Consumers are starting to notice stationery brands - 1994 Power Brands, part 2 - Industry Overview

Discount Store News, Oct 17, 1994

Brand orientation in the stationery department has turned a new page.

Stationery: Consumer Brand Preference

(Among consumers who shopped discount stores in the past year)

                       All Discount

Power Brands(1)           Stores      Wal-Mart   Kmart   Target
Bic                         25%         30%       24%     25%
Hallmark                    22          19        21      22
Mead                        19          21        19      18
Scotch/3M                   5           6         4       7
American Greetings          5           4         5       3
Papermate                   4           2         4       5
Crayola                     3           3         4       5
Parker                      3           2         3       3
Pentel                      2           2         2       3
Stuart Hall                 2           2         2       1
  Rank by
Store Managers(2)
Mead
Bic
Crayola
Papermate
Pentel
Stuart Hall
Scotch/3M
Cambridge
Elmer's
Lisa Frank

(1)Based upon discount store consumers' response to the question: "If you were shopping for (product) in discount department stores, which brand of that product would you want?"

(2)Based upon store managers' response to the question: "What are the best performing brands in (department)?"

Source: DSN/Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, July 1994

Life stage analysis: Stationery

(top brands by age group)

     Busters       Boomers               Empty Nesters


    (Under 35)     (35-49)               (50 and over)

Mead        32%   Bic         27%   Hallmark             27%
Bic         29    Hallmark    19    Bic                  14
Hallmark    21    Mead        11    Mead                 9
Scotch/3M    4    Scotch/3M   8     American Greetings   7
Pentel       3    Crayola     6     Papermate            6

Source: DSN/Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, July 1994

Years of trying to build brand awareness for such products as pencils and notebooks has finally produced much-awaited national results in DSN's annual brands survey of consumers.

According to survey results, six out of 10 stationery shoppers said they have a brand preference, up 20 percentage points from last year.

Furthermore, while stationery consumers are the most ready to switch brands if their first choice is unavailable, that percentage is down from the 1993 survey. This year, nearly three-quarters of shoppers--the highest in the survey--said they would buy a different brand if necessary, compared to last year when 82% said they would switch brands, an overwhelming lack of brand loyalty.

However, these shoppers are the most easily satisfied. Eight out of 10 consumers said they would be willing to try private label stationery products--a higher response rate than in any other category. Nearly 90% of Boomers said they'd be willing to buy store brands, followed by 80% of Busters and 73% of Empty Nesters.

The willingness to buy private label in stationery is almost 25% higher than the average store brand response in the all categories.

collectively, consumer confidence in finding preferred stationery brand names is fairly strong. On a scale of one to nine (nine reflecting the highest degree of consumer confidence), stationery scored 7.59, up from last year. Nearly half the polled shoppers rated their confidence level a nine.

Overall, the most preferred brand in stationery is Bic, which coincided with retailer's No. 2 performing brand. Bic also was the highest scoring stationery brand on the Power Brands list.

Also on the Power Brands list was Mead, the No. 3 most preferred label with consumers this year.

Hallmark just missed the Power Brands list due to weakness with retailers. This makes sense since Hallmark is not sold in the mass market. Hallmark serves discount store customers with greeting cards and party supplies under the Ambassador name. However, consumers continue to list Hallmark as a preferred brand. This year, Hallmark was the No. 2 brand behind Bic--except among Empty Nesters, where Hallmark was a 2-to-1 favorite over the famous pen brand.

compared with retailer's list of top performers, consumers agreed with seven of the Top 10 brands: Bic, Mead, Scotch/3M, Papermate, Crayola, Pentel and Stuart Hall. Consumers also said they prefer American Greetings and Parker in addition to Hallmark. Retailers listed Cambridge, Elmer's and Lisa Frank as top performers.

Among shoppers at the Big Three chains, Bic, Hallmark and Mead led the preferences in the stationery category by a wide margin.

Among Busters, the most preferred brand is Mead, followed by Bic, then Hallmark. Empty Nesters said they prefer Hallmark first, then Bic and Mead. Boomers followed the overall line-up of Bic, Hallmark and Mead.