12 minute read
Interview
EVOLUTION, not revolution
Being in the same industry for 30 years is remarkable; working in the same company – without having the vested interest of owning it – equates to unadulterated dedication. Although that’s perhaps not how Cezary Monko would describe it…
Our second interview with a true industry icon, who has coincidentally been a long-time friend and staunch supporter of OPI, is Cezary Monko, President of ACCO Brands EMEA (for the other interview with Steve Haworth, see page 48). Monko’s career, of course, started at Esselte, the originally Sweden-based manufacturer which has gone through bouts of M&A activity over the years and was bought by ACCO Brands in 2017.
Monko recently spoke to Andy Braithwaite for an OPI Talk podcast (visit opi.net/podcast). This is an abridged version of the chat which charts the trials and tribulations of a vendor that went out on a progressive limb in a largely unexplored territory. In the process, it found a leader who has spent all of his career being just as progressive, with a pragmatic attitude and a global, yet very local, outlook.
OPI: Almost 30 years in the same company – of sorts. How does that feel?
Cezary Monko: It’s flown by. I, of course, never expected to last as long as I did when I joined Esselte almost 30 years ago, but it’s definitely been the best career I could ever have hoped for.
OPI: You started out as a Sales Manager at Esselte in Poland, now you are President of ACCO Brands EMEA, responsible for approximately 2,500 people and €600 million ($709 million) of turnover. That’s quite a climb up the corporate ladder.
CM: I guess it is. When I started, I was Sales Manager, but the title was bigger than the role. I wasn’t managing anything – I was just a one-man band with a car.
For a Western company with an international reach to invest in a Central European market [...] was innovative at the time
OPI: So is this a rags to riches, obscurity to fame, kind of tale?
CM: (laughs) Not quite. But it was a time of tremendous change in my home country. For a Western company with an international reach to invest in a Central European market – we weren’t even in the EU back then – with a full-blown subsidiary was innovative at the time. Not many companies did that; in fact, the only other player doing the same I recall was 3M.
My remit in the early days was to explore the market’s opportunities – there were no big actual and imminent sales expectations. I was doing a lot of research and found there was plenty of demand in this geography which, incidentally, was thriving and developing very quickly.
I began to sell and the potential became obvious to my bosses – they started to take this particular part of the world seriously.
Esselte invested in a manufacturing plant in Poland and, from dipping its toes in the water, it suddenly became a real player and then a leader in the market. Being part of that growth period was terrific and very exciting.
OPI: What were the star products back then?
CM: Almost exclusively traditional filing products, with the lever arch file being the absolute hero – it was our top seller. Everybody needed this item, it was on practically every order and we were very well recognised for it. As a result, margins were much better too in those days! It wasn’t quite a one-product show, but almost.
OPI: Who were your customers?
CM: Initially, they mostly comprised importers that were buying from other Esselte subsidiaries. I added a few local distributors and then some Polish companies. I spent a lot of time in the car and on the road, visiting customers.
I had a fax machine and then – the big technology breakthrough – a modem connected to somewhere. I think it might have been Sweden.
The real change happened when the large international cash-and-carry wholesale clubs started arriving from Germany. Makro, bought by Metro Group in 1998, was the first.
These operators had a modern infrastructure and contemporary solutions. We had no existing relationships with them, so had to up our game, increase our expertise and invest more.
OPI: Winding forward to the present, what have been the biggest and most significant changes in the marketplace that shaped the company?
CM: I don’t think there has been anything radical per se. It’s just evolution guided by
Main image: the latest iconic Leitz lever arch file, the Leitz 180̊ Recycle. Inset: Leitz 180̊, the strongest lever arch file in the world in 2006 macroeconomics. Recessions, economic growth, expansion – they are all fairly predictable.
We’ve also always found that most of the trends arrive from the US. And as a company with an international outlook, you paid attention to what was happening in this part of the world – OPI magazine and its coverage of this market helped enormously in my view. As such, you had a pretty good inkling of what was to come in Europe a couple of years later.
The big boxes arriving from the US was a huge deal. But it tended to happen by country or region. Typically, the UK was first in Europe, then the Netherlands, Germany, France, etc. We’ve always had time to adapt and find some kind of balance. The same was true when Amazon appeared. It’s all been gradual.
Very importantly, the strong representation of local champions in many markets inevitably helped to balance and offset some of the pressures from the global developments. It never felt like a revolution.
I truly believe that the only real and unexpected change over the past 30 years is happening right now – the COVID-19 pandemic. The rest comes down to trends, exacerbated or influenced by macro or microeconomics.
OPI: In summary, how did ACCO Brands deal with the crisis?
CM: In stages is the honest answer. The first one was to react to the lockdowns and all they
entailed. Then we had to work on a strategy to move forward – much of May and June last year was spent on it. We changed a lot of products and put more emphasis on channels that were actually open. Then, from July last year until now, we’ve had 13 consecutive months of growth versus 2019 and 2020, respectively.
We are extremely proud of how well we’ve come through this difficult and totally unprecedented period.
OPI: Why do you think you managed the process comparatively well?
CM: Flexibility and pragmatism. As a company, we are channel agnostic. It’s really important and means we respect everybody and we can work with everybody. So when the circumstances dictated that some channels were unfortunately closed, we could work with others, online being a good example.
We had the infrastructure, equipment and people. We immediately started investing very heavily in our online team – a lot of young and talented people. And we invested in our products, massively. The focus was on the consumer working from home. What might they need? Computer accessories, smaller office machines, desktop supplies – it’s quite a long list.
We were very proactive in terms of facilitating flexible working for employees as that was a trend already, even before COVID. So the step further to allow people to completely work from home for a given period wasn’t a huge leap.
It was a challenge, no doubt, because it was a race and there wasn’t time for hesitation. We basically identified a small number of key priorities and then went for it.
OPI: You mentioned local champions earlier, how they create balance and perhaps keep global operators at bay. We’ve seen the demise of Staples Solutions and Office Depot in Europe, with France-based RAJA Group now owning a sizeable chunk of those businesses. It’s multinational too, yes, but still family-owned and European. Do you think this kind of operator provides a good balance for ACCO Brands in the market?
CM: It remains to be seen. Whatever we say about the likes of Depot and Staples, they controlled and serviced a considerable part of the market. We will closely monitor what replaces them.
What’s important to me is a higher rate of understanding of the importance of the specific European regions and the European companies within them. These are obviously criticisms that have been levelled at the former US big boxes for many years – Ron Sargent himself admitted to a certain corporate arrogance in a very self-deprecating way.
The slightly triumphal approach and a disregard of and disrespect for the strengths of local markets and players is an example.
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against American companies – I happen to work for one. But European companies are closer to the market
Industry person you most admire?
No comment on this one. Not because there isn’t anybody, but because I feel there’s been so much pressure on companies and people over the past 18 months. Everything they do is viewed through the pandemic lens right now and I don’t want to judge them from that perspective.
Any candidates I would come up with might not ‘pass’ at this particular time – even great people have problems and struggle.
Your work philosophy?
If you believe in something, just do it – it’s better to ask for forgiveness than for permission.
Your biggest regret?
Esselte was contemplating buying ACCO Brands in 2008 or 2009 and we didn’t go through with it. Then the opposite happened a few years later. Make of this statement what you will!
Most difficult decision you’ve ever had to take?
It relates to the same topic. When Esselte was sold to ACCO in 2017, I had to make a decision about my future. I stayed on the board and recommended that my closest peers do the same. They did. We were given the opportunity to continue to manage the business. In hindsight, it was the right decision, but it wasn’t an easy one at the time.
Funniest, or perhaps most embarrassing moment?
I started at Esselte on 1 April 1992 – April Fool’s Day. I was sent to our factory in Copenhagen, Denmark, as part of my induction programme and met the plant manager and many of my colleagues there. We spent four hours that day talking about lever arch files: features, colours, components, pricing, customers, competitors – anything and everything. The problem was I had no idea what a lever arch file actually was – I knew the term for a binder in Polish, I knew it in German, but not a clue in English.
When I told the manager this five years later, he couldn’t believe it. Goes to show you don’t need to know a lot – just let people think you do.
Most memorable moment of your career?
That’s easy – when I was given the Industry Achievement accolade at the European Office Products Awards in 2016. This is something that is quite often bestowed on people who are nearing the end of their career, but I hopefully have several years to go still. It was a huge recognition for me, and a real moment of pride, no doubt about it.
Alternative job?
Maybe politician. But I’m glad I didn’t venture down that path and persevered with what I did.
and the consumer, partly because, quite simply, they are consumers as well.
Whether it’s RAJA or other entities, there will be new champions and heroes, and they very much won’t be exempt from potentially failing in the future either.
OPI: This is a perennial discussion point, but it seems apt to discuss it for this special issue of OPI. We’re moving away from the term, but it’s still frequently used – the office products industry. What’s your view on the description of our sector?
CM: It’s obsolete or should be. And what we’re currently going through is the best example to illustrate it. The office is a building, right? Well, a lot of those buildings are empty now, but we are still selling, end consumers are still buying, and everybody in the middle of that supply chain still has a role to play.
The term is far too restrictive. In fact, it diminishes our efforts and the enormous expertise we have across the industry – knowledge of consumers, channels and trends, among so many things.
This image problem we have also affects who we can attract to our sector because we are seen as an old industry – I would argue it has been a self-perpetuating trait. I work for a good company which offers opportunities, so I speak from experience when I say this. But there is such a multitude of seemingly more exciting, competing sectors which attract young talent that it’s hard.
Overall, diversity is a challenge. ACCO Brands employs predominantly men, for instance. We would like to change that and are working really hard at it. And yes, we do have young people coming through and going up the ranks very successfully, but calling yourself an office supplies company certainly holds you back from the outset, no doubt. We have to change the message, but then we also have to walk that talk once we’ve done it.
I think we have a lot to offer. We work with some incredibly sophisticated and advanced systems in our operations and many on-trend products. Our latest young recruits are excited to learn about both. And they thrive. But there should be many more of them – in every ‘office supplies’ company out there.
OPI: Finally, as regards trends and evolution, what do you see coming round the corner?
CM: Again, I believe COVID has accelerated an already existing trend because of all the enforced homeworking. The upshot is that the decision-making power in our space, however you want to define it, is moving from the office manager, corporate buyer or merchandiser to the consumer. And by this I don’t just mean the understanding of the product with all the content now required, but the actual ordering too.
This development, which has already started thanks to the pandemic, will only continue and become more dominant in many geographies – it’s the evolution from a professional office market to a consumer market. Whether we like it or not, it’s happening.
The decision-making power in our space […] is moving from the office manager, corporate buyer or merchandiser to the consumer
