[Interview] Age Yska SMP, Marketing Manager, edding

Brand building is the engine, performance is the accelerator

Marketing Report Nederland & België spoke to Age Yska SMP, the Marketing Manager at edding and ranked 165th on the list of the 250 most influential marketers. We spoke about The Power of Expression.

Can you introduce your brand?

Since 1960, edding has been the brand for everyone who wants to mark, write, and create. Over more than 60 years, the publicly listed family business edding has grown into a global brand with a broad range of high-quality markers, writing instruments, and paint sprays—still driven by the same entrepreneurial spirit as in the early days.

edding stands for “The Power of Expression”: the ability to make ideas, beliefs, and creativity visible with ink solutions that work on almost any surface. Whether you draw a line, make a statement, label something, present, design, or mark a technical application at work—choosing edding means choosing clear colors, clear communication, and consistent quality. And that goes far beyond the iconic edding 3000 permanent marker: from creative projects at home to highly specialized industrial markings.

Since our founding, we have developed durable, robust products that last exceptionally long. We make it easy for professionals and private users to achieve perfect results quickly, with solutions that are not only functionally reliable but also give confidence in your creativity.

Sustainability is not a side issue for us; it is part of how we make decisions. As a Profit For organization, we do not see profit as the end goal, but as a means to create positive ecological and social change.

In addition to the edding brand, the edding Group also includes Legamaster (visual communication and collaboration) and PLAYROOM (creativity and innovation in organizations).

Who is your target audience? How has it changed over the years?

Instead of “target groups,” I prefer to talk about our “audience.” Looking at our portfolio, that audience can roughly be divided into four worlds:

• Professionals & industry: people who need to rely on clear, durable markings in their work.
• Office, education & organizational use: for writing, presenting, organizing, and communicating.
• Creatives & makers (hobby/DIY): from doodles, visuals, and hand lettering to larger projects in and around the home.
• Home users: applications in and around the house, such as labeling, organizing, small fixes, and practical jobs.

At the same time, we mainly operate through our trade partners and retail channels: office supply specialists, education partners, industrial resellers, supermarkets, discounters, drugstores, DIY chains, garden centers, hobby shops, toy stores, bookstores and convenience stores, e-commerce specialists, marketplaces, and more. We want to be available where customers expect to find us.

How has the audience changed? The core has remained the same. We are here for everyone who wants to mark and create reliably. But it has broadened significantly. From functional and professional use to a much larger role for creative use, DIY, personalization, and specialized industrial applications.

B2C has grown strongly over the past ten years, while traditional B2B markets have remained stable or even declined slightly. In B2C, what has changed most is that consumers now decide much more for themselves where they buy what. We are also selectively exploring D2C, especially where it helps us learn from users and serve new audiences better—without undermining our trade relationships.

What are your brand’s core values?

Our brand values come from our ambition to contribute as a pioneer to a regenerative economy: we want everyone to be able to leave their mark, and we believe that collaboration creates real impact. In a way that is good for people and the planet.

At edding, we are pioneers building a regenerative future in an authentic, empowering, and caring way. Our core values are anchored in this:

• Pioneering spirit: we dare to choose new paths, think ahead, and stay curious. We listen closely to users, see mistakes as learning moments, and bring fresh ideas to life together.
• Authenticity: we walk our talk. What we say matches what we do. We encourage people to be themselves and express their beliefs, always with respect for others.
• Empowerment: we create safe space to take risks. We trust each other, take ownership, and give decision-making power to those closest to the user. That helps us learn and act faster.
• Truly caring: we act responsibly in the interest of the company, people, and the planet. We stand for fair, sustainable choices and work “shoulder to shoulder.”

Digital techniques make it easier to drive short-term sales. How important is investing in brand building?

You’re right! Digital tools make it easier than ever to steer short-term results: retargeting, conversion optimization, performance campaigns. Everything is measurable. But that is exactly why investing in brand building is essential for edding. Performance is often the accelerator; the brand is the engine.

Why? Because people do not like to make an effort. Thinking for humans is like swimming for cats: it costs energy, and our brains want to save energy. So we invest in recognition, awareness, color, shape, packaging, and overall look and feel. Brands are shortcuts that speed up purchase decisions. Think of the purple shampoo bottle. The yellow “M.” And in our case: the blue-and-red marker with the iconic cap you recognize in a split second.

Online, it is no different. The digital world is complex: endless choices, infinite stimuli, fleeting attention. The greater the digital chaos, the stronger the need for recognizable anchors. A brand is therefore not just a logo. For me, it is a familiar route in the user’s mind. It turns “What should I choose?” into a simple decision: “Oh yes, edding. I know that. It works. I’ll take that.”

That is why brand building pays off, even if you often only see the effect after six months or more. People choose faster what they know, feel more connected to it, and are often willing to pay more for it. That is exactly what a strong brand does: it makes choosing easy.

At the same time, we see A-brands under pressure in retail. In our category as well, competition from private labels and cheaper products from the Far East is increasing. Our answer is to keep investing, next to physical availability, in mental availability (recognition and consistency) and in meaning (what we stand for: reliable ink solutions, Profit For, and The Power of Expression). We do this with courage, pioneering spirit, and a strong story.

As an A-brand in writing instruments, we do not just live off past successes, nor do we buy the present with short-term promotions alone. That does not work in the long run. That is why 2026 feels like a turning point for me: we want to communicate in a more human way and tell stories that truly land. And in doing so, build preference for our brand.

The world has changed dramatically in the last ten years. Has your brand changed too?

Yes, edding has changed visibly over the past ten years, precisely because the world and the expectations of customers, employees, and partners have changed so quickly. The biggest shift for us is called Profit For.

Ten years ago, “sustainability” in our category often meant small steps. Today, the bar is radically higher. We have moved with it. At edding, we have shifted our foundation from a classic for-profit model to Profit For, with the ambition to work regeneratively. Profit is no longer the end goal, but the means to enable ecological and social improvements.

You can see that choice in what we make. We have accelerated innovation in materials. Sometimes with trial and error, such as early experiments with alternative plastics. We are moving faster toward more circular raw materials. A good example is the switch to 100% recycled aluminum for our aluminum barrels. At the same time, many plastic components are now largely made from reused or post-consumer material, with a high share of recycled plastic.

But perhaps the biggest change is how we look at product lifespan. We design more and more explicitly for long-term use: an empty marker can be refilled up to 15 times, and many products have replaceable tips. So don’t throw your marker away when it’s empty. Just refill it. That is where the real lever lies: not only in technology, but in behavior. Refilling is no longer a hassle. It’s up to us to make it the new routine.

Will you adjust your media mix in 2026?

Yes, in 2026 we will sharpen our media mix. In fact, every year you should look at your brand and ask: “If this were our first year, what would we do?”

We will launch fewer campaigns, but with more focus. So that each campaign runs longer and delivers more impact per euro. The foundation remains familiar: online, email, social, end-user trade fairs, and influencers/creators remain important for inspiration and building brand preference.

The biggest shift is where we add extra weight: retail media. Simply put, we want to be present more often at the exact moment people choose.

Online, that means being more visible in webshops and marketplaces when people search for a marker for a job, a creative project, or office use. In stores, it means being stronger on and around the shelf, where many decisions in our category are still made.

The big advantage for edding is that we can directly link visibility and content to shopping behavior and sales. So we can learn and optimize faster. That works especially well for us because recognition and application (“which marker for which task?”) make the biggest difference at the moment of purchase.

How do you, from your brand’s perspective, look at 2026?

From edding’s perspective, 2026 will be a year in which consumers choose even more consciously. And more critically. Sustainability remains decisive, but with a strong reality check: consumers want responsible products, even for writing instruments, but they do not want to pay more for them. And they expect transparency about origin and production.

At the same time, the playing field is becoming more personal and more digital. Demand for personalization is growing. Such as customized writing instruments like printed markers. Products that better fit someone’s personal style and application are gaining ground.

AI will play a bigger role in consumer behavior and marketing. From social and search to how people discover and compare products. It influences the choices consumers make. As marketers, we must adapt our content and continuously learn how to use AI as a tool to improve processes and content. Strategy and human creativity are more important than ever. And above all stands convenience: consumers expect fast delivery, clear information, and a frictionless journey.

The trends in sustainability, personalization, and AI will influence not only how consumers buy, but also how companies develop and bring products to market. It is essential for us to embrace these changes and continuously adapt to the needs and expectations of consumers in the coming years.

For edding, 2026 is also the year in which we consciously bring two things together: impact and relevance. We have chosen to transform into a Profit For organization. Profit not as an end goal, but as a means to create positive impact on the planet, people, and resources.

And in a market under price pressure, with extremely cheap platforms emerging, we want to make people feel what edding has stood for for more than 60 years: reliability, safety, quality, and creativity. Combined with the logic of using products longer instead of replacing them faster.

Concretely, this means in 2026: explaining even better why edding is the smart choice (both on physical shelves and digital ones), working with our trade partners to ensure the right content, applications, and findability, and at the same time accelerating our impact agenda.

As a marker manufacturer, we want to create value throughout the entire chain and help customers make choices that make sense in the long term. In short: we will be where consumers expect to find and/or buy us.

What has the arrival of AI meant for your relationship with agencies?

In 2026, we work with agencies such as De Combinatie van Factoren B.V. (DCVF). The arrival of AI has mainly changed where we add the most value together.

We increasingly automate practical side tasks around projects—first versions, variants, formats, production preparation. That creates more time and budget for what really matters to us at edding: creativity that works.

Because edding stands for creativity and expression, it fits us to embrace new ways of creating. We therefore do not just expect “AI on top,” but agencies that structurally integrate AI into their process. We work, among others, with DCVF, which sees AI integration not only as an experiment, but also builds custom agents to truly transform how work is done.

The great thing is that this brings two worlds together: we benefit from the creative freedom AI offers. You are no longer limited to what you can physically produce in a single photo shoot. While holding on to what remains crucial for us: an agency as a reliable business partner, with quality, planning, brand consistency, and responsibility.

Overall, the relationship has become closer and more co-creative: less time wasted on “hassle,” more space to innovate creatively together. With more spontaneity and ultimately stronger activation campaigns that fit edding.

What makes the marketing profession today interesting to you?

What makes marketing so interesting to me is that it has become both more human and more technological.

At edding, no day is the same. Precisely because with small teams and limited budgets we touch so many sides of the profession: online and offline, trade marketing and end-user marketing, large international campaigns and local promotions. One week you work on partnerships, the next you’re on a trade show floor, organizing live workshops, or closely watching what happens on social media.

On the one hand, marketing is still about something very basic: understanding how people choose. In a world full of stimuli, our brains look for shortcuts like recognition, trust, and meaning. As a marketer, you can really make a difference by choosing clarity. Simplicity with impact. Stories and marketing centered on people: warm, honest, curious, and truly caring. Brands that don’t add noise, but set something in motion. I truly believe you don’t just build customers. You build fans: people who feel seen and experience a brand as something of their own.

On the other hand, we now have more tools than ever to do this well: data, retail media, content in dozens of variants, and AI that speeds up production. That allows us to learn faster, adjust faster, and test more creatively. For me, technology mainly reduces side tasks, creating more space for what matters: the idea, the message, and the connection.

And then there is the international dynamic. As marketing manager for Region West (France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands), I work with teams in countries where we are market leader and in countries where we are the challenger. That always requires a different tone, a different plan, and above all: close cooperation with local marketers and trade partners with their own cultures.

That is why, despite all the technology, the profession remains largely about people. And that makes it especially interesting to me.

Do you think it is important that brands use their influence for the environment and society?

Yes, absolutely. I believe it is important that brands use their influence for the environment and society. But in a way that is authentic, concrete, and collaborative: by taking others along and making it easier to make the right choices.

Brands have a responsibility to create real movement. At edding, this does not come only from good intentions, but from the conviction that in a world with environmental problems and social and mental crises, you do not want to stand on the sidelines.

That is why we consciously choose Profit For: profit is no longer the end goal, but a means to create positive impact on the planet, people, and resources. Concretely, this means we invest the profit we generate even more strongly than before in social and sustainable projects, and we involve employees in supporting local initiatives.

Impact is not something you create alone. We want to do this together with our trade partners. At the same time, we remain realistic about what the market demands. For example, by offering sustainable innovations (such as recycled aluminum, recycled plastic, and more eco-friendly packaging) without automatically raising consumer prices.

We have concrete goals toward 2026, such as achieving at least 3,000 tons of CO₂ reduction and helping 10,000 children worldwide with educational materials. We will not buy carbon offsets, but improve ourselves through renewable energy, electrification, and more efficient logistics.

What is the latest news?

Everyone knows us for the edding 3000 permanent marker and our paint and board markers. But the latest news is that, alongside these icons, we are growing strongly in specialized industrial applications.

Think of marking at extreme temperatures, underwater, in cleanrooms, in aviation applications, or in hard-to-reach places. For all these situations, we provide very targeted solutions.

To meet this growing demand, we have recently developed several specific products, such as:

• edding 8880 deep-hole marking pencil
• edding 8890 mechanical carpenter’s pencil
• edding 8046 Ready White industry pen
• edding 8870 marking spray for deep holes

These are not one-size-fits-all solutions, but precisely tailored to the application. We always look at questions in the market, no matter how niche they may seem. Because the more specialized a product, the more stable the customer relationship. Volumes may be small, but once such a solution is embedded in a customer’s (ISO) processes, they will not switch for something ten cents cheaper.

We always think from the customer’s perspective and the solution we can offer them.

www.edding.com

 

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