To my experience these soft perks are very random. For instance my flights this weekend: got newspapers on Friday morning on E190 (i.e. operated by Norra), but no next seat blocking, though there were empty seats next to people that didn't get the newspapers. On Sunday evening back to HEL on A319 (operated by Finnair) no newspapers and no next seat blocking. It seems to be totally dependent on the station staff and FAs if they see us (elites) worth noting, and on Sunday evening I obviously was not worth it. Very obvious flaw in their training and also seat allocation IT system.
It seems that usually max one out of these two "soft perks" and one official (= priority baggage delivered first) works. No need to mention that priority baggage was not first on the belt on either of these flights.
I have been wondering why it is so difficult for AY to standardize the service and ensure that elites are noted on their flights, it would be very easy to keep us happy but they just don't get it!