BTS products: what worked and what's to come

Drug Store News, Nov 4, 1996

BTS '97 For 1997 BTS, Newell will also offer clear and tinted boxes and a slightly upgraded look. "School boxes in general have become rock bottom in pricing, and we're looking for ways to make them unique [and to command a higher price point], Evens said.

In home office, "We're projecting half of all homes will have home offices by 2000," Evens said. To address this trend, Newell is launching the HouseHolds line and repositioning commercial Newell office products with user friendly packaging and full color photos showing its home use.

Products include Smart Files, with two wall pockets and desk tray that can be hung on a wall or seated in a desk base. The former Incline Sorter becomes, under the new HouseHolds line, the Mail Center. Another item is the File 'n Go.

Newell thinks the packaging will spur impulse sales because the consumer can see how to use the product.

Also for home office, Newell's expanded PC Compatibles line of ergonomic accessories will be available in new versions with colored foam and more decorative appeal than the original line. New items include the new Healthy Back Pack and Healthy Hands pack, in addition to the Foot Turtle and Back Perch.

BTS '96 Day Runner said its big story for 1996 BTS was its Looney Tunes and Disney Day Runner lines, the first character-licensed organizers available in mass channels.

Its 4-1-1 Student Planner for 1996, as company spokesperson Karen Muller noted, was "an organizing tool with trend-conscious covers," featuring graphics with an international montage of attractive young faces.

BTS '97 For BTS 1997, the 4-1-1 Student Planner will have new sizes and covers, including lenticular covers (a '70s retro look in which images change when you move the cover to view different angles).

The line win also have an updated color scheme in canvas and nubuck in both spiral and loose leaf formats. Day Runner win also feature a student wardrobe sweepstakes to promote 4-1-1. (Last year it gave away CDs.)

In its Looney Tunes organizers and pocket planners, Day Runner will give the line new covers with new character poses and background effects and add a compact 3-by-5 inch telephone book to the line.

Muller noted that these character products have a crossover market. Many adults also like the sewn vinyl Looney Tunes organizers, especially those featuring more subtle designs.

Character licensing has two kinds of appeal, Muller noted. One is "consumers who likes to fill their lives with animation," and the other is "someone who enjoys joys the character but isn't ready to make a huge individual statement" - like a small Bugs Bunny in the corner of a planner.

In the Disney line last year, Day Runner introduced Mickey sticker books and diaries for young children to introduce the concept of organizing. This year, Day Runner is offering Mickey student planners for older kids with a stylized black and white cover design.

For home management, Day Runner will introduce Everything in One Place, a new organizer featuring licensed graphics from Gary Larson's The Far Side in a spiral loose-leaf format. It combines different organizing tools on a single frame, including a spiral-bound refillable calendar, a magnetic white board.