Feature: Promotional products: Diaries and calendars

Advances in technology and data mean calendars and diaries can be highly personalised

In the age of the BlackBerry, paper diaries and calendars continue to hold their own – and are becoming stronger with the development of digital printing techniques. According to research by promotional merchandise specialist Source-e, calendars were the second most common item on people’s desks, with diaries following closely in fifth place.

“Companies are rapidly catching on to the promotional benefits that calendars and diaries can offer, revelling in the opportunity to promote their business 365 days of the year,” says Billy Thomson, sales director of calendar supplier Minto Branding.

Andrew Bourne, managing director of gift specialist Firebrand Promotions, reports that sales of desk and pocket diaries remain strong despite the advent of computer-based diary systems. “Diaries remain alive and well because they have moved with the times,” he says. “Great new design ideas have made diaries a style statement, with new fabrics and finishes matched with stylish detailing to produce diaries that people want to keep and use.”

He points to new functionality such as the split page, which combines a week to view with a day to view. This can be seen in Castelli’s Horizon range, one of a range of new products launched by Castelli this year.

“Quality, practicality and style are the essential elements to ensure that a diary works both as an effective promotional gift and most importantly a desirable and useful working tool for the recipient,” explains Castelli Diaries’ marketing manager, Faith Neville. “Features such as stitching, two-tone covers, contrasting materials, clasp closure, pen loops, wire binding, elastic closure bands and pens or pencils included can all make an interesting and unique product.”

To increase relevance, Castelli can customise diaries on the cover as well as add up to 16 pages of bespoke information. Designing a diary that is relevant and desirable is vital to ensure it does not sit gathering dust, says Peter Cottrell of Collins Corporate Services, which has been supplying corporate diaries for over 185 years. “One of the biggest advantages of selecting a diary as a corporate gift is the amount of specific company information it can discreetly contain,” he explains. “From company contact details to a list of annual events, a diary can hold all of this relevant information with very little additional expense.”

Gordon Glenister, director-general of the British Promotional Merchandise Association, says there is a new trend taking customisation one stage further: individually tailored calendars and diaries that carry the recipient’s name or company on every page. “It is these items that stand out and tend to remain on one’s desk,” he says.

Desk calendars from I Name It not only can carry corporate branding but feature different photographs that integrate the name of the individual recipient, such as petals spelling out their name on a lake. The person’s birthday or other key dates can also be highlighted. Tina Brown, manager of I Name It, says this works by appealing to the individual’s ego and “guarantees that it is retained by your client as well as bringing a smile to their face”.

This level of personalisation matches trends in direct marketing, with brands looking to speak on a one-to-one basis with customers. Howard Hunt, the print and data specialist, has worked with clients to exploit new digital processes that make it economically viable to send out personalised calendars. It worked with travel group TUI to produce a calendar that used different images depending on what holidays had been booked before. “If it had not been personalised, 70 to 80 per cent of the calendar wouldn’t have been relevant to the individual, but we had all this information about their customers and the technology, so why not use it?” says Howard Hunt marketing director Lucy Edwards. “It reminded people to book again and increased TUI’s revenues.”

Real Digital, which specialises in personalised marketing solutions, has also worked with TUI on its calendar mailing, using data to create calendars showing pictures of where customers had holidayed the previous year. For Masterfoods’ Pedigree brand, it created a campaign that gave people the chance to upload images of their dog via a website to create a totally personalised wall calendar.

Another option for gaining stand-out is to add extra functionality. Ideas include B&H Colour Change’s desktop calendar which incorporates a liquid-crystal room thermometer, while Oldeani offers not only a perpetual calendar but an electronic calendar combined with an alarm clock and a photoframe.

The Corporate Gifts Co has responded to this demand with its Puzzle Perpetual Calendar and Photoframe. “It is innovative, quirky and fun, desirable and memorable,” says director Kevin Ross. “Many of us receive masses of calendars in the run-up to Christmas that all look the same with very few exceptions. As a result, many of them end up in the bin which is why we researched into supplying a product that fulfils its prime functions but has a little bit more to offer.”