CEO Jan Hol in KVGOpinie

Graphic companies shouldn’t be too hesitant to reposition themselves time and again. Those words are spoken by the man who has done so many times in his life: Jan Hol. The 74-year-old CEO of Holbox and Kartonnenwinkel.nl—with around 400 employees worldwide—sits at his desk almost every morning at seven. He invariably leaves again at three, because since undergoing heart surgery seven years ago, he has been taking things easier by his standards. ‘We are a family business, which means my children now hold the most important roles in the company.’ He’s referring to his wife Wies, his son Martijn, and his daughters Anouk and Chantal.

To illustrate that constant repositioning is his credo, on the very morning of the interview he had just decided to give the ‘kartonnenwinkel.nl’ concept a new purpose—indeed, to reduce it to a landing page. And as is typical for Jan: once something is decided, he prefers the execution to have happened yesterday. The new name will be: Holbox Shop Direct.

Store

Holbox is among the largest suppliers of cardboard displays. Usually these are huge volumes sold across Europe. Besides a production site in Echt, Limburg, the company also operates a factory in Poland. It further has sales offices in Germany and Poland, and also supplies the Scandinavian market. The idea of a store that could deliver small quantities of cardboard products came to Jan decades ago. ‘For example, physical shops with seven or eight outlets in the Netherlands. But the investments were enormous, so it never happened. When the internet brought more possibilities, we could realize the idea after all—but as a webshop. We thought we could make money producing small quantities of displays and other POP materials via a webshop. To consumers we sold cardboard gift items, partly made from our cardboard waste.’ The ‘Kartonnenwinkel’ concept turned out to be a masterstroke.

Abroad

With radio and TV advertising, the concept was catapulted into the spotlight. The assortment was vastly expanded, including standard displays that customers could personalize with their own images and branding, as well as unique cardboard products. There was also window-dressing material, seating furniture, trade-fair walls, life-size displays, and all kinds of merchandising items. The concept also caught on abroad. ‘By now it accounts for between 8 to 10% of our turnover,’ Jan notes.

Insight

Working via a webshop delivered not only revenue but also market insight. Jan Hol: ‘We discovered that potential customers don’t search by company, but by distinctive products. We can make those, even in small quantities, ranging from a single item to several thousand. For that ‘small market’ I have two designers available, alongside our core Holbox design team of 15, who can design unique products. That’s where the difference lies. By being distinctive, we can set our own price despite small runs and avoid having to compete with dozens of peers. We are specialists in cardboard. We could easily make wooden displays — we have all the equipment for that. But we want to remain specialists in cardboard.’

Farewell

Now that it’s clear customers and prospects search by product names, the Kartonnenwinkel vehicle is basically redundant. ‘Small quantities and special products can also be delivered under the Holbox name. There’s something else: the word “winkel” also attracts many consumers. That is a very labor-intensive customer segment. We will gradually say goodbye to that. The Holbox brand remains the umbrella we work under.’ Does the CEO regret that the name will disappear? Jan remains down-to-earth: ‘A matter of evolving insight.’

Rescue

According to the Limburg CEO, making a difference is what can be the salvation of many graphic companies. Everyone is looking for a slice of the market — call it fishing in the same pond. Holbox has always tried to create its own little pond. That has repeatedly secured a distinctive position and thus fewer competitors. Jan Hol: ‘When we faced increasing competition from fellow print shops, we bought a digital printer to serve a new market. Recently, a fully automatic Zünd D3 plotter was added.’

Outsourcing

The end of developments is nowhere in sight, according to Jan Hol. ‘Covid exposed many problems in the business world. Among other things, that we can work much more efficiently thanks to modern communication media. That will certainly affect how we organize our sales. We are winning a lot of new business via Teams, for example. Holbox is gradually growing into one big webshop. I also wonder whether our participation in trade fairs and events will still be so important in the future. After all, digital media give us enormous reach to showcase our capabilities.’ Finally, Jan has a good piece of advice: ‘Don’t do everything yourself; make use of specialists. Outsource what you can’t do yourself.’

How Holbox applies this can be seen in the VIDEO.