Personal organiser to shed its ‘yuppie’ image

Press, 13 April 1988, Page 42

Personal organiser to shed its ‘yuppie’ image

By

TONY VERDON

in London The Filofax, the upmarket personal organiser which has achieved near-) cult status in Britain, is to shed its “yuppie” image. [ The Filofax company has hired a firm of consultants ; to find a new’ more town-market image for the; product,) in an attempt ' to make it as popular) in the provinces as it is [in Harrods. Until [ now, Filofax' has resisted} attempts by stores such as Marks and Spencer and British Home Stores to stock itsiproduct. Now [however, [the firm has decided the Filofax wallet [for holding personal data can go on sale alongside its ■ cheaper rivals ■ in shops [ such as Woolworths. [ The i Filofax [was invented; more than 50 years ago by Grace Scurjr, a shorthand typist who died last year, aged 93.

[ She [had sold her stake in the company for just £l5OO [(about SNZ39OO), in 1980 [and missed out on trie boom, which has since seen [sales rocket to more trian [ £6M (about SNZIS.6M). [ According to “The, Independent” newspaper, the Fjilofax boom has [made Mr David Collischon, the company’s chairman and ihanaging director, a millionaire, and last year, IFilofax made its , stock exchange debut on the unlisted Securities Market. ;; ’ ' ’ j • ■ [ The problem foij the company now is that because of the phenofnenal success of Filofax among (he |. Porsche-driving, Pimms-drinking set, the yuppie market has become saturated and is a [turn-off to potential customers who are) not young, upwardly mobile or professional. A representative bf the ’design consultants in charge of trying to change

the product’s image, Ms Joanna Johnstone, said: ‘ To some people, the yuppie imagb is not the itriage they would like to have associated with themselves.” She believes the Filofax [is in danger of getting tapped in “niche marketing.” [ The Filofax company's advertising and public relations manager, Ms Caroline Jones, said, however, the idea ! of ! the Filofax being synonymous with yuppies was a hard pill to swallow, j [ “Yuppies are very highprofile in the media, [which has helped us in selling our product,” she said. “But it[ is wrong to view it simply as a yuppie product."| Ms Jones said most people wanted a diary, an address book and a notebook. j So now it’seems, even the [shop floor workers will be encouraged to invest! in the Filofax.