The success story of a good idea: Helmut Hertsch is the founder and long-time managing director and editor in chief of Kunststoff Information (KI, Bad Homburg / Germany; www.kiweb.de). In an interview with KI’s new editor in chief Christian Preiser (see PIEWeb of 31.03.2021), Hertsch, who is now 78, talks about the beginnings and subsequent development of his information service for the plastics industry. Ever since, KI has established itself as a market-leading industry platform in many sectors.

Preiser: Mr. Hertsch, in 1971, you founded KI at the age of 28. Do you carry some kind of entrepreneurial gene?

Hertsch: It was certainly not an entrepreneurial gene, although, I was at the time a fairly fanatical communications fan. As an independent PR man, I was advising small and medium-sized companies, and I kept asking myself, where in the media were entrepreneurs really able to find information that was vital for their decision-making. At the time, the picture looked pretty bleak. Consequently, I founded the four-page information service “Kunststoff Information – wöchentlich für das Management” [“Plastics Information – weekly for management”], as KI was called in the early years.

Preiser: Where does your love for the plastics industry come from, and how deep was the deep end when you jumped in 50 years ago?

Hertsch: It was more or less by chance that I came in contact with the plastics industry – through my PR work for several plastics converters and two associations. If you’re afraid of the deep end, being a journalist is probably not for you!

Preiser: Keeping in mind the knowledge you have gained over the past 50 years, would you do it again today?

Hertsch: Definitely! KI has become my professional life’s work, as you can see today, on 1 April 2021.

Preiser: In the world of journalism, there is a popular joke: How do you make a small fortune? You take a big one and set up a publishing house. Is there any truth to that?

Hertsch: When I started out 50 years ago, you didn’t have to have a big fortune – the main thing was to have a good idea. For KI that meant, be topical, or in other words, publish every week; be compact, in other words, four pages is enough; be concise, in other words, keep the articles short; no advertisements, in other words, offer subscription from the very beginning. Just imagine, DM 480 a year for four pages of printed paper… My colleagues from the plastics trade press, as well as some well-known publishers, said I was mad! Yet today, KI Group is the market leader in many segments.

Preiser: When you look back on your time as the founder, managing director and chief editor of the publishing house, what mistakes have you learned from the most?

Hertsch: I don’t know. When you spend decades in a job you make a lot of mistakes. Whether I have learned from them, and what I have learned from them, I will leave up to others to judge.

Preiser: On the internet, a lot of information is just one click away. Is there still a need for an independent journalistic industry platform such as KI?

Hertsch: KI’s success story answers the question: Content, whether printed or digital, will always be indispensable for the industry when you cannot find the information you desperately need for decision-making anywhere else. As far as we are concerned, this information is, for example, latest corporate news or polymer price information for virtually all the common raw materials.

Preiser: The plastics sector is one of the key industries in Germany, yet it does not enjoy a particularly good reputation. Why is that?

Hertsch: From my point of view – and I have said this repeatedly – this primarily comes down to a dramatic lack of communication for the society and media. Now, more than ever, it is up to all sections of the plastics industry – be it chemical producers, processers, trade associations or other customer groups – to do their part to change this.

Preiser: What, from your point of view, are the three most important mega-trends or mega-topics that the plastics sector will have to deal with in the future?

Hertsch: First of all, ecology and environment protection. Second, climate-neutral production. Third, the development of alternative basic raw materials.

Preiser: You started out 50 years ago, and I have only just started as editor in chief. What advice would you give me as I get started here?

Hertsch: Quite simply to make sure that our excellent editors not only retain their journalistic and specialist expertise, but also build on it. To the benefit of our customers – the readers of KI and PIE.

Preiser: If you were to give the plastics industry a piece of good advice, what would it be?

Hertsch: I highly doubt that journalists are good advisors. But I’ll just say this: continue to take advantage of KI Group’s wide range of offerings. In this way, we can ensure that business on both sides remains good.

Preiser: Mr. Hertsch, thank you very much for talking to us.

Helmut Hertsch retired from his position as editor in chief and MD of KI 15 years ago. He remains the largest individual shareholder of the company, along with his wife Annemarie Hertsch. Since his departure, Hertsch has been doing volunteer work for various organisations, focusing on social welfare. He is part of the leadership of a baptist church.