CHENNAI: One activity that is at the top of the list around a year-end is to gift friends and business associates diaries and calendars. With the increasing popularity of smart phones and other electronic gadgets, both these valuable additions are now becoming a thing of the past.
Mr M. Rajendran, who has been in wholesale business on Bunder Street, Chennai, for almost 25 years, feels that the craze for diaries is totally gone. “Now that the writing habit is almost gone, this fad is diminishing,” says Mr Rajendran of M.R. Offset Calendars. According to veterans in the business, though the calendar trade is comparatively good, it is also losing its sheen. “Our shop still gets bulk orders from shops like Saravana Stores. Yet, business is dipping year by year. Just to reach a 10 per cent margin has become an arduous task,” admits Mr Rajendran.
Diaries and calendars which were all along some of the key resources for promoting merchandise, have given way to other means of advertisement both in print and digital media. With innovation, these commodities have taken a new form in the name of personalised products. The idea of advertising through these products is almost obsolete and customising diaries and calendars according to individual preferences has become the trend.
“Though we have completely stopped giving diaries, we still have our regular customers who prefer our calendars. This is because it always has that perfect information about the lunar, solar eclipses and other details,” said Mr M. Ravikumar, manager at a jewellery showroom.
According to Mr S. Ramasamy of Friends Offset Calendars, “Shops have started giving other products as compliments like small idols of gods, bags, gift vouchers, etc. We used to cater to most of the big shops in Chennai. Now, shops in T. Nagar directly order from Sivakasi and we are losing our business.” “Every year our market is going down. Compared to last year’s sales, it is 20 per cent less this year.”
