| We have come a very long way since our early | | | | corporate image if the promotional items they are |
| ancestors relied on their fingers to make wall | | | | gifting to their existing or potential customers appear |
| paintings and ever since then a myriad of materials | | | | as sub-standard. |
| has been used as writing instruments. This started | | | | Here we seemingly have an irreconcilable problem - |
| off with stone tools to carve symbols known as | | | | great looking promotional pens that scream quality |
| pictographs but as this developed into what we | | | | but at a low cost. To get around this dilemma |
| would now regard as writing there was a need for | | | | manufacturers have resorted to moulding pens from |
| much finer control over the writing instrument itself. | | | | inexpensive plastic and then using decorative finishes |
| Since then we have seen wooden sticks, feathers, | | | | to conceal the underlying material. Increasingly we are |
| brushes, chalk, graphite and charcoal used to get the | | | | seeing silver coloured personalised pens to mimic |
| written message across. | | | | metal but with a lightweight core. These decorative |
| In the last two hundred years with the emergence | | | | finishes are usually sprayed with a silver paint and the |
| of more sophisticated writing instruments a diverse | | | | effect can be very convincing. However, the |
| range of materials has been used to manufacture | | | | underlying light weight can give the game away when |
| them. Ivory, bone and metal were used to | | | | the pen is handled and in recent years manufacturers |
| manufacture early fountain pens but with the | | | | are adding low cost steel components to the internal |
| emergence of synthetic materials, particularly plastic a | | | | cavities of plastic promotional pens in an attempt to |
| revolution occurred in pen manufacturing as mass | | | | give the impression of high quality. |
| production techniques drove prices down. This | | | | The whole point of these innovations is to increase |
| coincided with greater levels of literacy in western | | | | the perceived value dramatically whilst only marginally |
| societies and the level of demand fuelled further | | | | increasing the cost of the pen. A recent variation on |
| innovation. | | | | this theme is the use of electroplated plastic pen |
| Pens are now incredibly cheap as a result of these | | | | parts that look identical to chrome plated metal and |
| innovations and certain sectors of the pen market | | | | this when combined with the other techniques |
| are extremely price-sensitive. In particular, | | | | outlined above make for a very cost-effective and |
| promotional pens when used as business gifts have | | | | attractive business gift. Mutton dressed up as lamb I |
| to be cost-effective because they are used as | | | | hear you say? Well not really, the result is usually |
| giveaways and are not sold to the end-user. The | | | | stunning and the promotional pen functions as well as |
| cost of this is usually borne by the company's | | | | any pen that has a much higher price tag, so perhaps |
| marketing budget and although price is important the | | | | we should regard it as a testament to man's |
| look and feel of the pen must hide its underlying low | | | | ingenuity. |
| price. It would be detrimental to any company's | | | | |