25 years of Promonotes: Sticking with the customers

Founded in 1994, Promonotes has made a name for itself on the European promotional products market as a manufacturer of bespoke adhesive notes and notebooks. Thanks to its own production plant near Poznan, the company can realise custom-made designs within three weeks – in small volumes, at favourable prices and in top quality. A sales policy that is consistently aligned as a “sales force” for the promotional products trade has promoted the company’s growth also on the international promotional products market.

Promonotes is celebrating a double anniversary in 2019: The company was founded 25 years ago and the German subsidiary Promonotes GmbH has been operating for five years – it is the only true Promonotes daughter company to-date. “When Promonotes was established 25 years ago, it kicked off with a small team and simple machinery. Today, we are considered to be one of the strongest suppliers of promotional products made of paper across Europe,” confirmed Maciej Mackowiak, Commercial Director at Promonotes. “Our range of products has multiplied, the headcount has increased and the number of machines has expanded from around 40 in 2014 up to over 60 machines. We dispose of modern equipment that enables us to manufacture completely individualised products that boast a very high level of quality.”

Jakub Rawecki, Vice President and son of the founder and proprietor of Promonotes, Kristoffer Rawecki, who lives in Sweden in the meantime, is responsible for this development. Since its establishment in 1994 – in the midst of Poland’s upswing after the Iron Curtain fell – Promonotes is still family-owned, independent from external investors. The corporate policy is based on longterm success, sustainable and healthy growth and the greatest possible flexibility. Profits are frequently reinvested straightaway in order to push the permanent further development. The Polish company has nailed the values commitment, passion and pursuing one’s own mission in the daily work routine to its flag.

Manufacturer competence

Promonotes doesn’t see itself as a supplier of standard items, but more as a manufacturer of individually designed adhesive notes and notebooks. “We don’t just brand our products with the names of our customers, we create completely new items together with the customers,” is how Gerrit Bruns, Managing Director of the German subsidiary, describes the concept for their recipe for success. “We supply haptic media that can communicate the DNA of a promoting company in a special way,” added Bruns. “That is only possible, because we have our own production facilities that we have permanent access to – which is something that significantly distinguishes us from many of our competitors.” Around 150 people work for Promonotes full-time, in the peak season with the temporary workers the headcount sometimes increases up to 200. The fact that many of the employees have been working for the Polish company for many years is among other things evidence of the “good internal climate” according to Mackowiak. The acquired know-how in the different production and customising techniques is correspondingly high. And thanks to the daily experiences gained, this expert knowledge continues to grow.

The production and printing facilities are located on premises spanning 11,000 m² at the headquarters in Suchy-Las – a small city 10 km north of Poznan, which has an excellent infrastructure to Central and Western Europe via the motorway. For example, Berlin can be reached within three hours so that Promonotes’ strengths also include short delivery times. The company can deliver custom-made products across Europe within three weeks after print approval.

Maximum individualisation

The 2019 Promonotes catalogue demonstrates everything that is possible. The 64-page publication considers itself to be a source of inspiration rather than an ordering tool, here no limits are set to the creative fantasy. One of the most simple design options is the selection of the preferred format: “We have even already produced sticky notes in DIN A3 format,” reported Mackowiak, “unusual, but extremely attention-grabbing”. Adhesive notes can also be punched into the desired shape. The cover materials offer a wide range of choices, available for combi sets (sticky notes with bookmarks) and for the notebooks. “We provide a vast range of covering materials made of Polyurethane (PU) with or without leather structure, paper, elegant linen, fine satin, PVC with a metallic structure, felt, structured art paper and many more,” explained Mackowiak. “Furthermore, we can also acquire many desired materials for the covers via our procurement department. For instance, if a car manufacturer wants a certain leather or a textile company requires a certain fabric to suit its firm, this is also realisable depending on the respective material.” In this way, promoting companies can compile whole collections of specifically manufactured paper products.

In addition to the covers, there are numerous other individualising options for notebooks: whether round or pointed, lined, squared or blank, frequently with a customer logo and in corporate colours on the individual pages, with perforated or punched holes – promoting companies receive a notepad that meets their requirements and can also determine numerous other details, starting from the wideness of the elastic closer, type and size of the pen loop as well as the colour of the pen loops, satin ribbons and headbands, through to coloured edging and gold or silver foil on edges on request. To convey further messages, endpages can be integrated or advertising pages can be inserted in the desired place of the book. Ultimately, it is also possible to individually design each single page. “Such communication tools, the impact of which goes far beyond the usual degree of standard promotional products, can only arise through the trusting, creative interaction between the distributors and their customers,” stated Mackowiak. “In the course of our sales discussions, we initially want to learn which goals the distributor and his customer are pursuing so that we can propose the according specific suggestions. The individual solutions that we offer them cannot be adequately depicted in price lists or via an online shop. This is why we place the priority on the consulting approach.”

High quality

The aim is always to achieve the maximum individualisation at the highest possible production technological level. Thanks to a high degree of automated processes, not only the abovementioned short delivery times, but also the low order volumes give us a competitive edge: Many items are produced for order volumes of 250 pieces upwards, sometimes order quantities of 100 pieces are possible. The prices are also moderate: “We are not the cheapest, but offer instead the best value for money,” confirmed Mackowiak. “When we entered the market, we started off as the price leaders. In the meantime, we also claim to be one of the quality leaders in our product segment.”

Promonotes is a member of Club of Notes – an international alliance of suppliers of imprinted adhesive notes in the promotional products section. The Club of Notes members buy their raw materials – precoated paper with water-based, solvent-free adhesive – from a renowned manufacturer that competes with 3M, whose origin was the old Beiersdorf production. “The production of adhesive paper is an extremely elaborate process – we are pleased to be able to fall back on the competence of a very experienced and proficient manufacturer,” stressed Mackowiak. High environmental standards are adhered to during the production. For users, who place particular value on sustainability, it is also possible to produce sticky notes from FSC-certified raw materials. Eco-friendly companies that implement articles made of recycled paper even take things a step further: In this connection, Promonotes offers products that have been certified with the Blue Angel – a label that is only awarded if the strictest requirements are complied with. The quality standard foresees that the Promonotes notebooks are sold under a registered brand. The Mindnotes® brand was only pro-actively marketed once the production process had established itself and initial experiences had been gained. Today, the Mindnotes® are a growing segment that is gaining more and more importance within the companies. For the models that are covered with the soft-touch material, Verona, which is also available in gold and silver, Promonotes incidentally also received the renowned Promotional Gift Award this year for the first time in the company’s history: In addition to the numerous individualisation options – among others gold leaf look on the edges – the jury also praised the visual and haptic qualities of the books.

Impress the distributors

Good quality, favourable prices, fast delivery times, small order quantities – these are all good arguments for Promonotes. This is accompanied by a policy which is strictly aligned to satisfy the needs of the promotional products trade. “The trade is our sales force, which is why we are all the more interested in the distributor making good money with our products, this will encourage him to place orders with us later. That is why we use our current production prices to calculate every order,” stressed Bruns. Mackowiak added: “Short-term success is nice, but not everything. It is about building up long-term and sustainable relations. We want to impress the distributors with good work and we keep the promises we make.”

The outlook for further expansion is looking good in the 25th anniversary year. In the meantime, Suchy-Las supplies customers from all over Europe. The fact that the Polish company not only asserts itself in its home country and in Germany, but also in markets such as France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland in spite of competition from renowned firms, speaks both for the product and for the sales team that is proficient in eight languages. And the company has also made provisions for the future: It recently purchased an area of land measuring 60,000 m², which is to house the expected necessary expansion of the production capacities. It appears that Promonotes is also well-aligned for the next 25 years.

// Mischa Delbrouck

www.promonotes.eu

photos: Promonotes