Most workers – from CEOs to the local plumber – have offices and therefore a desk from which to work. Many people who don’t, such as postal delivery people, sanitation workers, bus drivers, will likely have one at home for personal use and even may even use it to run a side business.
Therefore, in the wide world of promotions, which is only limited by imagination, offering logoed desk accessories makes sense – for many reasons. According to Mark Simon, CEO of HALO Branded Solutions, “many promotional office supplies make affordable giveaways for potential prospects, so start thinking about ways to reach your audience. Anyone who works at a desk will appreciate new office supplies.”
The modern desktop still retains elements that our predecessors used frequently – a timepiece, paper, writing utensils, desk blotter, and since Alexander Graham Bell’s nifty invention caught on, a communications device. But there are certain trends that characterize how desk-workers are and want to be productive.
Cindy Yantis of Gill Line remarks that the current office trend is to “clean up the workspace. Everything has a place and is in the right place for maximum efficient work. Small clean lines for the working area and items used.” For example, she offers, small, upright desk calendars become very efficient when compared to conventional horizontal calendars. Note pads and adhesive notes enhance the sense of clean lines if placed on a vertical surface.
Margit Fawbush of BICGraphic observes that key trends in office environments are “flexibility/adaptability, productive well-being and continued limited personal spaces in favor of co-working spaces.”
Flexible layouts and moveable and modular office furniture, she explains, allow for an adaptable workplace that can grow with the client company and change with cultural needs. Productive well-being acknowledges that employees’ health and well-being are important – this encompasses sit-stand desks, areas for both collaboration and privacy, airflow, lighting, indoor plant life, appropriate humidity levels, and on-site space and a culture promoting for exercise.
However, she reports, the trend of limiting personal work space “is still under great debate. Evidence is mixed on whether open plans actually foster collaboration, and studies have shown that open office plans decrease productivity and employee well-being while increasing the number of sick days workers take. However, the office designers and employers continue to push it forward, limiting personal space more and more in lieu of common or co-working spaces that are more cost effective and convenient. With the rise of the ‘start-up culture’ this set-up also allows for more interaction and cross discussions,” she says.
James Morris of WOWLine agrees that modern office environments are trending towards becoming more open and free-flowing to promote equality and groupthink as well as to foster teamwork – the once-ubiquitous “cubicle farm” is now going by the wayside. “Instead,” he says, “workers choose to work from laptops, tablets, and mobile phones that allow flexibility to work wherever they need to be. It’s all about being able to move around and quickly and not being hunkered down to one work station.”
Being hunkered down, walled-off in a cubicle, uncomfortable desks and chairs, all lower productivity – and promotional office and desk products are all about enhancing productivity.
Says Morris, “Half the time a promotional product becomes a user’s primary source of something if that product happens to be useful in an office setting.” Items like custom sticky note dispensers, pens, and stress relievers are just a few examples of items around Morris’ own company office space that employees have received and still use today.
Want to get creative and bring a smile to your client’s face with an idea? Morris notes that children’s toys are a “huge hit in an office setting” because they’re small enough to keep on a desk and provide stress-relieving laughter when co-workers or customers visit. WOWLine’s 8" Foam Dart Guns and Emoticon Coils are two such fun items that he offers as examples. “Lastly,” he asserts, “let it be known that an item outside of the typical “office supplies” category can still be a great fit for a customer looking for something in the office – you just have to be imaginative!”
And in today’s modern office environment, personal music is often allowed. According to Fawbush, many office workers in an open-work environment prefer to drown out the background noise with their own music.
BIC Graphic offers Jam® Transit Lite Bluetooth® Headphones (32047), which connects wirelessly up to 30 feet away. Integrated speakerphone lets the user wirelessly make or take calls from a smartphone as well. “This item makes a great office incentive or onboarding gift for a progressive company culture,” she suggests.
Those employees in companies who frequently move from conference room to personal workspace to co-working tables likely will often need to be able to charge their tablets, phones, etc. BICGraphic’s Dual Charging Cable with Tech Case (32064) offers compatibility with both Apple® and Android® devices, Fawbush points out. The flat, durable cable measures 40 inches, providing plenty of room to find a plug.
Laptops are abundant in office environments due to their portability, however, Fawbush notes, newer laptops have fewer USB ports. “Offer employees a useful desktop organizer with USB ports built right in – the Oh So Cool USB Hub Organizer (32025) is perfect,” she says. It acts as a cup to hold pens, a phone, etc. and lights up with USB ports are in use.
“Most business decisions are made at the desk,” Yantis asserts. “This means the desk area is the prime space to brand with a message.” Gill Line’s Bebco Calendar Cube with Stand is a perfect opportunity for this, she notes. The cube has 365 sheets with a message area at the bottom of each sheet and on the top of the stand in digital full color. Gill Line’s weekly adhesive calendars are provided with 50 sheets which matches directly up to a 52-week year (with two weeks of vacation within) and can easily be placed on a computer monitor or cabinet for a quick week-at-a-glance note. The small full-color deskpad calendar provides a quick month at-a-glance writing area. “Each of these items are made to save time and be a tool in our fast-paced world where at-a-glance knowledge is key, Yantis describes. “By branding these items that are viewed repeatedly, the message is seen daily while the user is able to quickly and efficiently navigate projects.”
Sales Advice
You likely meet your prospective client for the first time – in an office. And you may have secured the meeting through an intriguing mailer about your business. Simon advises, “Instead of a traditional business card, consider a promotional office gift to make your first impression stand out. When they’re expecting a business card, give them a useful business card holder with your company information. It’s a business accessory that every professional needs. Fill it with a few of your own business cards so they have your personal contact information. It’s a thoughtful gift that will help you stay top of mind.”
Fawbush recommends asking your usual contacts within a client business who they order their and office products from; see if you can walk through the space and make suggestions that would fit with the culture.
Real estate agents, points out Yantis, have always been loyal users of printed paper promotional products especially when the items offer full-color images. “Scratch pads with different real estate opportunities from page to page are a great way to demonstrate to the customer what channels an agent might be in,” she says.
WOWLine, points out Morris, has numerous product lines that are not traditionally perceived as office supplies but have been sold by distributors for that use. If your client laments about trying many logoed desk/office items without much success, presenting a non-traditional item for the office or desk may work.
Remember too, that offices vary widely – schools can use items for administrators and faculty, such as the school logo printed on mousepads, or a company can buy desktop items to give to new hires, and tablet cases for salespeople on the road. Other items useful in all these scenarios include calculators, USB drives, and desktop organizers. With the latter, Simon suggests that if the client budget allows, “consider filling desktop organizers with branded products to guarantee additional brand exposure.”
Desk and office accessories are also highly suitable for the wide range of incentive programs, including attendance rewards, safety incentive programs, wellness/fitness programs, and even for rewarding your customer’s customers who have referred more business to you, or have demonstrated loyalty (via time or money spent).
This is a category that may have the most continual opportunities for distributors simply because of the sheer volume of businesses that have office space or cater to others who do and would love an item they can use to be more expedient in their jobs and projects.