Office Products Leader Offers Options for Avoiding Jams

LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill., Dec. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Jam-packed parking lots are the biggest fear consumers face during holiday shopping season...but, the amount of crowded parking lots still can't compare to the jams Britney Spears got herself in this year. While consumers can't relate to Spears, each year holiday shoppers struggle with various jams from traffic and bad weather to crowded shopping malls and difficult co-workers to shop for.

The GBC(R) Document Finishing Group of ACCO Brands recently issued a series of surveys to track trends on the biggest jams in and out of the workplace in conjunction with the launch of the new GBC Jam Free Series of laminators and shredders. The company already knew that jamming office machinery is one of the biggest frustrations for the American office worker, which is why they developed new laminators and shredders that stop jams from happening.

Celebrity Jams Preserved in Everyone's Minds

Everyday people aren't the only ones who often find themselves in a mess. Celebrity blunders are hard to forget with the inception of YouTube and TMZ cameras around every corner.

    -- Britney Spears' rollercoaster of a year was at the top of the list for
       sixty percent of 18 to 24-year-olds and 44 percent of total
       respondents.
    -- Michael Vick scored forty percent of total votes and the number one
       slot by consumers with a $75,000-plus annual salary.

Holiday Headaches

Holidays are the time to spread good cheer, but along with tinsel and treats come piles of snow, crowded shopping malls and fruitcake heartburn.

GBC asked consumers what holiday shopping jams they've found themselves in most often.

    -- Fifty percent of those surveyed selected finding a parking space as the
       biggest holiday jam they face, but it was chosen by even more of the
       65-plus age group (66 percent).
    -- A very distant second in each age and income demographic was buying
       something that they thought was on sale but really wasn't; 30 percent
       of those under 25 years old selected this option.
    -- Only ten percent reported that bringing their significant other along
       shopping was a mistake.

Make it Last without a Jam

'A typical office worker spends forty percent of their time looking for information and loses one out of every 20 documents(1),' said Kellie Glueck, director, global brand marketing, GBC Brand. 'By laminating important and frequently used documents, they won't be accidentally thrown away or lost in a mountain of paper. The GBC Jam Free Series of laminators will also save workers much-needed time and anxiety.'

Switching out one of your office tools can make your day go smoother. Jam free technology is one of the top three preferred features among professionals for a laminator, according to other GBC global research findings. The new GBC Jam Free Series laminator models H212, H312, and H435 not only help the work day and paper piles fly by, but provide a professional appearance.

Memories Aren't the Only Things that Last Forever

To save versus scrap is often the question in most offices and homes. The end of the year is the perfect time to get documents in order and decide what to preserve or to pitch.

Consumers were asked: 'What would you laminate so it lasts forever?' Results included:

    -- Thirty-five percent of respondents would laminate a time in their life
       when they had no responsibility to make it last forever.  Interestingly
       enough, the younger generation of 18 to 24-year-olds, who are probably
       newer to taking on independence, rated this higher (42 percent).
    -- Thirty-six percent in the 65-plus demographic chose to laminate
       themselves so they could stop aging.  Younger generations, 18 to
       34-year-olds, rated this lower at 18.5 percent.
    -- 'The first dollar I earned' came in second place across all age groups
       and income levels.

Methodology

This survey was conducted online in the United States by Deep Blue Insight Group on behalf of the GBC Document Finishing Group between December 3 and 6, 2007 among 1520 U.S. adults 18 years-of-age or older. Atlanta-based Deep Blue Insight Group is a market research firm specializing in new product and brand development for Fortune 500 companies. This online survey was conducted with a census-balanced consumer panel proportionate to the general U.S. population. The results have an average error range of +/- 1.6 percent.

About GBC and ACCO Brands Corporation (NYSE: ABD)

GBC has been the market leader in binding and lamination for over 60 years. With a complete line of binding and laminating machines and supplies, GBC helps consumers present, protect and preserve. To learn more about the GBC Jam Free Series, visit gbc.com.

ACCO Brands Corporation is a world leader in select categories of branded office products, with annual revenues of nearly $2 billion. Its industry-leading brands include Day-Timer(R), Swingline(R), Kensington(R), Quartet(R), GBC(R), Rexel(R), NOBO(R), and Wilson Jones(R), among others. Under the GBC brand, the company is also a leader in the professional print finishing market.

(1) Fujitsu 'Document Scanning in the Office' at http://www.fcpa.fujitsu.com/download/download/scanners/scansnapwhitepaper.pdf (date accessed February 6, 2006)

SOURCE The GBC Document Finishing Group of ACCO Brands