The workplace has changed. It won't have escaped anyone's notice that the traditional office environment, once the place where the majority of work was done, has become only one of a number of working areas. As developments in information and communications technology make people more mobile, the fragmenting workplace is having a significant impact on how pens and desk accessories as premiums are perceived by recipients.
For promoters, understanding - and acting - on these changes has become vital for effective activity, especially since the latest findings from research house Datamonitor reveal that workplace fragmentation is on the increase.
Working practices
Specifically, Datamonitor's 'What's in Store for 2004' survey found the UK has the highest number of workers in Europe who spend some or all of their time working from home. This figure is expected to hit the 8.2 million mark next year, representing as much as a third of the workforce.
The same survey points out that remote, flexible working is on the increase by 15 per cent each year. Currently, more than 1.3 million workers are known to work in this sort of environment, whether they be on the move, working out of their briefcases or in their cars. On top of that, more than eight million business trips are made each year.
Those who remain in the office have also seen changes. The partitioned, individual pods of the 1970s and 80s have all but disappeared. More offices now are open-plan and are "paperless" spaces. Amongst all this, hot-desking is now becoming a familiar phenomenon.
Essentially, there are now four main environments where people work: the traditional office, the home office, the hotdesk and remotely, on the move.
With this in mind, P&I asked suppliers to suggest pens and desk premiums they thought would be suitable for workers in the four environments. We then put these suggestions forward to potential recipients to find out what appealed to them.
The traditional office
Worker: Nikki Britton, head of promotional buying, BBC Magazines
The premiums: mousemat (Cougar Products, from £1.22); business card holder (Gift Selection, from £3.50); desk set (Quill, £13-£15); photoframe calculator (Oldeani, £4-£6); branded pen (Senator's Polar rollerball, from £3.90)
Given the popularity of pens and desk accessories, you'd be forgiven for thinking that any premium would be suitable for this type of worker.
But employees are now having to pay heed to practices such as clean-desk policies, and the modern office, however traditional it seems, has been overhauled.
For Britton, the aspirational nature of the premiums, and in particular their high perceived value, was an important selection point. On this basis, Gift Selection's business card holder earns high marks: it's smart and multi-functional, holding business cards, incorporating a pen stand and showing date, day, time and temperature functions.
While Britton is enthusiastic about the holder, she says she is supremely organised so its life would be limited on her desk. "I keep my business cards in my Filofax, my pens in my desk drawer, the time is shown on my computer and it doesn't bother me about knowing the temperature," she says.
Cougar's branded mousemat may be affordable, but for Britton, the basic mousemat lacks originality. There's also a danger that mousemats, because they are now so commonly used, could be viewed as having little in the way of high perceived value which would affect the brand they were promoting, adds Britton.
Her view of the desk set and the photoframe calculator is much the same.
"I'm not sure how many people would use and keep the desk set, and again, I think it lacks the value recipients tend to look for now," she says.
"And calculators are relatively inexpensive, so if people need a calculator for their work, they generally have one already."
Britton's star prize goes to the branded pen: "As long as it's a good quality pen, you can never have too many."
Home office
Worker: Catherine Carthy, managing director, Ancar Consulting
The premiums: clock radio (Cougar Products, £8.08 each for 100 units); branded mouse (Oldeani, £3.50-£4.50); voice recorder (Gift Selection, from £3.53); clock desk tidy (Oldeani, £3.50-£5); branded pen (Senator Super Hit Icy, 26p based on 500 units).
Research by the University of West England found that home-workers create their own office environment with little or no external support. Carthy is no exception.
She was able to purchase some furniture from her previous office before she set up at home, but otherwise started from scratch. Now she says she has what she wants and what she needs. "Only occasionally do I pick up bits and pieces I hadn't thought of going out and buying." says Carthy.
"You don't have a lot of extra space as you're set up in the spare room, so you look for premiums that are practical and small. I don't like to have clutter."
Carthy acknowledges that the branded mouse is useful, but says since she already has one, its shelf life would be limited unless it was an upgrade on her existing one, or had an additional element to hers.
The voice recorder is novel and interests Carthy, but the fact that it records for no longer than an eight-second time frame makes it of limited use.
As for the clock radio, "it wouldn't appeal to me in the office since I wouldn't listen to the radio if I was working. I would keep it though, and put it in my bedroom."
But Senator's Super-Hit Icy pen scores highly. "I liked this - you always need a pen, and this one's bright, so it's easily visible." And when you have a mug, or a drawer, full of pens, as Carthy does, a pen like this stands out and makes an effective premium.
Carthy's top choice, though, is the desk tidy clock. "It's my favourite.
It's practical, especially as it is two things in one. I have a clock on my computer, but it's always wrong. It's a good idea to have a clock that has another use." Having one that you can use for storage capitalises on the idea of practical premiums that maximise on the space-saving philosophy.
Hot-desking
Worker: Phil Hogg, British Airways head of Terminal 5
The premiums: USB memory stick (Just What You Want, from £19.50); USB phone charger (Gift Selection, from £4.22); computer pen (Quill, from £25.60); highlighter carousel (Senator, £5.30); branded pen (Senator, Maxispring, 63p)
Hot-desker Phil Hogg comes straight to the point: "The essence of hot-desking is simplicity. It forces you to adopt a clear-desk policy. You don't want any clutter.
I just carry with me the stuff that I need for that day. Deskbound-wise, all I would want is a simple tray.
Nothing else," he states.
This is very much the hot-desk attitude and is certainly reflected in Hogg's review of the premiums suggested.
Hogg thought that the highlighter carousel with six pens was "too gimmicky". He says: "I use one highlighter pen so I don't really need six different colours."
Hot-desking is about the "idea of efficient working" as Hogg puts it, and in this scenario, it is not surprising that the USB memory stick, available with 32Mb and 64Mb capacity, and the USB phone charger scored well. "Compact is good - they're easy to carry."
The branded pen, which works so well in a traditional office environment, got a mixed response from Hogg. "I can see their appeal as a promotional medium, but again, if you're hot-desking, it can become clutter. I tend to have my own high-quality pen that I carry with me and don't lose."
It was the computer pen that got Hogg's star prize. "It's a nice touch.
It's useful. It's something a bit different and something you can keep.
It neatly captures the concept of mobile working - 'carry your work with you/capture that data'.
"It is also good as a way of handing out information to any prospective customers - you can say, 'here's a copy of the presentation - take this away so that you can it read later'."
Remote office
Worker: Colin Stout, photographer
The premiums: USB memory stick (Just What You Want, from £19.50); voyager calculator (Oldeani, £1.70-£2.40); flexi retractable modem cable (Oldeani, £2.10-£2.60); keyring pen (Quill, 30-35p); branded pen (Evoxx, Rou Bill, 39p).
Stout is yet to be wowed by a premium giveaway. "A lot of it is just clutter, and that's something you don't need when you're working on the move," he says.
A briefcase overflowing with goodies, however good they may be, is not a good or professional look. What's more, the UWE research claims that all of the remote workers they canvassed relate to their working space (outside of the office) as purely functional, and they make no attempt to personalise it.
Stout uses branded pens, for example, but they have a very temporary value. He prefers the traditional-looking, slim-line Evoxx pen since the smaller keyring pen seems harder to use, thus affecting its functionality.
And function is the buzzword that makes a premium worthwhile for people on the move. The USB flashdisk, therefore, got the thumbs up. "It's small, compact and has a definite purpose."
Stout was impressed with the voyager calculator, although he admits it was far more complex than he needs. "It is one extra thing to have with you, but it's neat. I wouldn't buy one, but I wouldn't say no if I was given one."
His star prize goes to the flexi, retractable modem cable. Again it is a question of neatness. "It's a great idea and I like the concept." In transit, cables can get damaged. The design of the retractable modem cable would protect it from such damage and it is highly portable.
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