Stationery Branding: 22+ Tips to Build a Brand from A Scratch

One will hardly find any person who hasn’t used stationeries in life. Stationery is a collective form of all materials used in an office for writing and making notes and also by students and anybody for official purposes.

The items include papers, envelopes, file folders, writing pads, scribbling pads, spiral diaries, pens, pencils, erasers, plastic folders, and any other such office supplies, et al. l.

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Powerful Tips to Build a Stationery Branding Strategies

Today even papers meant for computer printouts and rolled papers for computers are also called stationeries. Even today, when many organizations are going in for paperless offices as the dependence on soft copies has increased, one cannot ignore the office stationeries.

Classification of stationeries –

Office and business – letterheads, visiting cards, invoices, receipts, staplers, pencils, erasers, pens, markers, highlighters, tapes, envelopes, paper cutters, office scissors, scribbling pads, notebooks, spiral pads, and annual corporate diaries.
Drawing equipment – painting brushes, colored pencils, crayons, and watercolors.
Files and folders - arch files, plastic folders, flat files, hole punch
Computer stationeries – laser printer, ink cartridge, ink ribbon, CDs, pen drives, chips, Xerox papers, papers for computer printout, toner.
School stationeries – geometry boxes, lunch boxes, rulers and scales, photo ID card holder

Target audience –

Corporate offices
Government organizations
Trading houses and merchant offices
Schools and educational institutions
Self-employed persons like CAs, advocates,
Hospitality and healthcare sectors
NGOs.

Brand nomenclature –

Logo – The items of office stationery can well be justified in being called fast-moving consumer goods. The target audience, as it is understood, is an educated class with a definite level of intelligence. Therefore, to come up with their expectations so that they can relate to the stationery company, the logo needs to be sleek and professional with excellent branding.
Brand name and tagline – The brand name chosen should be a class apart from the usual ones in the market. The brand name must be simple and create an impression in the minds of the target audience and, at the same time, be nestled in the target audience’s mind.
Logo color – Choosing the right color for the logo, especially in stationery products, is extremely important as logo and logo color gives the first impression about the brand and how sleek it is. Normally only two colors need to be used. The common colors are navy blue, red, black, white, and black. The two colors will give a professional touch to the brand.
Pricing strategy – There can be two pricing objectives: to have prices lower than the usual operating price so that it can make deep inroads in the market, and to price the items higher than the market price so that it will give an impression of a high premium product.
Positioning strategy – To develop the positioning strategy, the first must see the competitors’ strategy and how they are faring. The positioning has to be value-based and should prove its exclusivity and specialization.

Procurement of raw materials –

The quality of raw materials has to be class keeping in mind the target audience’s profile. Every quality of the papers, computer stationeries, and other materials should be procured from the best vendors. Strict and proper quality control must be ensured. Procurement prices are also very important as the better the procurement price better will be the market offered price.

Packaging designs –

Keeping in mind the profile, tastes and preferences, and lifestyles of the target audience, the packaging design has to be classy, and the packaging materials need to be first-class. In the case of paper material, ideally, imported art paper should be used.

Competitor’s activities –

Analysis and interpretation of competitors’ activities are very important in this sector. The following points need to be taken care of –

To track retail counter wise whose shelf presence is more prominent
Trade schemes being offered by the competitors
To track the packaging design illustrations of the competitors
Convenience in packaging design
Publicity items being used
Quality and materials supplied by the competitors
Whether the competitors have any arrangements for bulk sales?

Advertisements and promotional activities –

Colored newspaper ads in mainline newspapers and magazines
Point of sales signage at retail outlets
Shelf life presence in the retail outlets
Wall wrappings near educational institutes
Sponsoring events at reputed educational institutions.
Social media advertisements
Promotional gifts to important buyers.

Brand message –

A suitable brand message for stationery brands is very significant. The product portfolio and the target group are such that a very powerful is required. Most of the target audience have a quite high psychographic profile with higher socioeconomic status.

The brand message, therefore, should be smart, suave, and sophisticated so that the potential customer can immediately feel that this brand of stationery is meant for them.

Brand Voice –

As the product category is sophisticated and upmarket, so is the target group. The tone of the brand voice has to be likewise.

The customers should be impressed that the company is serious about the product and leaves no stone unturned to make the product better than the best. A casual approach in the voice should be avoided at all costs because, in that case, the seriousness of the product will be diluted.

Brand Personality –

The creation of brand personality of the stationery brand should be a combination of sincerity, sophistication, professionalism, and competence. The brand should be a personification of reliability, down-to-earth, competence, and success coupled with friendliness.

Brand integration –

Office and retail/trade environment –

Personal interaction with the client during visits
Visiting cards
Promotional gifts to clients, like diaries and calendars
Office interior design and dispensers
Signage at the retail point
Innovative packaging design
Product designs

Social Media –

Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter
Corporate WhatsApp group
Google Plus
Instagram
Pinterest

Website -

Easy to navigate
Should have all detailed information about area-wise agents and distributors
It can be used on mobile and tabs also
Should have links to prominent e-commerce sites
Search engine optimization
Design should reflect professionalism and sophistication.

The office stationery market, despite the growing presence of computers in our everyday life, will tend to grow because, at any one point in time, the demand for the items will always be there. Even with stagnation setting in, the market is expected to grow considerably because of the rise in the number of educational institutes, students, and the corporate sector.

It is expected that more innovative ideas will come in for better and more sophisticated and sleek items. It is also expected that big corporate houses will rope in and throw in their hats, as a result of which this sector will prosper. More and more business collaborations are in the offing, as a result of which the ultimate consumer stands to gain.