shades for e-753 calligraphy paint markers. Would you say innovation and creativity are core values for you? edding stands for innovation. We are constantly seeking new ideas for areas of application and our creativity knows no bounds. Whether it’s wood, stone, steel, paper, plastic, rubber or glass, with our markers, every surface is turned into a canvas. In fact, our corporate innovation management department is always looking for the next big market developments, and we are striking up strategic co-operations with exciting and interesting companies around the world, so watch this space. Is it important to keep up with industry trends? Yes, whether you’re the creator of the trend or a follower – you don’t get to be the European number one on your own. We believe sharing is caring and it takes people who have a personal interest in their brand and are constantly driving it forward with new ideas. Does the company attend any trade shows? We exhibit at The Education Show and Stationery Show London, as well as at dealer/buying group events.