A conversation with Laura Bazzali, Product Manager for Pens at Prodir, on trends in personalisation.
What do you see as being the main trend for 2015?
Laura Bazzali: We are calling it “new effortlessness”. Less colourful, but the colours that are used will be more decisive and at the same time bolder. High-quality surfaces like Soft Touch are increasingly in demand, matt and full-colour polished surfaces will be more popular. I also believe that logos and imprints will generally be smaller, but their appearance more self-confident and decisive. Gimmicks will disappear. Let’s just say that a little peace is descending.
How do you see Prodir in the context of this development?
Laura Bazzali: We are synonymous with minimalism, so the trend can be considered good news for us. We focus on offering a few high-quality pens which communicate credibly through what they are. There is no need to print too much onto them, as customers can be assured and trust in the synergy created between the brand and the pen within the writer’s experience.
In other words, quiet is the new loud?
Laura Bazzali: If everyone gets loud, people ultimately pay attention to the quiet ones. Just look at the “No Noise” initiative
from the London store Selfridges. The “Quiet Shop” you were able to buy limited special editions of Levi’s, Heinz and Clinique, that had everything except their trademarks. Every product simply spoke for itself. The idea worked because the brands and iconic products were so closely connected that customers no longer needed a logo to recognise the brand. The silence spoke volumes.
This can however hardly be transferred over to your pens.
Laura Bazzali: No, we of course live from the fact that our pens become ambassadors for different brands. The logo is essential in this case. The experiment at Selfridges does however show an extreme example of how a certain type of effortlessness in the end appears more convincing than a more demonstrative approach. And this applies to communication in general, including the personalisation of our pens.
Thank you for your time, Mrs Bazzali.