WE’VE ALL BEEN there. Wandering slowly through the long, wide aisles of your local office megastore, sifting through shelf after shelf of office products, wondering what to buy. There are no-smudge pens and tri-colored pencils, stapleless staplers, safety scissors, decidedly unsafe industrial scissors, and more brands of plain white paper than what is realistically conceivable. Deciding amongst all the different products can be difficult, which is how one usually ends up sitting in the fluorescent, timeless hallways, mulling highlighter colors for 45 minutes.
The key to surviving shopping situations like this, be it picking up supplies for a child returning to school, or ordering a few thousand imprinted items to help a new bank brand itself, is to make a list of what you want before you get started. Any shoping list will of course vary depending on the task or client at hand, but in general, there are a few classifications of office products worth considering.
Clutter Containers
A sometimes-overlooked promotion, since when thinking of desktop items, most consider office tools and not something meant to hold them. The sheer number of items that end up cluttering a desk, however, combined with the fact that desktop organizers are always in a worker’s line of sight, can make the containers oft-used and effective promotions. “Desk organizers offer advertisers countless hours of exposure,” said Janine Fidurski, marketing communications manager for Rahway, New Jersey-based Punch Products USA. “What better way to take advantage of this then by putting your message where people are most of the time … at their desks.”
There is great variety among desktop organizers, ranging from simple, aesthetically pleasing pen containers, to more ostentatious, multifunction items that along with holding loose office items, feature things like tape dispensers or letter openers. For selling the more conspicuous and elaborate organizers, Jeff Lederer, executive vice president for Bridgeport, Connecticut-based Prime Line, suggested playing to the products’ strengths. “They’re colorful, they’re nice, they’re fun … and that’s what helps sell the item, especially under a certain price point,” he said. Lederer added that the more multifaceted organizers can be easier to sell if the customer has a sample to let them physically explore all its features.
Paper Trails
The near-ubiquity of massive paper use in most offices creates a lot of options for distributors looking to provide products for the workplace. One possibility is a journal or notepad, an item that has additonal perks besides high frequency use. “It’s a high perceived value,” said Lederer. “I think it’s a different medium instead of plastic, because everyone’s been getting plastic products for so many years.” Many notepads or jotters will also offer the option to be paired with a pen, creating an opportunity to increase branding ability even further.
Another paper product worth considering is the ever-popular sticky note. More disposable than the notebook or journal, the sticky note is a strong promotion all the same, available in a wide array of shapes and designs. An interesting variety from BIC Graphic USA, Clearwater, Florida, are the company’s Mylar Flag Booklets. A modified version of the classic sticky note, the mylar flags are more narrow and meant to be used as bookmarks. “They are especially useful for colleges, law firms and business expos,” explained Lori Bauer, trade marketing manager for BIC Graphic USA.
Liquid Assets
Technically not something meant purely for the office, drinkware is still a major part of office culture all the same. Coffee, tea, juice or water, nearly everyone sitting at a cube is going to be drinking something. Offering drinkware as an office promotion not only capitalizes on that mass usage, but can also fit into various office initiatives, like workspace cleanliness or green programs.
As for what kind of drinkware to offer, Fidurski had some recommendations. “We have seen a trend in the use of travel mugs in the office,” she said. “Users love the convenience of taking a beverage anywhere they go and employers love that all of the travel mugs come with lids for preventing spills.” Fidurski claimed environmentally friendly drinkware is also becoming more popular, especially items that save employers on expenses, like constantly replacing disposable cups in the coffee room.