Kip® Named SACHON TOP BRAND 2026
On the occasion of the award, Oliver Otten and Jonas Laukamp provide insights into the brand’s development and direction.
MASTER PAINTER AND FINISHER: How would you personally describe your brand?
Oliver Otten: Our slogan is “Kip stands for quality.” OurKip® brand is closely tied to the trade and the market, giving painters and finishers the assurance that they’re using the best quality, no matter which product they choose from our extensive range.Kip® is also highly specialized within its target audience, yet offers a broad product line. The brand offers the right solution for every challenge.Kip® therefore stands for quality and is a reliable partner for all challenges.
Who invented the brand, and when?
Jonas Laukamp: Kip GmbH was founded in 1969 by Fritz Kip in the Netherlands as a company specializing in painting supplies. It wasn’t until later that we began to focus specifically on tape. Our long-time managing director, Gus Neleman, played a major role in the development of theKip® brand that we all know today. He recently celebrated his 40th anniversary with our company and has shaped theKip® brand over the years.
What are your expectations for your brand?
Laukamp:Kip® stands behind the quality of its products. This is our brand promise, and it also applies to our relationship with our retail partners. Here, too, we strive to be a reliable and long-term partner.
What specific benefits does your brand offer the painting and finishing trade?
Otten: Our high quality standards and our innovative strength. The trade regularly faces new challenges due to changes in construction and application methods. At the same time, the demands for efficient and error-free work are constantly rising. Here, we aim to offer solutions—such as innovative products like WASHI-TEC® Multi-Tape or MASKING-TEC® Ultra Sharp—that ensure reliability while saving time.
In your opinion, what makes your brand so unique (and different from other market players)?
Laukamp: OurKip® brand focuses on a very specific target audience: tradespeople. We center all our activities around this. Our products are not designed to serve as many industries and target groups as possible at the same time. They are intended to work as effectively as possible for our core customers: painters, finishers, and plasterers.
How do you keep your brand fresh?
Otten: We work on this challenge every day. To that end, we actively seek out contact with the next generation of painters and finishers. We collaborate closely with vocational schools and the national teams, and we’re open to feedback from everyone we talk to. In addition to these forums, which tend to take place offline, we’re very active on social media with our own content formats and influencers. We consider the latter, in particular, to be invaluable for obtaining honest and unfiltered feedback from the industry.
What kind of innovation—and how much of it—can the brand handle?
Laukamp: Without naming specific brands, it’s clear that we can look to the very large digital companies to see how important “relevance” and “innovation” are. Even the best product won’t sell unless it’s backed by the right story and gets the right kind of attention. The biggest danger is resting on one’s laurels. And we can certainly learn a lot from many positive examples without having to become a carbon copy of them.
Sustainability is still on everyone’s lips. What does it mean to you personally?
Otten: We’re aware that our products can often only be used once. That’s why sustainability is a highly relevant issue in production and in the choice of raw materials. Here, we try to use sustainable or recycled raw materials as much as possible, while ensuring it aligns with our other values.
What role does our publication *MALER und LACKIERERMEISTER* play for you and your brands?
Laukamp: For us, this publication serves as our voice within the industry. With its wide reach in the skilled trades as well as in retail, your publication offers us a relevant platform. It enables us to disseminate our message in a targeted manner within a trustworthy environment.
Strong manufacturer brands ensure reliable quality and innovation. A strong manufacturer brand offers everyday products, but also stands out with specialized solutions when it really matters. Without established manufacturer brands, the market would lack a key driver for important aspects such as innovation and sustainability.
In light of receiving the SACHON TOP BRANDS 2026 Award, what else is important to you?
Otten: Thank you very much for the recognition and for the many years of excellent collaboration! (km)
Source: Published in the painting trade journal *MALER UND LACKIERMEISTER*, September 2026 issue.
Editor’s note: The “national teams” mentioned in the interview include, among others, the Maler Team Germany—which is supported by Kip—at WorldSkills 2026. WorldSkills is the World Skills Championship, where the best young skilled workers compete against each other every two years.
