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From The Editor
ON THE CARDS I am writing this en route to the final GCA Council meeting of 2023 which quite rightly has the #Cardmitment campaign at the heart of the agenda. The spark for the activity was the decline in Christmas card sending last year, that was severely dampened as a result of the Royal Mail strikes. Kaye Thurgood of Sincerely Yours in Shenfield and Hornchurch was absolutely right to be forthright back in February, on the Ling Design stand talking to ceo David Byk and myself about how we as an industry cannot take it for granted that Christmas card sending would automatically return to previous levels this year and that we needed to all pull together to safeguard the future of our industry. At that time, we did not fully Above right: PG’s Jakki Brown with her Dad at Berehill House, his care home in realise that there is a bigger Whitchurch writing in Christmas cards as part of the Caring at Christmas initiative. battle we really need to win. Above left: MP Mark Menzies with Paper The future of the Royal Mail, Salad’s Karen Wilson (centred) and PG’s Jakki Brown at the recent Westmeminster its role in society – and event, with the very first ever Christmas card, that dates back to 1843. fundamental to our industry – Right: PG’s Jakki Brown (left) and Love It’s is under threat with a proposed Amanda Oscroft in her Stamford shop in the Christmas spirit. move to a three-day delivery Below: Kaye Thurgood of Sincerely Yours and inflation-busting stamp with her MP Alex Burghart who is supporting the #Cardmitment campaign price increases. Make no and says he is sending 500 Christmas cards. mistake, we need to fight this.
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We’ve got off to a good start, but we can’t let up. We are fighting an organisation with huge financial resources and, despite the fact that over 40% of consumers say they only use Royal Mail to send greeting cards, Royal Mail does not seem to be as interested in assuring our good wishes are received as they should be. Sadly, they seem more interested in parcels than post, so we are a bit on our own. Except we’re not. Last week, together with fellow GCA Council members, I was in Parliament at a drop-in session organised by the association’s PR agency Arena. We all made the most to ram it home to the MPs that came as to the importance of safeguarding a reliable, affordable and much-loved postal service. The lobbying needs to now step up a gear and if you have not yet written to your MP about it, please do it now. There is a draft letter on the GCA website on the #Cardmitment blog that you can download and pop in a Christmas card, of course! On behalf of Warren, Tracey A, Tracey B and the rest of the PG team, may I wish you a very merry Christmas, both personally and businesswise.
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What’s Inside?
CONTENTS 22
26
33
28
37
45
11-21 News All the latest happenings and developments in the trade.
53 37-43 Focus on…Children’s Cards Sheer Dino-mite! PG’s annual delve into how publishers cater for littlies, big kids, and everyone in between.
22-25 Viewpoints Flat White Or More Froth? Members of the greeting card community share their views on pricing for 2024.
45-47 Innovations
26-27 Talking Shop Don’t Blowtorch The Christmas Glow
49-51 The Ladder Club Climbing Back Up
Indie David Robertson binge watches over 50 of this year’s Christmas commercials for some festive takeaways.
The resurrection of The Ladder Club seminar for newbies and emerging publishers made for a memorable day for attendees and presenters.
A host of new ranges and designs.
28-29 Cardsharp Who Pays The Piper? Cardsharp tries to find the right balance between saving the planet while also considering those living in poverty today.
30-31 Retail Face to Face Tesco’s Paperchase Embrace The lowdown on the inaugural resurrection range of Paperchase greeting card, stationery and gift products as it debuts in 133 Tesco stores in UK.
53 Art Source Talk Of The Table Versatile artist and illustrator, Karen Tye Bentley opens the doors of her home studio in Newcastle under Lyme to share her life and loves.
55-56 What’s Hot? A trio of retailers lift the lid on their best-selling ranges.
57-67 Sources of Supply 33-35 In Conversation with…Second Nature Extra Dimensions
Max Publishing events’ dates for the diary…
Second Nature is going for it with its largest ever 3D launch, plus new distribution agreements with Scribbler and Quilling Card.
London Stationery Show 2024 – 14-15 May PG Live 2024 – 4-5 June The Retas 2024 – 4 July The Henries 2024 – 3 October
Subscribe to Progressive Greetings from £60 (UK) to £90 (International). You can organise this quickly and easily online at our secure site: www.max-subscriptions.net For assistance, please email subscriptions@max-publishing.co.uk
Jakki Brown
Warren Lomax
Tracey Arnaud
Tracey Bearton
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Sales Manager
Features Editor
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jakkib@max-publishing.co.uk
warren@max-publishing.co.uk
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traceyb@max-publishing.co.uk
ianh@max-publishing.co.uk
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Copyright© 2023. While every effort has been made to ensure the information in this magazine was correct at the time of publication, the publishers cannot accept legal liability for any errors or omissions, nor can they accept responsibility for the standing of advertisers nor any organisation mentioned in the text. Views of contributors do not necessarily reflect those of the publishers.
Ian Hyder
PG is the official magazine for the Greeting Card Association GCA: Amanda Fergusson 020 7619 9266 Email: hello@gca.cards www.greetingcardassociation.org.uk
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 7
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NEWS TOP STORY on December 24. It should be better than last year, but not convinced it will end up like the 2021 bonanza.” Sally Matson, owner of Red Card in Petworth is holding steady on the Christmas card sales front. “Our sales of packs and singles are just about the same as last year’s levels as of now.” Up in Edinburgh, Michael Apter, owner of Paper Tiger revealed that its like-for-like sales are broadly on a par “or even slightly up.” Michael said its “single card sales are holding up well so” in his three stores, but pays tribute to card publishers for the sustainable changes they have made to their packaged cards which has seen some customers shift to boxed cards. “They offer better value for money, but now also look better, merchandise better, and feel like a more substantial purchase,” says Michael. Staying north of the border, Sarah Holmes, owner of Pencil Me In, in Elgin said her single card sales are “going well”, but has already sold out of the small selection of boxed cards. “I was swithering over whether to order more, but I have!”
Christmas Jingles Cardies go all out to stir up festive feelings As PG went to press, in early December, there was still a lot to play for on the Christmas trading front, but certainly the whole industry has been stirring up the festive feeling with the consumer, at retail, in care homes and with MPs and in the media. Above: The Red Card Christmas window. Right: One of the Paper Tiger stores in “It’s all really starting to its festive finery. ramp up. Single card sales are very strong. So glad we Cards, the Home Counties group of seven are not blighted by postal strikes this year,” stores, hopes that its “record sales of commented Mark Janson-Smith, managing Advents” bodes well for a decent director of the Postmark group of 15 Christmas. “We have never known anything stores. “However, having bucked the trend like it on the Advents front, no doubt helped in the last few years on pack sales, this by so many high profile beauty brands year in line with many others our sales of promoting their take on Advents,” suggests packaged cards are down, but we are Miles. “It is a bit of a mixed bag at the hoping our uplift in single cards will moment, but Christmas trade has definitely compensate for this.” started picking up so we are cautiously Miles Robinson, co-owner of House of optimistic as to where we will be sales wise
Caring at Christmas and Festive Friday double hit Under the GCA’s overarching #Cardmitment banner, the Festive Friday and Caring at Christmas initiatives have been banging the drum loud and clear to promote Christmas card sending this year. Festive Friday, which fell this year on December 1, with those in the card community engaging with the GCA initiative to kickstart Christmas cards sending. Among these was House of Cards, which this year saw the Home Counties retailer paying for the postage on over 1,000 cards that were written by its team to send their friends and loved ones on Festive Friday. “It is a great initiative, something that we have always supported as it is at the very heart of what we do as an industry,” said Nigel Williamson, co-owner of House of Cards. The GCA’s Caring At Christmas initiative has gathered great steam among cardies who have been spreading lots of festive cheer to those in care homes the length and breadth of the UK, sitting down with residents as they write Christmas cards to their loved ones. The initiative has been spearheaded by Five Dollar Shake co-owner and md Matt Genower based on his experiences last year when he and his colleagues visited his father-in-law in a care home, armed with a selection of Christmas cards. With 400,000 elderly residents in over 11,000 care homes across the UK who are always looking for interesting activities this year, extending the Top: Roger la Borde’s Caring concept to all GCA members has seen cardies from Fortrose at Christmas activity. in the north of Scotland down to the south coast, taking Above left: The GBCC team readying for its Caring at supplies of Christmas cards into their local care homes to Christmas event at a care home. create card writing events. Above right: At Cardgains’ Festive Friday event, Helen McManus (front) with (left“BBC Radio Sussex & Surrey interviewed me recently, to right) Melanie Craine, Nicola Buck, talk Christmas card writing in care homes,” Matt told PG, “I Deborah Beedham and Kerry Barrett. was banging the drum loud and clear! “On the back of it, we’ve had some really positive feedback from members of the public including asking if they too can volunteer to take cards into care homes for the elderly. Food for thought for next year.” In addition to Five Dollar Shake, Abacus, Woodmansterne Publications, Roger la Borde and GBCC are among those to have embraced Caring at Christmas this year so far.
Second Nature distributes Scribbler and Quilling Card In addition to launching its largest ever selection of 3D greeting cards, across several new ranges, Second Nature has also become the UK distributor for a selection of Scribbler cards for indies as well as for a selection of beautiful quilled cards from Quilling Card. (See pages 33-35).
Above: A selection of Scribbler cards is now available from Second Nature.
The London Studio Artists Collective debuts in Ryman Design There are three stores open under the new Ryman Design retail concept, in London’s Marble Arch, Bishopsgate and in Birmingham Grand Central. In addition to a vast array of design-led stationery, the trio of stores also includes an expansive greeting card selection. Among the latest to debut is The London Studio Artists Collective, a collection of Christmas designs by a selection of contemporary artists and small publishers, which is the brainchild of Soula Zavacopolous, founder of The London Studio. Above: The Ryman Design store in Marble Arch.
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Max Publishing acquires London Stationery Show Stationery Matters and National Stationery Week also included Max Publishing, which owns Progressive Greetings, Progressive Greetings Live, The Henries and The Retas, has acquired the London Stationery Show from Ocean Media Group. London Stationery Show is the UK’s only event dedicated to the stationery, arts, crafts, paper and writing instruments sector. The acquisition also includes Stationery Matters magazine/enewsletter and National Stationery Week. “We are absolutely delighted to welcome London Stationery Show into the Max Publishing family and look forward to really getting to know the stationery community. Ocean Media Group has done an outstanding job in the last few years, elevating London Stationery Show as the most important event in the stationery industry’s calendar. I would like to thank Ocean’s ceo Robert Brighouse, and cfo Declan Cassidy, for their cooperation throughout the transaction,” commented Rob Willis, coo of Max Publishing who finalised the acquisition with Ocean Media Group. “Every market has its own nuances, but with us at Max Publishing being so entrenched in affiliated retail sectors through our magazines, awards and PG Live, notably greeting cards, gifts and licensing, this wonderful synergetic opportunity to extend into stationery was too good to miss. We are already overflowing with ideas and can’t wait to get deeply involved in this fascinating and fast-moving retail sector,” added Warren Lomax cofounder of the company. The London Stationery Show 2024 will take place, as planned, 14-15
May at London’s Business Design Centre and Chantelle White has joined the Max Publishing team from Ocean Media to continue as its event manager. “I love the stationery industry and am so happy to be continuing in my role,” said Chantelle. “Max Publishing is the perfect home for London Stationery Show, Stationery Matters and National Stationery Week, especially given the company’s strong pedigree in media, Progressive Greetings Live exhibition and its trade awards programmes,” she added. As well as further developing London Stationery Show, Max Publishing is fully committed to expanding Stationery Matters both as a magazine and digital news platform as well as further elevating National Stationery Week, which falls 13-19 May 2024. Sarah Laker, owner of Stationery Supplies, the award-winning indie retailer, with stores in Marple and Wilmslow will continue to head up the promotional and PR activities for this celebratory week of all things stationery. London Stationery Show 2024 already has a very impressive line-up of exhibitors. Among the many leading brands already on board are Crayola, Stone Marketing, ExaClair, Daler Rowney, Royal Talens, Leuchtturm1917, Manuscript Brands, Jakar International, Studio Pens, Pentel, Snopake, Staedtler, Sinclairs, Stabilo, Pukka Pads, Edding, Hahnemuehle, Ultratape, The Pilot Pen Co, Zebra Pen, Nu:notebooks, Tallon International and many more.
Above: A thumbs up from Stationery Supplies’ Sarah Laker who will continue to head up National Stationery Week activities. Left: Chantelle White (centre), event manager of LSS with Max Publishing directors (left-right) Warren Lomax, Rob Willis, Jakki Brown and Ian Hyder at the BDC.
Sarah’s the Boss Sarah Laker, owner of Stationery Supplies in Marple and Wilmslow not only clinched the Best Independent Retailer award in the Boss stationery awards, for the third year in succession, but had a mega shout out of her win from Sara Cox on her prime-time BBC Radio 2 programme. Sarah’s daughter Molly, who is the manager of the Wilmslow store phoned in to tell Sara just what a star her mum is. DJ Sara showed her stationery colours, quipping: “Who doesn’t love a good notebook?” Having also been in a finalist in the Boss awards, Sandra Jervis, owner of Lampeter-based Creative Cove was awarded the Best Local Stationery & Craft Shop Ceredigion trophy in the SME Welsh Enterprise Awards, having picked up the inaugural Retas award for the Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer Of The Year – Wales back in the summer. Left: BBC Radio 2 DJ Sara Cox gave a shout out to Stationery Supplies’ BOSS win.
Postmark and Stone Marketing fly high Youngsters were flying high at Battersea Power Station recently, thanks to a colourful collaboration between distributor Stone Marketing and greeting card and stationery retailer, Postmark. Postmark’s store in the Top: The bird of wonder display has now moved iconic London building was from Battersea to Stone the base for a special Marketing’s offices. children’s art event based Above: Over 200 youngsters took part in on the peregrine falcons the Time To Fly art event. which nest there, to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the shopping and entertainment complex at the landmark site. Mark and Leona Janson-Smith, who run the 15store indie Postmark retail chain, headed down with their two children to enjoy the fun and decorate feathers to illustrate the building’s story where peregrine falcons and black redstarts have bonded to breed side by side. “Around 200 children joined us,” explained Stone Marketing’s head of marketing Hayley White, “and 600 feathers were decorated across the two days to create the beautiful wings – which are now on display at our Tonbridge offices.” Helped by collage artist Stephanie Hartman, the Time To Fly theme saw the youngsters create a stunning bird of wonder display using FaberCastell products from its children’s art range, which Stone Marketing distributes, and were available for sale in the Postmark store. The youngsters were encouraged to write a heart-warming message “that will uplift and inspire other children who read it”, letting their creativity take flight to “spread positivity” and help create a “brighter, more colourful world for all”.
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WHS’ “good” High Street performance Six Curi.o.city stores open with two set for Dubai Strong sales and profit growth have boosted WH Smith’s full-year revenue to £1.7billion, thanks to its Travel arm’s performance, according to the greetings, stationery and convenience retailer’s latest results, which also detailed how it now has six Curi.o.city stores trading. The retail group’s ceo Carl Cowling commented on WHS being “a highly cashgenerative business” in the relation to its preliminary results for the year to 31 August. The headline figures give a 28% group revenue increase and show that total Travel trading profit grew to £164million from £89m the previous year, increasing revenue performance by 43% to £1,324m from £927m, helped by increased footfall as global travel bounced back from the pandemic lows. In the High Street division, trading profit dipped slightly to £32m from £33m, and revenue performance was down 1% at £469m from £473m, with like-for-like having increased 1%. The report stated: “We saw a consistently good performance in High Street throughout the year, with the Christmas trading period flat year on year on a LFL basis,” adding that the headline trading profit was “in line with expectations”. Its recently-launched premium greeting card, souvenir and gifting brand Curi.o.city is said to demonstrate how the group is “able to adapt, innovate and create a bespoke, localised brand and product offer”, with six stores now open in Gatwick airport, Bristol airport, St Pancras station and Selfridges in Birmingham and Manchester.
Hannah Dale is the business
Above right: To boost single greeting card sales in selected WHS high street stores consumers have been given a 25% off voucher that can be used multiple times until 1 October 2024. Above left: Curi.o.city is WHSmith’s latest retail concept, which is chasing the Paperchase customer.
The concept also offers an “incremental sales opportunity” in locations where there is already a WHSmith store by selling highmargin categories such as souvenirs and fashion stationery, freeing up space in the traditional news, books and convenience stores. The report added: “It is still early days, but we also see opportunities outside the UK with two Curi.o.city stores also due to open in Dubai later this year.” The Funkypigeon.com online greeting card arm delivered a total revenue of £32m, £3m down on 2022, which was “as expected”, and the company said: “We continue to see opportunities to grow the platform further, growing revenue and profits over the medium term.” The retailer said driving cost efficiencies remains a core part of the division’s strategy as it looks to deliver savings of £21m over the next three years – it was operating from 514 High Street stores at the end of August, compared to the 537 it had 12 months prior. Around 480 leases are due for renewal in the next three years, including 100 where the company is already in negotiation with the landlords. Left: Hannah Dale with her award.
Wrendale Designs’ founder Hannah Dale received the prestigious silver award in the Business Woman Of The Year Medium (£10m-£25m turnover) category at the recent National Business Women’s Awards, as well as being a finalist in the International Woman’s Award, and Northern England Business Woman Of The Year sectors. “I’m very proud to have been honoured with Best Business Woman of the Year silver award,” Hannah said. “I had a fantastic night and met
some truly inspirational women so feel very privileged to have been given this award. I am surrounded every day by my own team of inspirational people and feel slightly guilty taking the credit with awards like this as I absolutely couldn’t do it on my own, and all of our successes are down to their hard work and dedication. So, as always, I dedicate the award to our Wrendale Family as a thank you for being so amazing.”
Royals’ strong card connections still strong The royal connection to greeting cards has been reaffirmed with the results of the latest auction as a Prince Harry handmade design fetched £1,300 – and a single Andrew Brownsword one sent by Princess Diana went for more than twice its estimate. The hammer came down on the Dino greeting card design at £1,100 at Dominic Winters Auctioneers recently, when it had been valued at £300-£500.
“I'm always surprised at how well these cards hold their value no matter how many come into the market,” auctioneer Chris Albury told PG after the Photographs, Autographs & Historic Documents, Royalty, Film & Sports Memorabilia sale in Gloucestershire. Surprises of the day were the trio of bought gift tags, one marked Popprint Products, that Princess Diana used to send gifts to a person referred to as Nicki which made £1,300, almost triple the £300-£500 estimate, and the 1953 Coronation year Christmas card with a photograph of the then Queen Elizabeth II and her consort Prince Philip – valued at £200-£300 saw the hammer come down at an amazing £1,600. As well as the Duke of Sussex’s card, there were two lots of Andrew Brownsword humour designs sent by Diana, and humorous cards from Paperlink, The Dog’s Doodahs/Funkypigeon.com, Carlton Cards, Moonpig.com, Camden Graphics, Bill Kimpton/Rainbow Cards, Andrew Brownsword, and Quitting Hollywood sent by the Duchess of York. While the Sarah Ferguson collection of cards only made £100, there was also a letter from the Princess of Wales, sent in 1990, that was valued at £700-£1,000 but fetched £2,100. Chris added: “Diana's hold over collectors continues and I was particularly pleased with the signed birthday cards and the gift tags suggesting people will pay more for something unique and directly personal to Diana even if they don't know who the recipient is.”
Top: Diana’s signature on this Andrew Brownsword card lifted it to £1,100 at auction. Above: A Christmas card signed by Princess Diana and the then Prince Charles.
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MPs make their #Cardmitment to Christmas cards
Below: David Linden, MP for East Glasgow and Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham were straight in there with their support for #Cardmitment.
GCA’s event at Westminster to protect RM service gave as he arrived, greeted by the GCA’s Amanda Fergusson, Adriana Lovesy, Paper Salad’s Karen Wilson, Cardology’s David Falkner, Arena’s Nick Agarwal and Andrea Ross and PG’s Jakki Brown. Mark was then given a whistlestop tour of the UK greeting card industry, the benefits of sending greeting cards as well as how vital it is to protect the USO, especially as greeting cards now account for 40% of all letter post. “The event was such a great success. As well as the GCA personally contacting all the MPs, so many of our publisher, retailer and trade supplier members contacted their MPs to invite them,” said Amanda. “Having these connections is going to prove so useful going forward,” she added. David Falkner, director of Cardology and GCA Council member’s time and trouble Below left: Cardology’s David Falkner with his MP Elliot Colburn, who was the first to sign the #Cardmitment giant of hand-delivering the invite to his MP, card that was designed by Stormy Knight’s Sarah Jackson Elliot Colburn paid off. The MP was not and produced by Loxleys. Below right: Mark Menzies MP with GCA’s Amanda Fergusson. only the one of the first to arrive, but immediately became completely invested in the initiative. He also paid tribute to Calladoodles, a leading greeting card retailer in his constituency of Carshalton and Walllington, applauding the indie for “the work it does to promote local artists.” David rammed home to Elliot on the Royal Mail front. “If we don’t get this
MPs with constituencies from far and wide - from Scotland down to the south coast – beat a path to sign their pledge to a GCA #Cardmitment manifesto at a recent event held in Westminster’s Portcullis House, attached to the Houses of Parliament. This involved the MPs agreeing to send Christmas cards, to engage with a greeting card publisher or retailer in their constituency as well as to push for a reliable and affordable postal service, including the continuation of the Royal Mail six day a week USO. The event was spearheaded by Arena PR on behalf of the GCA which had the backing of Mark Menzies, MP for Fylde in Lancashire, who facilitated the meeting room. “What can we as MPs do to help you?” was the positive greeting MP Mark Menzies
Royal Mail’s positive Christmas card The GCA has stressed the importance of Royal Mail keeping its promises in the wake of the UK’s major postal service being fined £5.6million for missing delivery targets. Only 73.7% of first-class post arrived within one working day in the 2022-2023 financial year, far below the statutory target of 93%, while the 90.7% of second-class mail delivered inside three working days was below the 98.5% expected level – and posties only completed 89.35% of routes each day a delivery is required, way under the 99.9% expectation. Even after adjusting Royal Mail’s performance for the impact of the long-running industrial action, extreme heat in July and the Stansted runway closure, its first and second-class performances were still only 82% and 95.5% respectively. “After last year’s strikes, especially in the run-up to the festive season, nothing’s more important than knowing when Royal Mail says a card will be delivered, it will arrive on time,” GCA ceo Amanda Fergusson said in a statement issued to the media. “Royal Mail must keep their promises. An undelivered card or one that arrives late, disrespects the effort that’s gone into making and sending it.” Ian Strawhorne, Ofcom director of enforcement, said the fine “should act as a wake-up call” for Royal Mail.
Royal Mail’s positive Christmas card research and advertising Royal Mail has got behind the promotion of Christmas card sending with the release of a social media reel as well as an advertising campaign to promote festive greetings. The reel uses the latest research from the UK’s postal service to explain that eight out of ten of people recognise that Christmas cards are important for maintaining relationships with friends and family with 77% of people asked saying they would rather receive a physical Christmas card than a digital one this year. Underling how Christmas cards are part of festive decorations in our homes, 89% said they display all the festive greetings they’re sent while one third of pet owners admit that they sign their cards from their animals.
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right, and protect our postal service, arguably we won’t have an industry,” said David. In addition to being impressed by the current day greeting cards that were on display, the MPs were also shown a treasure of the industry’s history – the first ever commercial Christmas card invented by Sir Henry Cole, dating back to 1843 as well as a Penny Black stamp from 1840, both owned by Jakki Brown, editor of Progressive Greetings. Yvonne Fovargue, MP for Makerfield, David Linden, MP for Glasgow East, Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham and Baroness Gloria Hooper were among those who were very enthusiastic about having their photograph taken with the historic festive greeting and learning how back in 1870, anyone posting a greeting card or postcard only paid half the price that of a letter. “There was innovation back then, wouldn’t it be wonderful if Royal Mail agreed to a similar scheme now,” said Jakki to Mark Menzies. “Interesting, there is a precedent then. Let me find out what parliamentary committee would consider this,” he promised.
Above: One of RM’s research findings. Left: Two of Royal Mail’s Christmas print adverts.
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M&S’ TV ad burns festive traditions
UKG aids kids’ cancer appeal Below: Sophie Ellis-Bextor gets distructive with the blowtorch in the M&S advert.
The torching of cards angered cardies and the public Christmas cards are The battle of the very nice )” cut no Christmas TV ice with the greeting adverts has a card community as very definite loser the first comments for the greeting on the M&S Insta card industry this feed were from Xmas Cardies WhatsApp year as retailers, publishers and the general public piled in to decry M&S for its Group members. No14 Ampthill owner Jo Barber said: “I card-burning scenes after the festive truly don’t understand why you think this is commercial was released at the start of good? The sending of cards at Christmas last month. The advert, entitled Love Thismas (Not brings joy to so many, especially those who are Thatmas) stars Sophie Ellis-Bextor turning lonely or struggle at this time of year. I dread to think how the charities your cards are meant to her kitchen blowtorch from toasting the support feel watching this today.” meringues on a gingerbread house to Immediately following was Earlybird’s Heidi setting fire to the unwritten Christmas Early, who co-owns the shop in Stoke cards on her kitchen worktop. Newington and the publishing business, who Following the commercial’s first TV added: “Why would you call someone instead airing GCA ceo Amanda Fergusson of taking the time to write a card which means immediately reacted with a quote for the consumer media: “Many of our members so much more, creates a Christmassy feel on display and is a timeless keepsake? Let’s stop have been in touch to say they’re somewhat surprised by the blow-torching prioritising other things over this simple but of Christmas cards in the M&S Christmas thoughtful gesture. #connectwithcards it makes people so happy #cardmitment.” ad. They know how important the Up in Chapel Allerton, Chirpy owner Jo £1.5billion creative card sector is to the McBeath added: “Can’t understand what UK – and that Christmas cards are possessed M&S to do this – the joy that wonderful little things that support relationships, mental health and wellbeing, receiving a card brings! And what about people who design, make and sell cards! And the communities and charities. “Perhaps it feels as traditional as a pair charities who rely on cards sales. M&S you have got it so wrong this year!” of M&S knickers but, thankfully, most of Although not confirmed by M&S, thankfully us will think about putting others first this it does appear that the blowtorching scene Christmas, not themselves.” was cut from later showings of the advert, Featuring the scenes in an Instagram including online. reel, the caption “Do what you love this (See David Robertson’s column on festive season, even if it means choosing Christmas calls over cards. (But also, our pages 26-27)
Woody helps Crisis at Christmas Woodmansterne Publications is adding some festive cheer for those experiencing homelessness by supporting the Crisis at Christmas charity project through the donation of hundreds of Christmas cards. This year, Crisis will be providing a warm welcome for 600 people experiencing homelessness at various centres across London. Woodmansterne had no hesitation in responding to a request from the Crisis charity for each person coming in to its London centres to enjoy a warm place to sleep and a Christmas dinner and to receive a personal handwritten Christmas card on Christmas morning. Ella Zamir, corporate partnerships account manager of Crisis said: “We all know the joy of opening up a greeting card, and on Christmas Day our guests will wake up to their own card in addition to a traditional Christmas lunch and the support of our army of volunteers.” Above: The Crisis at In addition, Woodmansterne has also sent another 200 cards to the Christmas project will charity’s Brent Centre in North London. bring some festive joy.
UK Greetings has partnered with The Sun On Sunday’s Christmas Cards For Kids campaign with the Children With Cancer Above: UKG has produced the charity UK charity for the card packs with the second year running. winners’ quotes The greeting card on the back. publisher teamed up with the national newspaper to print the designs chosen as winners in a nationwide competition, with proceeds from sales going towards buying gifts for young cancer patients staying in hospital over Christmas. Hundreds of youngsters got arty and sent in their pictures, with one winner picked in each of the three age groups, under-fives, six to 11, and 11 to 16 – and the packs of 12 cards, with four of each design, are for sale at £6 through The Entertainer’s website and in its 170+ stores. The youngest winner is five-year-old Veronica Hon from south London, who painted a picture of Father Christmas to cheer up other children. “Christmas should be the best day ever for everyone – especially those who are sick,” little Veronica told The Sun On Sunday. “Last year, I got very ill and had to go to hospital. I made lots of friends, but some days I felt sad. I was so happy to come home. I wanted to do something to help other children. I love to paint and I love doing art at school. I hope that people who see my picture will have big smiles on their faces, just like the one on my card.”
PEOPLE NIBS l Briony Clarke has joined Rosie Made A Thing as head of product, overseeing critical paths, purchasing and licensing. Having been on maternity leave, Briony joins the Above: Briony Clarke. publisher bringing with her experience gained at Scribbler, Card Factory and Wilko. l There are hellos and a goodbye at Spring and Autumn Fair with the departure of event director Daniel Mayhew and the arrival of Jackson Above: Jackson and Soraya Szabo and Soraya are new to the Spring and Gadelrab. Autumn Fair team. Jackson Szabo has been appointed as portfolio director with Soraya Gadelrab taking over from Daniel as the new event director for the two gift and home shows run by the Hyve Group.
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AI on the rise for card buyers Moonpig’s data shows consumers are looking to tech for cards AI birthday card messages have tracked a 300% increase in Google searches over the past 12 months – and Moonpig has also discovered that the number of those looking for VR greetings has doubled. In line with the growth in usage of artificial intelligence models, such as Chat GPT and Dall-E over the last 12 months, Moonpig highlights that the public are turning to AI to help them write and create cards, with Google data showing that searches for “what to write on someone’s birthday card” have soared in that time. James Huppler, vp of product and design at Moonpig, said: “Within our industry, AI should enhance the customer experience and provide something completely new, which wasn’t previously possible. We recently launched the Smart Text tool that uses generative AI to help customers with the common problem of not knowing what to write inside a card. “Resolving this issue is a great advancement for both us and our customers, so we’re
excited to see how people interact with this new feature – whether it’s writing a poem to a loved one or even reading out a funny joke for your friend's birthday – and how we can learn from their behaviours to develop this further.” The research showed a 150% increase in Google searches for video message cards, which have a digital video available by a scannable QR code, and it’s the same for digital anniversary cards. while numbers looking for Father’s Day e-cards and virtual reality cards both doubled. Searches for digital thank you cards increased by 89%, augmented reality cards by 50%, animated cards went up by 33% and there was a 29% rise in those looking for a digital card creator. According to Moonpig, the UK’s online greeting card industry has more than doubled
Riverside Greetings harnesses RFID and AI Radio frequency identification (RFID) and artificial intelligence (AI) tech are being embraced by Riverside Greetings to significantly improve performance for its merchandisers and retailer customers. The Ossett-based publisher and distributor has created an automated inventory and category management system that marries the two to analyse and increase the greeting card category performance, while improving the productivity and effectiveness of its merchandising service. This new system has been developed with the support of academic experts at Leeds Beckett University as part of a two-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership, part-funded by the government through Innovate UK. Riverside’s new, patent-pending technology is being piloted in several test stores in England, with md Andrew Glen expecting it to bring “significant benefits” for all of its independent convenience retailers and forecourt operators. Through the use of the technology, according to Andrew, merchandisers are able to complete a full stock count of hundreds of cards by design in less than two minutes, with 100% accuracy versus the current manual counting system which can take 30 to 45 minutes with the ‘reader’ scanning the invisible ‘digital tag’ on each card. Andrew estimates this new approach will grow sales with existing customers by more than 20% while freeing up merchandisers’ time to spend on even more business development initiatives. Acknowledging this development as “a very exciting and innovative initiative” Andrew believes that the pilot trial of an RFID and AI category management system “will transform not just our business but the greeting card category in the convenience and forecourt sector and, potentially, other Above: Riverside’s new RFID/AI scanning sectors as well.” system makes light work for merchandisers.
in recent years, growing from £90million in 2016 to £199m in 2022, with the expanded choice, enhanced convenience and the ability to hyper-personalise products, and now offer more digitalenabled features further improves the online offer. As James adds: “As a nation of content creators with millions of reels and TikTok videos being created every day, we anticipate this trend continuing and, in some cases, becoming the norm when sending a card to friends and family. For example, no longer will our cards feature static images on the front, instead these images will be brought to life either through animation or even video messages from the sender to truly take personalisation to the next level”. Above: Moonpig’s James Huppler believes AI should enhance the customer experience. Left: Stickers, photos, emojis and video or audio messages give greater personalisation.
Nigel Quiney’s watercolours’ hi-tech secret In a first for Nigel Quiney Publications, its new Chelsea Darling collection, inspired by the essence and splendour of the Chelsea Above: Stickers, photos, emojis Flower Show, and video or audio messages give greater personalisation. has a hi-tech secret. On the back of each card in the range there’s a QR code which lets people scan it to link through to a delightful video of the range’s artist in action, drawing and colouring the delicate designs. The range comprises 15 greeting cards plus two notecards at A5 and A6 size. As NQP’s art manager Carl Pledger explains: “Each card features a QR code on the back where the customer can sit back and watch the artist painting one of these stunning designs, a first for greeting cards we believe!”
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Queues at Row Q?
UN’s keynote set the tone at SiLC Carousel Calendars won a Products of Change award Left: All the sustainable legislation coming down the line could blow your mind, best to stay ahead of it was a key message at SiLC Below: Carousel Calendars’ Martin Rees-Davies collected aPOC award from the UN’s Caroline Petit and POC’s Helena Mansell-Stopher and Rob Hutchins at SiLC.
“We are a roomful of people who care,” began Products of Change’s ceo and founder Helena Mansell-Stopher as she addressed an auditorium of 200 inperson guests and an online audience of 100 delegates at POC’s recent Sustainability Conference 2023 (SiLC) which took place at the Royal Geographical Society in London. The contents of a jam-packed agenda confronting many aspects of sustainability with a commercial slant, was lapped up by attendees, which included representatives from Danilo, Carousel Calendars, UK Greetings, The Ecofriendly Card Company and Amscan as well as many other leading names from affiliated consumer product sectors, retailers and brands. Setting the tone, Caroline Petit, the United Nations’ deputy director for the Regional Information Centre delivered a hard-hitting keynote opening address, stressing the urgency for the pace to be picked up in order to meet the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) adopted by the UN in 2015. “We are halfway to 2030 and only 15% of the goals are on target. So, it’s half-time and we are down, but not out. Every game is won or lost in the second half,” said Caroline before stressing the opportunity and urgency for companies, including
those in the creative industries as well as retailers to play a part in “inspiring change” and sharing best practices. The presentations and panel discussions that followed – from legislative changes impacting retail, packaging and manufacturing, to innovative new systems emerging across supply chains to facilitate better circularity with retailers such as Tesco, Asda, Nobody’s Child and Lush sharing their progress – saw everyone fully engaged and empowered to do more. The Conference also saw the presentation of the inaugural Products of Change SDGs Member Awards. Among these was the award aligned with SDG number 13 – Climate Action that was presented to Carousel Calendars, for its commitment to mapping its sustainable impact for a number of years. “I would like to thank Helena and Rob and the whole Products of Change organisation for the inspiring work they do,” said Steve Plackett, md of Carousel Calendars. “Our environmental efforts over the last five years have been a huge team effort so thanks go to every single person in our team.” Asda, Tesco and Lego also received awards for their respective sustainability progress. (see Cardsharp pages 28-29)
FSC’s card pledge for Christmas
Industry stalwart Jon Tibbals is taking a neighbourly approach to promoting the stand he has booked for January’s Top Drawer for his new publishing brand Yams in that he is Above: Jon Tibbals with spearheading a Amy Dunne. campaign to increase Below: A Yams design. buyer traffic to the whole of Row Q at the show. Jon, who is a well-known face in the industry, having spent 40 years in the industry, including setting up sales agency business Tibbs and Co with Nigel Spensley, Alan Potter and David Corner before moving into card publishing with Twice as Nice. A conversation with his local cobbler who was displaying some cards in his shop designed by his daughter Amy Dunne led to Jon joining forces with her, with the inaugural Yams collection launching at Top Drawer on stand Q63. “Having been to many trade exhibitions over the years, I realise that invariably some areas of the show are busier than others,” said Jon, so he set about contacting the other exhibitors in Row Q to come on board to promote it as an exciting destination, under the banner of ‘What’s new in Row Q’. “Although I appreciate that we will all have to sell our own designs and companies, but by joining forces to promote our area of the show, as the place to find a wealth of great new products, we can hopefully gain more exposure and more resultant opportunities to meet buyers,” believes Jon. The other exhibitors taking up residence in Row Q include Clemency Bunn, Elsa Rose Frere, Grace Jackson Design, HeraldBlack, Klara Hawkins, Lucky Ink, Lydia London, Sophia Davenport and Tatty Co among others.
Right: FSC is pushing Christmas card sending.
Forest-friendly Christmas cheer is the aim of a current campaign by the Forest Stewardship Council UK which is encouraging the public to send Christmas cards, but urges them to pick FSC-certified Christmas cards, which covers the vast majority of cards on sale in the UK in any case. FSC is reinforcing the importance of sending physical cards, stating: “While it’s much easier to send Christmas well wishes digitally these days, we still love sending and receiving Christmas cards. “Research by Oxfam found that nine out of 10 people in the UK prefer to receive a real Christmas card instead of a text or email. Although they seem like a small gesture, a lot of effort goes into choosing, writing, and posting a card.” And it’s pushing the vibe that digital messages just don’t replace that “warm fuzzy feeling of reading a handwritten message from friends and family near and far”, while many like to use cards received as Christmas decorations and you definitely can’t do that with an email or a text”! Explaining the FSC tick tree logo on cards shows they are made with materials from responsibly-managed forests and/or recycled sources, the organisation wants people to sign up to the pledge where they will be sent tips and tricks on how to have a more forest-friendly Christmas offering the chance to win a £100 John Lewis gift card for those tagging @FSC.UK before 2 January in a Facebook post, or @foreststewardshipcounciluk on Instagram with a photo of one of the FSC-certified cards you’re sending. FSC is also reminding everyone to recycle their cards and wrapping paper after the big day – research from Business Waste shows only one in four cards are recycled, while the amount of wrap binned totals 238,855 miles (384,400km) in the UK alone.
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Flat White or more froth In last month’s PG, columnist Cardsharp puts forward the argument that the time is ripe for price rises on greeting cards, elaborating how the takeaway coffee v greeting card economy is somewhat out of kilter and how the former is full of froth, costing a lot more than the average card. Members of the greeting card community share their views on pricing for 2024.
Miles Robinson, co-owner of House of Cards, seven stores in the Home Counties Pricing pressures: “I really do not sense there is a consumer willingness for price increases on standard greeting cards right now. This time last year, when cost rises were in common parlance - from energy to food - it was much more accepted as the way of the world. Those publishers who went for it last year took the right tack, while those that held off and are hoping to impose increases for 2024 will have much a rougher ride with retailers I am sure as they are less likely to be able to pass the increases on to their customers.” Breaking points: “Most indies, us included, are teetering on breaking the £3.00 price barrier on a standard card. It has to happen and already has in some cases. Sure, a takeaway coffee costs more that £3.00 and maybe we should have more faith in our product, but breaking through what has always been considered a major price barrier takes some trepidation.” The froth economy: “I do feel that in the absence of as many handmade cards as previously, hitherto the way to push for higher retail prices, that the expansion of 3D cards being positioned as ‘more than a card’ will help retailers to shift consumer perception upwards as to the price they are willing to pay for a card while still seeing it as value for money. There definitely is a consumer appetite for trading up, as long as we are able to offer those special cards. I personally don’t buy many takeaway coffees, but do appreciate that the good things in life are worth paying for, be that decent restaurants, delicious wines and excellent quality greeting cards. I’d love it if Top: Miles Robinson with Kali the public saved on the Stileman, founder of Kali Stileman Publishing at the Windles reception expensive takeaway at the recent Henries awards. cappuccinos, which are Above: Miles believes that last year’s general cost rises made it largely froth, and spent more easier for publishers to increase their prices. on their greeting cards, Right: Second Nature’s latest which are entirely true catalogue for its 3D ranges promotes the ‘more than a card’ tangible valuable sentiment!” message. 22 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Andrea Norcott, sales director of printers Windles Pricing pressures: “I do feel that greeting card publishers are suffering from a hangover of unavoidable cost increases, notably on board that have been imposed in the last year. Unbelievably there have been six price increases on board, something I have never experienced in my 26 years in this industry. Added to that a long-established die company ceased trading and the reliable solutions we had to find for our publisher customers were more expensive, but we couldn’t take the risk of a drop in quality.” Mitigating measures: “We have been working with publishers as much as possible to help mitigate against these and other cost increases. We have also invested in ever more efficient printing solutions and continue to actively seek out new board options, but there is only so much we and publishers can give.” The froth economy: “My colleague Michelle Mills made a good point that we should not be aligning greeting cards with the cost of a cup of coffee or pint of beer as the latter two are drunk in minutes and forgotten soon after. Greeting cards are treasures of relationships. A bunch of flowers would probably be the closest to be aligned to, but they wilt and die whereas a greeting card lives on… and they are ‘blooming’ fabulous value for money!” Above: Andrea Norcott (second right) with Windles colleagues (left-right) Michelle Mills, Emma Louise Allen, Miles Podmore and Nicky Marshall at the print company’s drinks reception at The Henries. Left: Andrea feels that greeting cards have more value than even a bunch of flowers.
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VIEWPOINTS Mark Callaby, managing director of Ohh Deer Pricing pressures: “We actually try and avoid increasing our prices unless we absolutely have to - and when we do, we consider the cost of the actual product as well as the operating costs of the business... for example, with increases in the living wage, rent, utilities your hands become tied. Across all our products we've been trying to lower prices where possible... unfortunately cards tend to be the one where we struggle to do this. I do also think there are some questions to be asked when it comes to brokerage - it definitely looks like supermarkets are increasing their retail prices on cards, but I haven't seen this reflected back to publishers, which is not really fair.” Cost mitigations: “Over the last year we've taken a really hard look at our business and worked out where we can save money. We've had to reduce head count, office space and D2C activity. Wholesale remains our core focus. We have also been looking for new suppliers across nearly all of our products, including cards and have reverted back to smaller print runs for some ranges and looked at how we can reduce finishes across all the ranges to try and save
those pennies. However, changing the quality of the cards has never been a consideration for us.” Breaking points: “I don't know for sure, but I actually think online card sales might be struggling - I think cost of Meta advertising and the cost of delivery have been big contributing factors in this. Discount retailers are booming, which is definitely a sign of the times so it would make sense for higher priced cards to be naturally struggling across a larger retailer spectrum - although I'm sure they still sell well in some places.” The froth economy: “This is a really difficult question to answer... maybe a greeting card should be pinned to a box of six free range eggs. I even think that a pack of Pokémon cards are more expensive now than an average card and a McDonald’s Happy Meal is now £3.49!”
David Byk, ceo of Ling Design, GBCC and Penny Kennedy Pricing pressures: “Despite increased costs of labour, raw materials and fuel, we will not be increasing our prices for 2024. We will be shouldering the cost increases as we do not feel the market will warrant any price increases. The whole greeting card economy would be vastly improved if some progress could be reached regarding SOR as the current situation is wasteful and costly.” Breaking points: “The alpha price coding system does make things complicated and rather inflexible. I would like to see a review of the codes giving an opportunity to introduce some new price points, such as JK which will give other options at around the £3 mark, which would help both publishers and retailers.” The froth economy: “I thought Kantar’s presentation at the GCA’s Conference and AGM which involved comparing the average cost of a greeting card (£1.84) to other linked products – including a bunch of flowers (£4.11), teddy bear (£6.98) and bottle of wine (£7.07) – demonstrated what incredible value a greeting card represents.” Above: David Byk (centre) with Cardology’s David Falkner and Penguin Ink’s Lizzie Parker at the GCA Conference and AGM. Left: The slide that Kantar showed at the GCA Conference to demonstrate what good value a greeting card is in the UK.
Above left: Mark Callaby on sparkling form at the recent Henries awards event. Middle left: You think the pricing issue is complex, just imagine if you were a complex carbohydrate! A Gemma Correll design from Ohh Deer. Left: A McDonald’s Happy Meal now costs £3.49… much more than the average greeting card.
Emma Young, managing director of Paperlink Pricing pressures: “We recognise that price increases are a challenge for everyone, from producer to consumer so it’s a sensitive subject, but one that can’t be ignored. Historically publishers have borne the brunt of increases but it’s no longer viable to do that. We’ve taken a phasing approach so that the increases can be spread periodically which we hope will ease the process.” Mitigating measures: “We are Top: (Right-left) Paperlink’s Emma Young with Five Dollar constantly reviewing our processes Shake’s Matt Genower and and the production of our designs. Stormy Knight’s Sarah Jackson Caring at Christmas on The challenge is striking the balance putting the map at the recent GCA Conference and AGM. between offering a premium product Above: A delicate design from which is price competitive, without Paperlink’s Violet range which has watercolour brushstrokes compromising on quality, which I think with gold foil accents. we manage well.” Breaking points: “The lower end of the scale is always going to be a challenge in times where the cost of living is stretched, but we also have to factor in where the most volume is. There’s no point only increasing prices at the higher end of the scale (see next point).” The froth economy: “I think cards will quite often take the place of a gift, especially in the current environment so perhaps people will be willing to spend more. If this is the case, I would hope we can get back up to being on a par with a cup of coffee.” PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 23
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Martin Powderly, creative director of Pigment Pricing pressures: “We are very optimistic about 2024 for us at Pigment and for the greeting card sector as a whole. We are all involved in a product which, while not immune to price sensitivities, has shown a resilience which several other consumer product areas would love to have. Putting a price on emotion, relationships and spreading happiness is impossible, but the strength and size of the UK greeting card market stands as testament to it being in sync with the buying public’s expectations. It takes a few years nowadays to establish a hit and we have been fortunate to have had several successful big releases over the last few years, such as Life in Pencil, Studio Blom, Lucia Heffernan and our sister collection Fox and Butler which are now widely listed and performing well. Our classic humour portfolio has also been updated with extra relevance and is performing better than ever and we’re fortunate to have big evergreen brands like Alice Scott and Happy Jackson which just keep on delivering.
Richard Pass of STL Agency, a sales agent covering the North Pricing pressures: “All products have been subject to increased prices, especially since the Russian invasion, and the public have accepted this…eventually. Who can remember when petrol was less than a £1 a litre? Greeting card publishers and the retailers need to reflect this or both will simply go out of business. I am in favour of price increases when required to keep both ends of the market in business, as the alternative doesn’t make sense. A consumer who buys five cards for £1 is never going to buy a £4.99 card, and the clever retailers know this. So overall price increases are to be welcomed, the consumers rarely notice and everyone keeps making a profit. I think generally there will have to be a 10% price increase across the industry. Of the companies I represent Alljoy Design is introducing an increase for its 3D Message in a Bottle and square cards. This is their first price increase, Top: An Alljoy Paper Theatre card that is likely to feature in Richard’s daughter’s Christmas decorations for years to come. Above: As Richard points out the costs of transport has gone up significantly over the last few years so the price of cards should increase.
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Left: Martin Powderly explains that the cost rises has necessitated a small increase in Pigment’s trade prices. Below: Pigment has gone big on the colour and finish on its Studio Blom.
Alice in particular, is back in growth, after 10 years! This all takes investment, both time and money, but as a publisher that’s what you need to do, it’s our economy!” Mitigating measures: “We are always looking for cost-savings providing they don’t affect the quality of our cards and envelopes. On the contrary we try to push in the other direction by constantly injecting extra apparent value into our UK print. We keep all our print in the UK and have been at the forefront on fluoros, textured foils, deep dies and the most innovative finishes for many years. As a result we have built some sophistication into how we plan our print. Our model is very agile with quality of design and finish being central to everything we do. We’ve only had a few small price increases in the last decade but inflation and the cost of living that affects all of us has resulted in a small cost increase for 2024.” The froth economy: “Greeting cards in the UK are very reasonably priced. A shopper can buy a Pigment original greeting card for around £2.50 and post it for 75p. Amazing when you consider the happiness that it delivers. And it’s ‘extra-amazing’ when you consider the number of unique artist, design, print, sales and distribution touchpoints for each sku. Buying a premium card and even mailing it 1st class for well under a fiver…well, it’s almost a Christmas miracle!”
which seems remarkable. However, most retailers automatically sell these cards for a higher than RRP. Other card companies I represent are also Above: Richard Pass (centre) with (second left) his wife Suzanne with (left-right) Hallmark’s facing increased costs pressure, Chris Thiede, Graeme Karavis and Stationery Supplies’ Sarah Laker at the recent GCA but are working hard to hold off Conference and AGM. price increases.” Breaking points: “The lower end of the price market is the area that is most stressed, as a small increase in price adds a significant amount to the RRP. A 10p increase in cost of an 85p card turns a retail price of £1.99 into £2.25, whereas a 10p price increase at £1.25 turns a retail price from £2.99 to £3.25. There has been a definite trend for the consumer to spend more on cards and less on gifts, which the publishers and retailers can ride on the back of, giving more ‘bells and whistles’. And it’s not just 3D cards, but also those with patches or sequins, such as Redback Cards, that offer more to the consumer so represent a gift and a card and as such can command a higher price.” The froth economy: “Greeting cards hold a unique place in the retail world because they bring emotion to the sender and receiver. While you can argue a bottle of wine can do the same, once it’s gone, it’s gone. A card can stay on the mantelpiece for a long time. My daughter rolls out her 3D Alljoy Christmas cards every year; they have become part of the decorations.”
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VIEWPOINTS Daniel Prince, managing director of Danilo Promotions Pricing pressures: “It’s been difficult cost-wise as our UK production has seen constant price rises. This has meant that it’s not just the cost of the card that’s increased, but envelopes and badges have also seen significant rises in the last two years. However, being a licensed publisher, we Above: Daniel Prince on stage at The Retas awards, understand the importance of of which Danilo is a sponsor, about to announce maintaining quality standards and going the winner. into 2024, we will continue to provide added value to our customers despite these increased costs.” Mitigating measures: “Using quality board for our cards is imperative, so we are unwilling to make changes that compromise the high standard we offer our customers, plus it would result in very little gain cost-wise. We have made some big sustainable changes to our cards though which have resulted in a cost saving. For example, we have removed plastic cello wrap from a large percentage of our cards and reduced or removed nonenvironmentally-friendly finishes, which has really helped to mitigate costs.” Breaking points: “In relation to the end-consumer, economic factors have meant they are particularly price sensitive at the moment. Cards are a relatively low price item, and people will always send cards. You simply can’t beat sending a card to someone and the joy that gives them as it’s displayed on their mantlepiece.” The froth economy: “Continuing with a drinks analogy, I would say a bottle of mineral water (2022: £1.93 and 2023: £2.13) would be more in line with the ARP of a greeting card right now. Far less exciting than a pint of beer or takeaway coffee, but more realistic of where we are.”
Above: As a publisher of licensed ranges, including Minecraft, Danilo is steadfast about protecting the quality of the products. Left: Daniel feels that the RRP of a bottle of branded mineral water is more in tune with the average cost of a greeting card.
Allen Taylor, sales director of IC&G Pricing pressures: “Being a business that only supplies independent stores and currently not national accounts, this has a knock-on effect on the size of our print runs. We design and manufacture 100% of our ranges in the UK and are constantly refreshing designs so “the more you print the cheaper the card” is not an option for us. Along with many fellow publishers we were hit with significant cost increases in all areas of our business in 2021, from raw materials (such as the premium paper board we use), electricity to run our machinery, and not forgetting the minimum wage increases to name just a few. Due to this we regrettably had to take the decision to increase our prices in September 2022, but overall, the Top: IC&G’s Allen Taylor (right) with colleague Simon Harper, with the vast majority of our retail trading Gold Best Service to the Independent partners understood the rationale Retailer trophy the company received at The Henries 2023. for this increase. Above: IC&G is holding the trade Moving forward into 2024, we prices of its cards in 2024 with its JJ coded cards being at a key RRP of continue to work with our raw £2.49. material suppliers to enable us to remain competitive and are pleased to announce we will hold our prices for the next 12 months as we feel we need to support our customers where possible in these difficult low footfall times, even if it is at the loss of margin for ourselves. We believe to increase our prices would affect our customers/industry at this time.” Mitigating measures: “We have stood firm on our strategy to offer quality and value for money, and have maintained our board gsm, along with retaining inserts and finishes on 100% of our ranges. To achieve this, we have sourced new suppliers in certain parts of our business. We also task all our internal teams to constantly challenge the prices we pay, from our design studio to manufacturing and distribution.” Breaking points: “The key price point for us and our customers is code 75/JJ, for which our RRP is £2.49 which offers great value for money, and we often see our trading partners sell our cards above our recommended price, to match other publishers they stock who have higher trade prices. This is great for our customers who can make additional margin on our cards in these difficult trading times, echoing the old saying, “turnover is vanity and profit is sanity”. The froth economy: “What is the true value of the sending and receiving of a greeting card? The sending of a card improves mental health for the receiver whereas the best a coffee can do is give you a caffeine hit. Nothing compares to a greeting card.” PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 25
26-27_David Robertson.qxp_Grid 04/12/2023 12:50 Page 1
OVER THE
COUNTER
BY DAVID ROBERTSON OF JP POZZI, ELGIN AND BUCKIE.
Take an operatic maestro, mix in a heartfelt story with a clear message, throw in a cute central character - carrot/llama/oven glove/bag for life/racoon/snapper plant - add a dash of social responsibility which strengthens their message and finally garnish with a tagline that allows it to be hash-tagged around the world and there you have it – a Christmas TV advert. As our sector embraces the Cardmitment campaign, I binge watched over 50 of this year’s Christmas commercials for some festive takeaways. Below: Amazon’s Christmas advert was lauded for its tone.
Don’t blowtorch the Christmas glow Over the last decade Christmas TV ads have become headline worthy attractions in their own right. They have become mini epics, trailed like a major cinema release. I heard that between M&S, Sainsbury’s, John Lewis and other major supermarkets/brands some £9.5 billion will be spent on festive commercials this year. Iceland, with its finger firmly on the pulse, has read the temperature in the room (important if you specialise in frozen food!) and decided against fancy ads and have pledged instead to slash prices to help hard up Brits enjoy their Christmas. I get this, but as someone who consumes and loves TV, I personally love the ads. The days of consumer adverts actually showing a product and highlighting its good
points seem to have passed. Now it is about emotion. A tug of war on people’s heartstrings. It is about the brand trying to relate to its audience. How we react to ads and specifically short bursts of online video has become crucial to how we then perceive that brand or product. This means that as indie retailers we can’t expect that an advert in the local paper with one product and our shop logo to have any real type of impact. Like others, we stopped this years ago and have instead looked at different options with social media, events, in-house branding and
Above: David Robertson surrounded by Christmas loveliness in one of the Pozzi shops. Left: John Lewis’ advert was well received.
26 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
sponsorship all being instrumental in aligning our business with our customers, with emotional connections being key. The Christmas adverts from the major retailers and big brands want to evoke a true reaction/emotional response as this determines how successful their business/brand will be viewed and thought of, not only immediately, but in the long term. We make decisions based on emotions and we validate them with logic. Companies such as H&M for example don’t really want you to buy all the farm animal new outfits they feature in their commercial, what they are really saying is that the products they sell are so reasonably priced you could buy everyone something new. In its Christmas ad, Waitrose is basically saying it is only a proper fancy party if the food is from us! They don’t say either of those things of course, it is all subliminal messaging, with sprinkling of humour and a little bit of selfdepreciation going a long way. In the past we have done product coffee mornings, themed shopping evenings, discount nights and co-promoted with other
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OVER THE COUNTER
businesses. All worked very well, but they were a huge amount of work and at times you had to question if it brought real financial rewards. We continue to support as many charity events locally as we can though, in the last two weeks we have had over 18 requests for prizes or donations. While we totally appreciate these groups need help, indie businesses also need to be supported. The big boys, Amazon and the like may make a huge gesture for a few charities, but in relation to their profits it is a fraction of what we are often asked to donate. The one thing that you hope is that the support us indies give, does keep our name out there. Setting a budget per month or per year for our charitable support is something we have worked towards, but invariably we go over this especially if requests come from a school or local group that supports children with learning difficulties.
I stress to our staff all the time that the way they speak and interact with customers is crucial, more important than even selling them something. The feeling of being made welcome and engendering a sense of belonging is very powerful. I feel as an indie we need to positively infect people with the ethos of our business. You want customers to tell others and then for those people to tell more people. Word of mouth is without doubt the most powerful advertising tool, but you have to give them something positive and exciting to talk about! We as indies pride ourselves on being different. We want to have products in store which allow our customers to say something personal about themselves, again that emotional connection. This, mixed with a great personal service will combat most large chains or soulless websites. This year we have had a tremendous response to our Christmas decoration theming instore, which spans four colourways with our alcohol tree proving particularly popular. I am really happy with our gifting mix this
Right: Tesco was the last grocer to reveal its Christmas commercial, but went big on tradition. Far right: The alcoholthemed Christmas decorations display proved popular with Pozzi customers.
year and the companies that we have worked with on this. I feel that there is a real desire between us all to realise that we need to support one another to really keep everyone going and it’s great to see companies working with payment options/terms/advice to try and get the best return for indies. So, from indies to undies. A bit like an Andrea Bocelli crescendo I watched with horror as Marks and Spencer took a literal torch to our main product category, with Sophie Ellis-Bextor turning her attentions from decorating a gingerbread house to burning Christmas cards. Shame on you Sophie. For many years a narrative has built. Cards are a hassle to write, expensive to
Above: M&S got it wrong, showing Sophie Ellis Bexter blow torching Christmas cards. Below right: Ditch M&S undies for Calvin Kleins in protest for its Christmas ad campaign quips David!
send and are not great for the environment. We are all sick of the ‘We are not sending cards this year and giving to x charity.’ So great to see that this year the GCA, retailers, publishers and this magazine are taking a stand with the #Cardmitment campaign. As part of this I have seen writing events, donations of cards, people constantly talking up the mental health value of receiving a handwritten message and I loved how Cherry Orchard’s md Jackie Collins fought back against the M&S ad, and did her Santa impression by gifting its Christmas cards right to M&S customers outside her local store Go Jackie! We have spent time talking with our team about Christmas cards to ensure that they are all sending them and feeling positively about the experience.
We have put Christmas cards front and centre in our window displays and in-store marketing and have also reached out locally to some of our care homes to donate cards for residents to send. To my mind, and plenty of others too, M&S has misjudged the message with their festive greeting. In trying to be edgy and say ‘do what you want’ this Christmas they have missed the point that people love sending cards and more importantly people love and cherish receiving them. They are trying to say don’t follow traditions, just think of yourself. That’s so wrong. Traditions, in which Christmas cards are a big part, need to be protected not set alight. Following the ad’s screening GCA ceo Amanda Fergusson immediately reacted with a quote for the consumer media: “Many of our members have been in touch to say they’re somewhat surprised by the blow-torching of Christmas cards in the M&S Christmas ad. They know how important the £1.5billion creative card sector is to the UK – and that Christmas cards are wonderful little things that support relationships, mental health and wellbeing, communities and charities. “Perhaps it feels as traditional as a pair of M&S knickers but, thankfully, most of us will think about putting others first this Christmas, not themselves.” Agreed. As cardies we need to stick up for our category. May I take this oportunity to wish everyone a great Christmas whatever your traditions are and thanks for all the feedback and comments on the column. I will see you all here in 2024! Wearing Calvin Kleins, not M&S boxers! To contact David email: jppozzi@btconnect.com PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 27
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cardsharp Cardsharp was recently sitting in the audience at an amazing one-day seminar held at the historic Royal Geographical Society in Kensington, London. This was Products of Change’s Sustainability Conference (SiLC). It was an inspiring and informative event that highlighted the real challenges that retailers, wholesalers, licensees and manufacturers are embracing, to attempt to keep pace with the eco-agenda. As in-depth discussions went into the intricacies of Scope 3 emissions and the need for greater circularity that Cardsharp’s mind wandered to thoughts of how to find the right balance between saving the planet for future generations while also considering those living in poverty today.
who pays the piper? Being greeted by a couple of real live Wombles certainly put a smile on the faces of those who thronged to the recent Sustainability Conference (SiLC) with those from the greeting card industry as well as many other consumer product sectors attending. Uncle Bulgaria, Orinoco and co first debuted in a series of children’s books by Elizabeth Beresford in 1968, before their tales of going ‘underground, over ground, wombling free…making good use of the things we find, things that the everyday folks leave behind’ were brought to life on TV in 1973 and now, 50 years later are being given a reboot by Altitude Films, the makers of Horrible Histories. Certainly, the downward slide on the environmental front over the last few decades has been something of a ‘horrible history’ story that will sadly take more than a few adorable characters to sort. While the strong speaker line-up at SiLC collectively highlighted, huge strides have and are being made in making the retail process more sustainable and circular, Cardsharp did wonder about certain other elements in all of this. 28 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
From what Cardsharp gathered, it is key for companies not just to examine their own environmental practices, but to look all the way down the supply chain, to their suppliers’ practices taking it from source right through to the end consumer, the Scope 3 emissions. In most cases this will involve a huge amount of data collection and inherently an increase in resources and costs for everyone involved. The saying that came to Cardsharp’s mind was “Who pays the piper?” The green agenda is of course very necessary, but with the pace needing to rev up considerably to hit even some of the United
Above: Cardsharp wonders who will pay the piper for the extra costs of a necessary sustainability drive. Below: A couple of Wombles reading the latest Products of Change magazine while waiting for delegates to arrive at SiLC.
Nations Sustainable Goals by 2030, it raises a number of questions. The major retailers who are in the consumer front line will be increasingly under pressure to avoid adverse publicity on the sustainability front and their respective CO2 emissions, but how many will accept the costs of the next stage, wondered Cardsharp. Sure they have a corporate social responsibility, but they also have shareholders who are in it for the money. So, will these inherent costs indirectly fall back on the suppliers, which in our case is the greeting card publisher? The larger card publishers who have the necessary financial and human resources to deal with these increased demands are well placed to benefit, but Cardsharp is concerned that this green drive will put up costs and squeeze out smaller greeting card suppliers and even smaller retailers. And Cardsharp also did start considering the wider implications. There has been a lot of talk about the benefits to the UK economy of investing in green technology, but to what extent are we as an economy in the UK penalising ourselves? The UK is responsible for less than a 40th of global emissions of CO2, despite having one of the largest economies. By contrast China, is rapidly building coal burning power stations. But what about our children and grandchildren I hear you ask Cardsharp?
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we also need to consider the cost to economic growth and the risk we make ourselves less competitive, which will affect the lives of millions. Cardsharp is however concerned that an obsessive and reckless drive to achieve this competitiveness, will actually make the global climate worse, as more production moves to
Don’t we have a duty to tackle global warming for their futures? Of course, but he does have a major concern about the UK’s present economic condition affecting the present generations. Cardsharp does a lot of travelling around the towns and cities of the UK, and not just the affluent major metropolitan centres like London, Leeds and Manchester. And in many of the regional towns he visits, he has seen their drastic deterioration over the last 15 years, since the financial crisis. Many shopping centres are run down, empty, decaying and filthy in towns all around the UK. And it’s not just a North South divide. Large towns as geographically diverse as Swindon, Bolton and Swansea, which Cardsharp remembers as vibrant and attractive, have become seriously blighted. And it’s all too easy to blame this on online shopping and individual local council policies, although these have undoubtedly contributed. All of these towns, Cardsharp recalled would have several greeting card shops pre 2018. Perhaps a Clintons (or even two) a value card shop or two, and some independents. These days many town centres are now reduced to a single Card Factory store. The truth is that zero and even declining economic growth in that period has hit living standards in so many areas, outside London, metropolitan areas and wealthier rural areas of the UK. Real incomes have declined, along with health, wellbeing, happiness and life expectancy. The only things on the increase are poverty and depravation. To Cardsharp, the only thing that will help reverse these worrying trends is economic growth. This is the engine that can drive increased prosperity and health for the huge number of the present generation and especially the young, in huge swathes of the UK. And so, to Cardsharp’s mind at least, there needs to be a balance. Surely as part of the drive to be carbon neutral by 2030,
Above left: Those from the greeting card industry were in the audience at the recent POC Sustainability Conference (SiLC) as Helen Mansell-Stopher, founder and CEO of POC welcomed everyone. Above: A graphic greeting card printer Loxley created to show the positive impact on the environment by publishers moving to paper banding for their in-transit packaging. Below: Abacus Cards is one of many card publishers that has offered more sustainable packaging options for its products.
China with many manufacturers (but not all) seemingly ignoring the drive to cut CO2 emissions in their relentless drive for economic growth? China, in order to export its goods to the West will need to abide by the tough green regulations that the EU and the UK will be putting in place such as digital passports on all products, but Cardsharp wonders about
the difficulties of monitoring such measures in such a closed totalitarian society. Cardsharp doesn’t know the answers, but was buoyed by the inspiring presentations at SiLC which included some ‘best in class’ examples from Asda, Tesco, Nobody’s Child and Lush as to how sustainable solutions are out there. His hope is that these improvements bring financial rewards as well as environmental ones, or at the very least are cost neutral financially.
In the meantime, he thinks we in the greeting card industry can continue to do all we possibly can to help progress the circular economy. In the course of only a few years most cards have gone from being 80% wrapped in plastic to 80% unwrapped, with a set of solutions from paper banding to nesting. Pretty much all the board the industry uses is FSC-accredited from sustainable sources. Providers of glitter, foil and glue have all been working on eco-friendly plastic-free alternatives and many publishers have been working to cut out as much plastic as possible when it comes to delivery to retail. As testament to this, Carousel Calendars was applauded for its sustainability foresight being presented with an inaugural Products of Change SGD award at SiLC for its sustainability commitment, and they are not alone in their drive on this front. It maddens Cardsharp when we in our sector do so much, but still suffer a backlash of some sort. For instance, the keyboard warriors who spend all their time online, announcing with their puffed out sanctimonious chests, that they are no longer sending Christmas cards anymore for ‘environmental reasons’, failing to acknowledge that the internet and the power needed to drive the computers and store the data, is one of the largest contributors to global warming. And how much thought to they give for the many thousands of hardworking employees who are breadwinners in areas of relative deprivation like West Yorkshire? The very places where the current generation are struggling for a decent life. That does not mean we should not be making each and every effort to work towards a greener and more sustainable future, but in doing that Cardsharp believes we should not forget and ignore the real concerns that so many have over the present. Hope needs to be harvested on all fronts. One presentation at SiLC did just that. Asda, which has been forging a strong path on sustainability for years, was the first to use recycled polyester for its value school uniforms as well as introducing a preloved section in its stores, is now working with Upcycle Labs, a company in Nottingham which is taking its excess garments, trainers and underwear and turning them into home accessories such as trays and vases. Perhaps they got the idea from those early episodes of The Wombles, ponders Cardsharp.
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 29
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Retailer Face to Face
TESCO’S PAPERCHASE EMBRACE
It was mega news at the start of the year when Tesco clinched the acquisition of the Paperchase brand, but just how the grocery giant would leverage this greeting card and stationery name, much-loved by the consumer, was a matter of conjecture. Its resurrection in 133 Tesco stores a few weeks ago is an exuberant fanfare of colours and lights, befitting of the joyful personality of the Paperchase brand with the playful approach of the ‘shop within a shop’ retail execution mirrored in the design and tone of the greeting cards and allied products that make up this inaugural selection from the UK’s largest supermarket. It has clearly been quite a journey for the Tesco team, galvanising the strength of Paperchase brand and re-presenting it through a sizeable product portfolio, both to existing fans as well as hoping to win extra hearts and pennies from the grocer’s millions of customers.
30 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
“Paperchase is a well-loved brand by so many, and we’re massively proud to have brought it back into selected Tesco stores through a joyful product selection and retail execution which is true to its very essence,” said Sam Ody, Tesco’s lead buying manager of everyday cards, shortly after the inaugural resurrection range of Paperchase greeting card, stationery and gift products debuted in 133 of the grocers’ stores in UK. PG caught up with Sam and her colleague Gemma Smith, Tesco’s buying manager for everyday cards, to get the lowdown on this full-on launch. Above: The inaugural Paperchase @ Tesco greeting card selection features designs from 10 publishers, half of which have never been stocked by the grocer previously. Below left: Sam Ody (right) and Gemma Smith in front of some of the new Paperchase greeting card selection. Below: The new Paperchase ‘department’ was first unveiled in Tesco’s flagship Cheshunt store.
“Sure, we could have taken an easier route, and launched Paperchase onto baked beans shelves, but we set the bar high and wanted to create a joyful experience for customers,” stated Sam Ody, Tesco’s lead buying manager of everyday cards who has been involved in the development of the grocer’s Paperchase offering since the start. There has certainly been no holding back in the retail presentation. Making its presence felt and echoing the former stationery retailer’s vibe, a colourful illuminated Paperchase sign attracts customer attention to the distinct area while product abounds on feature tables as well as floorstanding greeting card fixtures, with swirling stripy floor graphics further heightening the impact.
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Retailer Face to Face
Tesco is of course already well respected for its expansive greeting card selection, as evidenced by its clinching The Retas’ Best Supermarket Retailer of Greeting Cards award for the second year in succession in July, but the team was determined to encapsulate the brand values of Paperchase and create a product selection which more than matched these. “The addition of the Paperchase brand means we can further capitalise on the public’s changing buying habits which has involved a consumer shift to a greater openness to what they buy in a supermarket. A habit that was exacerbated during the Covid years, consumers have welcomed the opportunity to purchase more non-food products from us, be it a cushion, a candle, a greeting card or a journal,” elaborated Sam. Right from the outset the plan was that the Paperchase product selection would stand on its own, displayed in a dedicated area, rather than being integrated into the core Tesco selection. “The ambition has always been that the Paperchase selection would complement that of our core Tesco offering,” explains Gemma Smith, Tesco’s buying manager for everyday cards. “We knew we wanted to exude the Paperchase heritage that consumers love, to provide a different shopping experience, with lots of cheerful products that would be a joy to discover,” adds Gemma. The resultant inaugural greeting card selection incorporates designs from over 10 publishers, half of whom have not supplied Tesco previously, all of which are being supplied as part of the brokerage arrangement with UK Greetings. “We are delighted that under the Paperchase banner we have been able to bring the likes of Brainbox Candy, Caroline Gardner, Paper Mirchi, Stormy Knight and Tache into the mix as well as totally new looks from some of
Chasing the PR ops To make the most of the PR opportunities which the Paperchase launch presented, Tesco commissioned research on what a person’s stationery choice says about them, from the notebook they choose to the pens they write with and the types of greeting cards they select. Findings from Opinium research, based on a nationally representative sample of 2,000 over-18s in the UK in October highlighted that the nation’s top three stationery staples are notebooks and writing pads (33%), ball points and soft touch pens (30%), and marker pens (19%). Meanwhile, when it comes to choosing greeting Above: Tesco commissioned research on cards, the data confirmed that the UK is a nation of what a person’s stationery choice says jokers, as the majority typically pick humorous cards for about them. loved ones, such as children (24%), siblings (38%), partners (33%) and friends (33%), while 30% say they buy humorous cards for colleagues. The findings also signal a north/south divide over sentimentality with Liverpudlians coming out as the true softies, with 35% saying they typically buy cards with a meaningful message or poem inside compared with only 21% of Londoners – and Tesco’s findings suggest that the least soppy city is Bristol where just 11% opt for a design-based on sentiment.
our existing publishers,” elaborates Gemma. The selection includes some Paperchase ‘greatest hits’, such as some ‘pom pom’ cards as well as cards in a smaller format, which is not something offered in Tesco’s core range, but Gemma stresses that it will still have a mass appeal. “Although the Paperchase selection does have a distinct look, there are greeting card designs in there for everyone, helping to spread the joy whatever the reason or occasion, whether shoppers are looking for something funny or meaningful,” reinforces Gemma. Likewise, the Paperchase At Tesco stationery and gift collection spans four core ranges – Rainbow, Pastel Ombre, Artful Scribbles and Confetti – covering a wide range of products, from marker pens to notebooks, water bottles to tote bags. While there is a lot riding on it, Tesco is launching the Paperchase brand in its stores from a position of mighty strength. It is already the UK’s leading grocer and jostles only with Card Factory for top greeting card market
share, but having the Paperchase card in its armoury further enhances its position. “Greeting cards are very important to Tesco, they have the highest penetration of all products within our Home category. A third of all Tesco customers already shop for greeting cards in our stores, which is great, but the addition of Paperchase means we can expand the part we play in reinforcing the importance and consumer engagement with greeting cards,” believes Sam. Although it is still very early days into the launch, with 92% of all Tesco customers having a Clubcard, those insights as to how the consumer is responding to welcoming Paperchase products back into their lives and to what extent these are incremental or replacement sales will contribute to the future development plans for the brand. Sam feels “hugely proud of what Tesco is doing to promote greeting cards” be it through its core selection, the recent development with the Paperchase brand or engaging with the grocers’ 300,000 employees to participate in the GCA Cardmitment campaign by sending Christmas cards. However, she holds a holistic view: “I also have huge admiration of what the incredibly talented independents are doing up and down the UK to promote greeting cards to their customers. We can’t do what they do, they can’t do what we do. It is about galvanising a collective might to promote greeting card sending; spreading happiness in society.” Far left: The Paperchase products have initially been launched in 133 Tesco stores. Left: The Tesco team celebrating winning The Retas 2023 award for Best Supermarket Retailer of Greeting Cards for the second year running. PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 31
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In Conversation With…Second Nature
EXTRA DIMENSIONS
“It takes around three weeks to design just one Second Nature pop-up or 3D card,” reveals Nicole Schragger, joint general manager of the greeting card company. She knows first hand that this is the case as she not only heads up the studio team, but creates a lot of the designs herself. It is a rare knack of not only being able to think in 3D, but also to work out the ingenious series of up to 50 folds to instantly create the wow factor when the card is taken from the envelope. “I have literally grown up with Second Nature Pop-ups and have had a very good teacher,” quips Nicole. Her uncle Rod Schragger started the company over 40 years ago, joined soon after by his brother Trevor who is Nicole’s father and her mum, Carmen having long been on board steering the creative side. Nicole’s learnings are certainly very much in evidence with Second Nature’s latest 3D release, which spans four distinct greeting card collections. In addition to a whole host of new designs under its celebrated Pop-ups brand, across both everyday and seasonal, three brand new concepts are debuting, namely Spectacular, Clever Cubes and Paper Celebrations.
Above: One of the latest designs in Second Nature’s Pop-ups collection. Below: Nicole Schragger, Second Nature’s joint general manager holding one of the Quilling Card designs as well as a design from the publisher’s new Za-Zoo children’s temporary tattoo card. Below right: The eco packaging is a key element in the Second Nature portfolio.
“This is our largest ever launch of 3D cards,” explains Nicole. “Over the years Second Nature has earned a reputation as a leader in 3D innovation, which is something we are committed to continue to build on, to give our retail customers some excitement for their stores,” states Nicole.
While all involving paper engineering, the three new brands each have a distinct format. The Spectacular collection features multi-layered scenes inside a 3D window, each of the Clever Cubes sees die-cut elements emerge from a square base while the Paper Celebrations of intricate sculptures evoke memories of childhood pop-up books. ‘More than just a card…’ is the sign off promise on the front of Second Nature’s ‘A whole new world of 3D innovation’ catalogue which features the new collections. While the last few years has seen a reduction in the choice of handmade ranges on the market as well as those hand-finished
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 33
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Second Nature is one of the UK’s longest established greeting publishers, but that doesn’t mean it shies away from adding some new dimensions to its business, far from it. Not only has it recently forged distribution partnerships with both Scribbler and US-based Quilling Card, but it has also invested heavily in what is its largest ever 3D product launch. PG popped into the company’s HQ in London’s Notting Hill offices to find out more.
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In Conversation With…Second Nature
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with glitzy embellishments there has been something of a resurgence in interest in 3D cards, something that has been reflected in The Henries, with the Best 3D, Pop-up or Handmade Range award being introduced this year. “I agree there is an increased appetite for 3D cards with consumers looking for something that is more than a card. These are keepsakes, something that will be on display for a long time, a real gift and card in one,” suggests Nicole. Second Nature has also given considerable thought to the display aspect of the new ranges, not just in its approach to the Below: A Spectacular 3D scene card.
Returning the favour Way back in 1989, greeting card retailer Scribbler agreed to test a newfangled greeting card concept in its first ever store, in London’s Covent Garden and the cards’ sales rate was off the scale, vastly exceeding the expectations of retailer co-founder John Procter. The range in question was an early Pop-Ups collection from Second Nature. Fast forward 34 years and the relationship between the two parties has a new twist with Second Nature now the distributor of a selection of Scribbler’s cutting edge Above: The Scribbler x Second humorous card designs as well as giftbags and rollwrap for Nature collection includes retro humour, puns, photo humour and the UK independent channel. pop culture designs. “We really want to help grow the independent retail sector,” Second Nature’s Tim West told PG. “The addition of Scribbler’s tried and tested designs gives them access to an additional customer demographic.” And as Second Nature already has an existing partnership with Quitting Hollywood the Scribbler addition bolsters its position on the humorous cards front.
individual full recyclable packaging, but also how the cards are merchandised instore, with a mix and match set of options, as well as a new wooden spinner and clever clips to display each card format.
“It not just about having great designs, but you also need those designs to be eco happy and have the merchandising solutions to match,” summed up Nicole, perfectly demonstrating three dimensions at play here!
INTRICATE PAPERWORK IS SECOND NATURE TO QUILLING PG Live 2023 worked its connections magic with the ink signed on a catalogue, the cover of which features the tagline ‘Don’t just send a deal between The Quilling Card Company and Second Nature at the card, send art!’. While the introductory pages detail how the cards are June show, though both parties wanted to wait until details of the UK individually made by almost 1,000 quillers in Quilling Card’s Fair Trade launch selection were finalised before going public. premises in Vietnam to retailers, the backing slip for the cards also Huong Nguyen Wolf, who founded and heads up the award-winning conveys the message to the buyer and lucky recipient that it is ‘a US-based hand-finished card publisher with husband Raphael, exhibited keepsake work of art’. at PG Live this year where she demonstrated the incredible quilling As Nicole Schragger freely admits: “It takes a lot to impress me, but technique - the art of using strips of paper that are hand-rolled, shaped, Quilling’s cards are truly stunning. They really do take greeting cards and glued together, taking an hour to complete each card. During the onto another level which is why we are promoting them as being ideal show Huong and Raphael met Second Nature’s sales manager Tim for being framed.” West to finalise the partnership deal. This first release under the new distribution deal includes a collection “We’ve formed a partnership to bring the best quilling Below: Huong Nguyen Wolf, founder of Quilling of Best of Britain designs, plus ranges of florals, Card with Second Nature’s sales manager Tim cards into the UK and EU markets,” Huong told PG. West at PG Live where the distribution birds and insects, marine life, animals designs as was progressed. She explained that working with Second Nature agreement well as some miscellaneous creations. Below right: One of the Best of British Quilling particularly appealed with the company’s credentials as Card designs for Second Nature. one of the UK’s first handmade greeting card companies “leading this sector of the industry for the last 40 years has captured our attention”. Huong added: “Once we had a chance to meet with the Second Nature management team at PG Live, we were quickly convinced that we’d be in good hands – we share the same passion for handmade products, and quilling is the ultimate in handmade cards. We are creating high-end frameable and keepsake greeting cards. Quilling Cards are not just cards, they’re works of art.” This latter point is very much being fanfared by Second Nature, as evidenced by the dedicated Quilling Card PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 35
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Focus on…Kids’ Cards
Sheer dino-mite! When it comes to kids’ cards, almost anything goes as youngsters love all sorts, from cars, bears, puppies, and rockets, to pirates, ballerinas, fairies, and dinosaurs. But it’s not just about the tiddlers, there are big kids to cater for too and, you don’t want to be a dinosaur thinking it’s all about blue for boys and pink for girls! Here, PG looks at how publishers cater for littlies, big kids, and everyone in between.
Above: It’s dinosaurs all the way for seven-year-old Haydn, grandson of PG’s Tracey Bearton – and yes, he’s one of those clever boys who can tell you every single dino name!
When is a kid not a kid? – when they’re trying to show how grown-up they are, but still love all their favourite toys and don’t really want to let go. And it’s not just those hitting double figures and teenage years for the first time, there are plenty of bigger kids out there that still want to hang on to elements of life before being a responsible adult, and birthday cards are the perfect place to show how well you know someone by picking their favourite theme. Charlotte Najdecki pretty much takes the
Right: Phoebe may only be 2½ years old, but she already knows mum Sarah Jackson’s tiger card is her favourite Stormy Knight design – and she also loves playing cafe and running around at 100 miles an hour while shouting a lot!
biscuit for the biggest kid as her Dinosaurs Doing Stuff cards are popular with all ages: “I recently had my 'You are HOW old?!' card gifted to someone’s grandfather who turned 100 Right: At just four, Mia is years old! already making her own “I also have a range of number cards. cards for her pals’ Initially, I had numbers 1-10, but I was birthdays, with Dinosaurs Doing Stuff getting a lot of requests for higher mum Charlotte Najdecki numbers so I added 18, 21, 30, 40, 50, explaining: “She copies my designs – with my 60, 70 and 80, all of which are available permission of course – with matching badges, which are the most and often adds her own spin. Balloons and party popular. The number 40 card is actually hats are a big hit!” my bestseller of the number cards!” And Charlotte is determined to make her dinosaurs gender-neutral while giving Far left: Animals and dinos are popular for Bamber Prints. Middle left: Dandelion’s Kaboom should impress teens. Left: Kids’ books inspired Stormy Knight’s Holey Moley range.
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 37
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Focus on…Kids’ Cards
Walliams’ world now includes GBCC There’s something different for kids at the Great British Card Company which has just released its brand-new World Of Walliams collection with open birthday and ages designs featuring some of David Walliams’ popular titles. After initial contact was made at PG Live 2022, the GBCC creative team has taken its time to plan and produce the licensed cards which appeal to all fans of the books – and ceo David Byk even got the chance to chat to the man himself about them when the pair accidentally bumped into each other during family holidays to Disneyland Paris. Above: World Of Walliams is GBCC’s latest licence.
them a wide range of themes and interests as “girls definitely love dinosaurs too”. She has ballet dinos, dinosaurs with cakes and dinosaurs having parties “but girls also love the astronaut, superhero and pirate dinosaurs”. And the prehistoric monsters are also tops at Bamber Prints where founder Catherine Bamber focuses mainly on animal drawings and finds “dinosaurs and safari animals are the most popular” which she pairs with funny phrases to be enjoyed by both kids and adults. “I wasn't sure if my cards would be popular with older kids.” Catherine explained, “but, through speaking to parents, I've found they enjoy the humour in my cards. I keep my designs quite neutral in colour and I think this also helps cater to older kids. “Older relatives love to pick cards based on which animal is featured, they usually
40 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
exclaim that their grandchild loves dinosaurs or giraffes, for example. And when I do markets the kids seem to react most to the dinosaur cards – both girls and boys.” Keeping with the humour theme, Dandelion Stationery is catering to the bigger kids with its latest Kaboom range designed with teenagers in mind, as founder Jo Wilson laughed: “We all know the struggle is real when trying to find a card to impress those grown-up kids! There’s slight sarcasm, soft swears and sass – which we’d say sums up teenagers perfectly!” The 15 designs in the range have been designed and doodled by Dandelion team member Meg with options for boys and girls while lots of the designs are deliberately unisex for wide appeal, and the UK-printed collection has bespoke star-patterned envelopes packaged either in cellowrappers or plastic-free. IC&G is keeping it cute for
Above: Colours make Hotchpotch’s new Doodle range sing. Above right: Barley Bear is always cute for IC&G. Below left: Ling goes gender-neutral with Stripe & Dot. Below: A Redback Shine card.
Above: Balloons cover the bases for Grace Jackson.
from Hotchpotch Publishing, and designer Emily Lester said: “We wanted to focus on adding a sense of fun to the cards through the die-cuts and colour palettes rather than necessarily focus on specific themes. With splashes of neon ink and cute hand-painted characters, these cards are bound to stand out from the crowd.” Ling is covering all the bases with its latest releases as Hullaballoo, Bobble & Squeak, Harlow, and Stripe & Dot are all non-gendered, as marketing manager Patsy Gould explained: “By not putting girls and boys on the designs it doesn’t restrict the consumer. Children can receive a design they’re actually interested in and the consumer receives a big smile – and maybe even a thank you!” Animals are the key feature on Bobble & Squeak, while Hullaballooo adds dinosaurs, space, and under the sea, then Harlow and Stripe & Dot are aimed at the pre-teens and teens featuring numbers in stand-out gold with a contemporary palette and simple design. Sophie Mann is a designer at Redback Cards, and finds kids’ cards an interesting segment to be working on at the moment: “We’ve definitely noticed a move away from the more traditional gender-based stereotypes.
kids with an expansion of its loveable, fluffy Barley Bear range now including 10 designs each for boy and girl ages. Benefiting from die-cut card shapes, eye-popping holographic Right: Sophie may only foils and be a year old, but she already knows what she heartfelt likes - “diggers and verses, Barley balls” according to mum Samantha, who works at is featured in Redback Cards. various always-cute guises with plenty of Space rockets, modern twists, football and including as a fairy, gaming are just baker, drummer, as popular for skateboarder and girls these days and our designs are put out astronaut. into the world without any boundaries or Doodle is the new exclusions in mind – you might be accused 2024 children’s age of being one if you thought dinosaurs were and birthday collection just for boys!
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Focus on…Kids’ Cards
Multi-dimension thinking at UKG UK Greetings has gone for added value with pop-up cards that have sustainability at the heart, by clever design that means the card itself protects the 3D elements inside so there’s no need for packaging, while innovative use of cut-outs hints at the paper engineering contained within. And the subjects cover licences that appeal to many, including Little Mermaid, new Captain America Sam Wilson with a protruding shield that draws you into the design, and a Mandalorian pop-up helmet with a foilbefore-print effect. And the Build Your Own Disney card range tackles the cuteness factor head on with pop-up pieces which can be assembled into kawaii models, with Aristocat Marie the latest addition. Left: Build Your Own Disney cards add value for UKG.
Below: At seven, Heidi Harrison – who definitely takes after mum Laura Darrington – wants anything puppy-related on her cards, while it’s anything with a fairy on for four-year-old pal Erin Donaldson.
“Interestingly, certain colours still seem to have a slight gender bias associated with them, at least for the grown-ups buying the cards, so we’ve started to factor in using a gender-neutral palette for our bestsellers. “One thing that doesn’t change is the popularity of a cute character – our Moji range with the kawaii-inspired plushie patches seems to have a universal appeal, and the longstanding fascination with Japanese culture appears to bridge that
awkward gap into the tween years. “That said, teenagers are still keen to push boundaries as anyone who has one knows! and so we often find they will make a more eccentric choice!” Meanwhile, Sarah Kelleher is socking it to ’em for kids’ cards as she uses her 20-plus years of designing socks for the High Street to know that cuteness and colour are what counts. Her Kids’ Collage range has friendly naively-drawn vibrant flamingos for girls and colourful crocodiles for boys but, she said, “more importantly it also features several gender-neutral colourful designs for all”. And Sarah added: “Encouraging words such as Shine Bright and I Believe In You have been very
Above: Fascinating facts make Dyson Designs’ Dinosaurus stand out.
At Laura Darrington Design the top themes for boys always tend to be sports, vehicles, sharks, dinosaurs and monsters, while the girls’ designs are more animal based – horses, koalas, unicorns, cats and dogs. And business development manager Ross Harrison said: “Over the past couple of years there’s definitely been a big shift towards anything space and superhero designs, as well as a lean towards juvenile Halloween cards. “For the older kids – 11,12,13 – we tend to stick to fashion/trainers/football boots and bikes, alongside more modern captionbased designs such as epic, dude, superstar, etc.” Children are a tricky subject at James Ellis, where some customers are asking for more gender-neutral designs while others want added blue/pink themes, and key account manager Louise Amesbury explained: “Although we do still have some more traditional themes and colour schemes throughout our ranges, we have
Right: Captain America is a definite hit for UKG’s creative director Ben Whittington’s lad.
popular especially for grandparents wanting to be encouraging to their grandchildren.” Simplicity and subtle details are the key at Grace Jackson Design where the artist “chose to add a balloon for every year of the child’s age” to her gender-neutral range and they’ve proven so popular she’s extending it to age 18. Far left: Sarah Kelleher’s encouraging words are popular with grandparents. Left: Goodies is Laura Darrington’s latest kids’ range.
made a concerted effort over the years to create lots of gender-neutral designs. “We’ve designed lots of text and number-based cards, and for other ranges have made animals the focus instead of girls and boys, which might otherwise limit the audience.” For the publisher’s classic Shakies range, a bright mix of colours appeals to all, while the Acorns children’s collection has very earthy natural colours while still covering the more traditional younger themes of PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 41
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Focus on…Kids’ Cards
Left: Alice, 12, and eight-yearold Archie love mum Rachel Vernon’s work as a designer at Dyson Design. Archie thinks the facts on the Dinosaurus cards are “really cool because you learn about dinosaurs”, and also likes the Party Animals range, particularly the fox as he’s a Leicester City fan. Toucans are Alice’s favourite birds so the Amazing Animals’ card is her choice and, with neon pink her top colour, the stylish lettering, dazzling colours and expressions such as OMG, YAY and EPIC from the Neotype collection also appeal. Above: Cute dinos appeal at Paper Shed.
dinosaurs, vehicles, farms, space and sea creatures, and the new Minnows mini-card range has a “focus on teens” with bold block colours and foiled designs of headphones, a
Above and above right: Foil lifts James Ellis’ Minnows and Acorns ranges. Right: There’s no missing Paper Salad’s Jamboree cards!
guitar, bike, cake, games controller or plant. Louise added: “We’re also about to release a set of age cards in this range, covering those tricky ages 10-17. These feature bold numbers foiled in gold with an explosion of colour behind them so, again, very gender neutral.” Interactive children’s books inspired Stormy Knight director Sarah Jackson to illustrate her first new collection since having her daughter two years ago, and the soon-to-be-expanded Holey Moley range features flaps and peep holes revealing hidden messages on the cute characters from friendly monsters to roaring tigers. “This collection has a special place in my heart,” Sarah said. “I’ve been absorbed in the wonderful world of children’s book illustration for the past couple of years and it’s full of interactivity and fun – so I wanted to reflect this in a range of birthday cards aimed at toddlers and young children, that featured all of their favourite things!” And we’re back to dinosaurs with Paper
Shed’s latest Totally Roarsome! collection with a little bit of learning thrown in as the full dino name is featured on the reverse. Owner Jo O’Brien has ensured the cute illustrations appeal to both boys and with age cards for one to six years, bookmarks and party invitations too, which she said are “perfect for young dinosaur enthusiasts”! At Dyson Design, Dinosaurus is the latest children’s range as owner Helen Dyson is “sure dinosaurs are still very popular” along with animals “perhaps now there is an added value because children are learning about how our world is in danger from climate change and the devastating effects of that on wildlife”. Both Dinosaurus and Amazing Animals designs include fascinating facts, while the contemporary Neotype appeals to old kids with its bright colours and expressions – and the kids’ collections are all gender neutral. “That wasn’t a conscious decision,” Helen added, “perhaps
Above and below: Poppy is a seven-yearold aspiring card designer like godmother Grace Jackson, who gave her old card blanks, paper scraps and embellishments from her Grace Jackson Design business and admitted: “I'm pretty impressed/slightly worried for my own business! She certainly shares her love of shiny things with me and, who knows, there may even be a collab down the line!”
it’s because we’re a largely female business. And we know retailers are getting requests for football cards featuring girls, no doubt as a result of the success of England’s Lionesses.” One thing’s for sure, the roar is mighty loud for what kids like on their cards!
Tiddler talk
It’s all about the tiddlers at Kali Stileman where the publisher has just launched mini card boxes, each holding 10 designs from its favourite tiny card collections. The ranges include Henries-shortlisted Tiddly Widdly toy cards and mini animals and work for birthday multi-packs, party invitations and just to say hello. Left: Kali Stileman looks after the tiddlers.
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 43
THE GLOBAL GREETING CARD GATHERING OF PUBLISHERS, RETAILERS, DISTRIBUTORS AND SUPPLIERS
PG Live has lots of great retailer fans… “PG Live was SO very good and we came away completely inspired. Everyone we saw brought their A game to the show. There was lots of inspiration, newness and clear points of difference between the stands. We came en masse as it’s such a great show and we see it as important for everyone to come along to see the publishers and all the new product they have been developing and are on working on.”
Sam Ody, lead buying manager of everyday cards for Tesco
“I really feel that PG Live is absolutely the heart of our industry. It’s our absolute favourite show from both a publisher and retailer perspective. There’s everyone there who I love and want to talk to. We really feel looked after - the free tea and coffee, the free lunch, the drinks in the evening - all of these really make it stand out as a show. This kind of connection and community is absolutely priceless.”
Heidi Early, co-owner of Earlybird Designs in Stoke Newington
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“What a show! We love visiting PG Live, as it always has such a great atmosphere – and this year’s event felt particularly inspiring and there really seemed to be excitement in the air! It was lovely to see so many card publishers under one roof, existing suppliers, as well as discovering some new ones. We came away excited and inspired, with a very long list of highlights – the product standard was so high!”
Hazel Walker, senior buyer of Waterstones
A fabulous exhibitor line-up, from brand new start-ups to well-loved brands An upbeat vibe, newness galore - and free refreshments, lunch and opening night party
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A selection of products being launched to pep up retailers’ displays.
Numbers Up Birthday Blocks is a joyful new children’s age range from Cath Tate. The collection comprises nine die-cut number cards – covering ages one to nine - featuring coloured patterns and blocks. All elevated by a spot gloss, the cards are printed in the UK on 100% recycled paper and come with a kraft envelope. Cath Tate 0208 671 2166 www.cathtatecards.com
Feline Groovy
Inky Outlines
Cinnamon Aitch is welcoming some gorgeous new designs into its Margo range. Colour popping and pattern bursting as ever, the range continues to focus on the mischief and characterful nature of our four-legged pets. Square in format and made entirely in the UK on FSC board, with these new additions the collection now spans 112 designs of loveliness. Cinnamon Aitch 0121 773 6833 www.cinnamonaitch.co.uk
Ink and Block is a bold and sophisticated new range from Ling Design. Aimed at the contemporary customer who enjoys the joy and art of celebration, the nine designs are enhanced with some matt gold foil and each comes with a kraft envelope. Ling Design 01892 838574 www.lingdesign.co.uk
Wrap Artist
Trunk Call Tache’s latest licensing collab is with the vibrant Elmer the Elephant, one of the most iconic and widely read children's book series of all time, having sold over 10 million copies worldwide. In keeping with the brand’s values, the colourful handmade card range, which will be officially launched at Spring Fair, will celebrate inclusivity, colour and happiness. Tache 01202 691435 www.tache.co.uk
Kali Stileman Publishing is giddy about the new additions joining its luxury heavy-weight flat wrapping paper portfolio. Among the newness joining the 100+ designs is a people paper, featuring lots of friendly faces while another features a myriad of animals on a muted teal background, which make the colourful creatures leap out. Kali Stileman Publishing 01305 848899 www.kalistileman.co.uk
Sparkling Fun Louise Tiler Designs is augmenting its popular Kids Tiny Sparkles collection of children’s cards with the addition of 17 new designs. All featuring vibrant colours, intricate illustrations and gold foil finishes, the cards celebrate young children’s love of whimsical fairytales, animals, robots, funky monsters, and more! All 170mm by 120mm, the cards come with a bespoke Louise Tiler envelope. Louise Tiler Designs 01535 957878 www.louisetiler.com
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 45
E S E N I CH ear 2024 New Y
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A selection of products being launched to pep up retailers’ displays.
Tweet Tweet The Eco-friendly Card Co has introduced 10 new designs from mixed media artist Adam James Severn. Adam creates artwork of wildlife using recycled materials, even integrating fragments of old Eco-friendly Card Co labels into his designs. The new additions include puffins, woodpeckers, hares and long-tailed tits – notecard stationery and Christmas cards for 2024 are also available. The cards are 153mm square and are printed on a textured 100% recycled FSC paper and are available either card clasped or in corn starch bags. The Eco-friendly Card Co 01626 369269 www.ecofriendly.cards
Model Behaviour
Outside Influences The Great Outdoors Collection is Stormy Knight’s latest collaboration with Bristol-based illustrator Lucy Davey. As the range name suggests, the designs celebrate the joys of the great outdoors and the wonder of our amazing planet. The collection is a modern take on men’s cards, designed to appeal to those who enjoy an active lifestyle and living life to the full. Each card is finished with satin gold foil and comes paired with a GF Smith Callisto pearl envelope. Stormy Knight 0117 9098684 www.stormyknight.co.uk
Abacus Cards has lift off for its new licensed Airfix range, with designs that are perfect for male enthusiasts and collectors of this infamous brand. This vintage-inspired collection of aviationthemed greeting cards features designs depicting historic aircraft through to modern jets. Printed on smooth board the designs are formatted to undersized 5” x 7’. Each design features the Airfix logo as well as copy relating to the featured aircraft. Abacus Cards 01638 569050 www.abacuscards.co.uk
Monkey Business
What A Laugh
Swimming monkeys, playful racoons, and enchanting yet vibrant fungi are among the new birthday card designs that join Earlybird’s eclectic Buddy and Betty range. Named after Earlybird’s pet Cockapoo and his best friend, the Buddy and Betty range greeting card additions are being launched officially at Spring Fair as are some new giftwrap designs. The new card designs are printed on 100% recycled textured board. Earlybird Designs 01227 765372 www.earlybirddesigns.co.uk
IC&G has been having a right laugh, with a new humorous collection hitting the racks. Encompassing three distinctive styles - Busman’s Holiday, Not Now Jeff and Hoo Rae! - the first two feature some vintage-flavoured designs while the later features hand-drawn designs for female sends, covering Mum, Sister, Daughter and Auntie. IC&G 01202 897494 www.icgcards.com
Barking Glad Inspired by the balloon dogs that clowns or entertainers create out of balloons at children’s parties, Lesser and Pavey has introduced a range of ceramic balloon dogs, positioned as an adults’ home accessory. This new range of balloon dogs are available in a pearlescent, gunmetal grey or an iridescent finish. Lesser & Pavey 01322 279225 www.leonardo.co.uk PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 47
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The Ladder Club
“Informative, fun and well worth attending” was the verdict on from many of the 40 would-be and newbie greeting card publishers who attended The Ladder Club’s recent annual seminar organised by PG with support key industry figures and companies. Taking place for the first time in four years, it was a day full of learnings, insights and sense of belonging, all united in the mission to help progress the next generation of greeting card publishers.
Climbing Back Up “I’ve really enjoyed it,” was artist Georgina Whitelock’s view of The Ladder Club seminar, which took place recently at London’s Business Design Centre. “Getting the info from all the different companies for paper, printing, envelopes etc was great because it’s a real minefield,” she added. And Ladder Club alumni Hannah Dale, who attended the sessions herself when she was setting up Wrendale Designs back in 2012, was a star of the show with her presentation on her company’s journey from the kitchen table to the present awardwinning £multi-million-pound business. Utterly Conkers’ Emma Harrison admitted: “Hannah was my favourite speaker because she started where everybody else did, and she’s an icon. I liked that she shared the highs and the lows because you can look at someone like that and think it’s just happened, but it’s been hard work – and also, she still doubts herself, which is unbelievable, she’s absolutely lovely. I also loved retailer Sally Matson of Red Card’s insights very much too.” Emma summed it all up as “a brilliant day, perfect for what it’s meant to be. It’s pitched just right for newbie publishers and people thinking about it.”
Above: The class of The Ladder Club 2023 and presenters. Above right: Some important advice on costing out your cards from Ben Hickman, done in his own sweet way. Below middle: Brainbox Candy’s Ben Hickman (left) with agents Jo Bannister and Adam Lawrance. Bottom left: Wrendale’s Hannah Dale was an inspiration to many attendees. Bottom right: The Imaging Centre’s Bob Short explained why colours can look different on screen compared to on printed cards
Heather Trefusis, of Heather Trefusis Art, added: “A big thank you for The Ladder Club. It was an absolutely fantastic day. Packed with really valuable content. I’ve already been making changes to my business as a result of some of the advice!” It was an “informative and inspiring” day for Julie Loydall, who said: “As a complete newbie, it was a unique opportunity to hear from the experts and to chat to other aspiring publishers - I came away buzzing! I'm looking forward to being part of the industry next year and hope to see everyone again in the future.”
After being started by the late publisher and gallery owner Lynn Tait with PG’s Jakki Brown over 20 years ago, the first Ladder Club seminar in four years continued the winning formula of including the nuts and bolts of production and industry workings as well as insights from publishers, a leading retailer and agent. Bob and Adam Short, founder and md of The Imaging Centre, explained the digital print side of things, Loxleys’ md Tony Lorriman chipped in with litho info, G.F Smith’s paper consultant Mark Jessett explained about board choices and sustainability while Enveco’s sales support Lucy Glover talked trends in envelopes.
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 49
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The Ladder Club
Hannah’s Top Ten Tips Some 12 years ago, Hannah Dale was sitting in the audience at The Ladder Club lapping up the advice from the speakers to put to good use in her then fledgling greeting card company, Wrendale Designs. Fast forward to now, and the company turns over £15million, employs 70 people and its products are sold in 47 countries. Not surprisingly, The Ladder Clubbies were all ears as Hannah distilled 12 years of learnings into 10 pieces of advice. 1. Join The Ladder Club – “It is an invaluable source of information.” 2. Define your vision and values – “I wanted Wrendale to become a household name and have a stockist in every town.” 3. Don’t sweat the small stuff – “Things will definitely go wrong. Accept that, learn from them and move on.” 4. Be original – “Rifle Paper Company, Rosie Made a Thing, Brainbox Candy, Paper Salad… they all have their own looks. Don’t copy. If you are successful, you may be copied and it’s heartbreaking, but don’t let it eat you up.” 5. Be honest about what you are good at and delegate those jobs as soon as you can 6. Licensing: Understand your options – “Licensing is a great way to expand, but find the right partners for you. Do they share your
Squeezing it into a holiday with his wife, British-born Andy Meehan, president of the US GCA, consultant to US’ Designer Greetings and self-styled Stationery Guru, made an early appearance sharing an explanation of the differences between the world’s two biggest greeting card markets, before GCA ceo Amanda Fergusson and membership and marketing manager Adriana Lovesy explained how the UK association is able to help on with its initiatives, website, webinars and local events and annual conference covering so many different aspects. Sally Matson, of Petworth’s Red Card, shared some golden nuggets on what retailers really want from publishers and how best to market themselves, including at trade shows while JJ Agencies’ Jo Bannister took attendees inside a sales agent’s brain, revealing that they look for
values? Don’t be afraid to walk away from a proposal if it doesn’t feel right.” 7. Export: Do your research – “Having your products on sale all over the world is a wonderful feeling, but do pick the right overseas distributors for you. One of the best places to meet them is at PG Live as they all come.” 8. Know your ‘why?’ – “I started the business as I was bored working in accounting. We had no money, two babies, a mother with terminal cancer. I had a love of stationery and had studied zoology so combined the two. Our purpose has since changed as now we are going for B Corp accreditation and thanks to Wrendale’s profits have just acquired another 540 acres to expand our rewilding. My second ‘why’ is our team, the Wrendale Family, and to make their lives better by moving to a four day week at no loss of pay for them.” 9. Be kind to yourself – “Starting a business is not easy. You will have amazing highs, but you will also feel the weight of responsibility.” 10. Enjoy it! – “Greeting cards are a wonderful product that plays a part in so many relationships. Being involved in their creation is an incredible privilege.”
in a publisher and what publishers can expect from an agent. Trade show tips and etiquette came from PG Live operations director Jim Bullough, and the PG editorial and sales team gave a whirlwind tour of making the most of free editorial opportunities, why entering The Henries awards puts publishers in front of retailers, and setting the scene for PG Live. Everyone had a hard act to follow thanks to Brainbox Candy co-founder and director Ben Hickman’s hilarious delivery on the business side of publishing, including costs, margins, marketing, and understanding brokerage, but Bewilderbeest’s chief nitwit Iain Hamilton took presenting to new heights with his own brand of tall stories (he is 6’ 8” after all) following his journey from attending the
2019 Ladder Club event through to winning the Best Young Designer Henries Award last year and forward to his current licensing deals. Below left: Arrthi’s Arrthi Little (third right) said: “Thank you, The Ladder Club was a brilliant event! Insightful and nice to meet new people and seeing friends. Every single bit was good, I can’t fault anything.” Pictured here with (right-left) Heather Trefusis, Happy Streets’ Natalie Gladstone, All Shades’ Amanda Kinghorn, GCA’s Adriana Lovesy and Kat Lyna Below middle: Georgina Whitelock (right) with Amy Sinclair, of Badgerbee Design, who said: “My heroine was Hannah Dale, she’s so inspiring,” and Wild Earth Art’s Rebecca Hyde (left) added: “Ben from Brainbox’s presentation was my favourite bit. I found it invaluable. I can’t wait to implement the useful info this next year. It’s the very beginning of my journey, and I am so glad I found you via the GCA.” Below right: (left) Hattie Gordon, of Hattie Gordon Art, said: “It’s been really interesting, possibly Hannah was my favourite because she’s been there and done it, and Sally I really liked because she showed you can have different points of view”. Menopausal Me’s Jackie Woolf, added: “I’ve enjoyed today, Hannah was amazing, Ben was fantastic, and Sally was really helpful. There’s been lots of info too. Everyone’s been really informative – and Iain was brilliant!” Left: (left) David Todd, from Kirsty Todd Illustration, commented: “I’ve enjoyed today, especially Sally and how retailers want things and understanding the market. The most interesting thing I’ve seen is that there is an element of competition, but everyone is willing to help others, and Paul Boardman, of Glynart, said: “I enjoyed it very much and found it all very useful. I wouldn’t say I had a favourite, they all did a fantastic job of putting it together from start to finish.”
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 51
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Art Source
Talk Of The Table
Having spent many years early in her design career with multi-national ceramic company, Churchill China, highly versatile artist and illustrator, Karen Tye Bentley is well used to keeping those proverbial plates spinning when working on different briefs for greeting cards and other products. Karen opens the doors of her home studio in Newcastle-under-Lyme to share her life and loves. “I have always loved being creative and I started drawing from a very young age and have very fond memories of drawing ‘competitions’ with my Grandad as well as knitting with my Nan… special times. I enrolled at Newcastle-under-Lyme College of Art to do a general art and design diploma as I wanted to try out different areas of creativity. I instantly loved pottery and using different glazing techniques, and living on the doorstep of The Potteries it seemed natural to look to a career in ceramics. I then studied at Staffordshire Poly (Staffs Uni now) and enjoyed a HND course in industrial ceramics which led to a placement at Wedgwood which I thoroughly enjoyed. While still at the Poly I answered a job advert to join a studio which created prototypes for collectable items, mainly for the American market. I got the job, and as soon as I finished education I was offered a full time role and worked on varying projects covering shape, pattern and illustration which was a fantastic experience and taught me so much. My next move took me to Churchill China, initially as a designer, but I worked my way up to design manager, then group design manager covering the hotel division as well as retail. I loved the teamwork involved in running a small, but very busy studio. I feel lucky to say that over 20 years later I am still firm friends with the original team, but as time went on, I spent most of my time travelling or in meetings and designing less and less. When I got married and my first daughter came along it was a perfect opportunity to take stock. I didn’t want to be travelling so the decision was made to set myself up at home and have a crack at Top: Karen Tye Bentley loves her design life, working from her home studio in Newcastle under Lyme. Above middle: A love of Christmas comes out loud and clear in Karen’s portfolio. Right: A knowledge of surface pattern is evident in Karen’s work. Far right: Karen loves experimenting with different techniques, including within a piece of artwork. Background: Pretty florals and butterflies lend themselves to greeting card sends.
WANT TO BE FEATURED?
Far left: Karen is just as happy working in bold colour palettes as delicate pastel ones. Left: Forging a career as a freelance designer balances well with Karen’s life.
freelancing. Because I had so many contacts in the ceramics world this is where I started, but I gradually expanded into the greeting card market. Whenever I had previously visited trade fairs while working in ceramics I had always wandered longingly into the greeting card halls and been envious of the designers being able to work on such colourful and exciting artwork! I have been juggling many different products ever since. My daughters are now both at University and I still can’t quite believe that I get paid to sit at home with my slippers on colouring in all day… I love working on different products, I love being busy, either to a customer specific brief or having a play with new ideas to see what comes of it. I never have a fixed plan. I’m at my happiest when I’m creating. I have always hand-painted and used Photoshop, but I am now having a dabble with Illustrator so that I have a few more styles up my sleeve for whatever comes along. I really don’t mind what the theme is, but I do have a special love for Christmas! Although I work at home I have built up really great relationships with customers over the years, such as with Farmhouse Biscuits, who treat me as part of their team, and many of my greeting card customers come back year after year. I have recently jumped in with Creative Sparrow which is working out brilliantly, and I’m looking forward to designing for a new set of customers and working alongside Hannah Curtis [Creative Sparrow’s md] to develop my portfolio further.” l Karen Tye Bentley is
represented by Creative Sparrow for licensing and commissions.
If you are an artist, photographer or verse writer and would like to be considered to appear in Art Source, please contact PG’s Jakki Brown on jakkib@max-publishing.co.uk. This is an editorial feature and as such is free of charge. PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 53
INTRODUCING A BRAND NEW PHOTOGRAPHIC RANGE Designed as an accompaniment to the groundbreaking BBC series, this collection captures the brilliance and drama of nature.
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PG ASKED A SELECTION OF RETAILERS FOR THEIR BEST SELLERS Paul and Helen Southgate, co-owners of Cards N Things, Hellesdon. A popular long-established card and gift shop in a village just outside Norwich. Category
Name of Publisher
Product/Name Range
Comments
Christmas
Ling Design
Boxes of 24 Cards
Pigment Noel Tatt GBCC
Life in Pencil Decoupage Captions Paper House Large Boxes
“Large range, good quality box.” “Stands out in the racks.” “Simply works.” “Good size cards, nice designs.”
Nigel Quiney Publications Cherry Orchard Publishing
Pizazz
“A long-term winner.”
Grace; Grayson
“Both are very popular.”
Kingfisher Cards
Relations and Occasions The dual relation/age designs
“A new supplier for us, reasonably priced.” “Our best sellers.”
Emotional Rescue in collaboration with Paper Salad Rosie Made a Thing
Mine’s a Pint; Is It Friday Yet?
“New for us, but going very well.”
Gin & Frolics
“The humour is spot on.”
GBCC
Fable; General ages
Cherry Orchard Publishing
Grace; Grayson
“Always something a little different.” “We are forever reordering.”
Nigel Quiney Publications IC&G
Doodle
“Still going strong.”
Above right: Cuteness from Nigel Quiney’s Doodle range.
Barley
“Continues to sell well.”
Art
Woodmansterne
Generally
“Just enough for what we need.”
Photographic
Abacus Cards
BBC Countryfile; BBC Springwatch
“Classic images that hit the spot.”
Giftwrap
Glick
Generally
“If you don’t stock Glick by now?!...”
Gifts
Bookspeed
Children’s and dog lovers’ books Stationery and gifts
“People can’t resist.”
Right: A Life in Pencil Christmas design from Pigment.
Everyday
Relations & Occasions
IC&G
Humour
Adult Ages
Cute
Middle: A Woodmansterne art card.
Rachel Ellen Designs
“We stock more and more. The colouring books and pens fly out.”
Right: One of the many dog-related books from Bookspeed.
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 55
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Liz Kemp, owner of Kemps General Store & Bookshop, Malton. An emporium of the beautiful and the unusual for everyone, nestled in a North Yorkshire market town. Category
Name of Publisher
Product/Name Range
Comments
Everyday
Roger la Borde The Art File
Generally Pabuku
The Pattern Book Press
Generally
Poet & Painter
Generally
“Beautiful, colourful and often very cute.” “Stands out and offers inclusive sentiments.” “An interesting range of eclectic cards, particularly good for male recipients.” “A really wide selection of cards.”
Humour
Sally Scaffardi Designs
Generally
“Laugh out loud designs that are a big hit.”
Art
Madame Treacle
Generally
Right: A card design by Madame Treacle.
Roo Waterhouse Designs Art Angels Cavallini Papers
Generally Mark Hearld; Emily Sutton Generally
“The perfect antidote to dullness with its retro, vintage look.” “People buy these in handfuls.” “Both local artists who create wonderful pieces.” “Printed on archival paper they serve as posters and wrap.”
Die-cut and 3D
Cambridge Imprint
Generally
“Joyful illustrations and typography; meticulous attention to detail.”
Giftwrappings
Artebene
eco raffia; rollwrap
“New suppliers for us, but we are re-ordering.”
Gifts
Art Angels
Advent calendars
The Candlestick Press
Poetry pamphlets
“The beautiful Advent calendars by Angela Harding start selling in August.” “They come with envelopes and make a perfect gift/card in one.”
Right: One of Roo Waterhouse’s bookrelated designs.
Right: One of the poetry pamphlets from The Candlestick Press.
Fiona Haddrell, owner of Inkings, Hungeford. A sizeable sized card, gift and lifestyle shop in a historic Berkshire market town. Category
Name of Publisher
Product/Name Range
Comments
Everyday
Wendy Jones-Blackett Lucilla Lavender Woodmansterne
Across the board Across the board Across the board
“Continually evolving.” “Varied offering.” “Great quality.”
Humour
Peartree Heybridge
Tottering by Gently
Pigment Heybridge Lucilla Lavender
Across the board
“Such a shame it has ceased trading.” “The ranges have wide appeal.”
Across the board
“Customers love them.”
Children’s
Rachel Ellen Designs
Jigsaw Cards
“The masters of kids’ cards.”
Adult Ages
Ling Design Caroline Gardner Peartree Heybridge
Generally Generally Generally
“Appealing designs.” “Such good quality.”
Art
Museums & Galleries ArtPress
Across the board Across the board
“Contemporary and classic art.” “Great selection.”
Photographic
Ling Design
Across the board
“Highly saleable.”
Giftwrappings
Penny Kennedy
Emma Bridgewater
“Interesting the brand is moving to Woodmansterne for wrap.”
Gifts
Widdop and Co Bigwigs Toys
Apples to Pears tins Across the board
“Great concept.”
56 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Top: A Wendy JonesBlackett design. Above: A Hannah Pontin design from ArtPress.
57-67_Classified Complete 2023.qxp 28/11/2023 12:31 Page 57
PRODUCT DIRECTORY
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To appear in the Product Directories contact Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 email: warren@max-publishing.co.uk
To appear in the Product Directories contact Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 email: warren@max-publishing.co.uk
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IN FO @E NV EC O. CO .U K
‘we we make Envelopes and Stationery’
MOREE THAN 50 COLOURS 6 POPULAR GREEETINGS CARD SIZES 50+ WH HITE SIZES IN STOCK BESPOKE ENV VELOPES AV AVAILABLE PEEL A AND SEAL CLOSURE RECYCLED / KRAFTT / 140GSM / 120GSM 11 SUPER BRIG GHT NEON COLOURS BESPOKE NOTEBO OOKS & STATIONERY
PLEASE GET IN TOUCH FOR TARY RY YOUR COMPLIMENTA ENVELOPE OR NOTEBOOK WATCH PA PACK SWA
FOR ALL YOUR ENVELOPE NEEDS! Largest range of in-stock colours
EXTE XTENSIVE NSIV VE RANG V R RA ANGE OF S ST TOCK SIZES SIZ ZES AND BES AND BE ESPO OKE KE MANUF KE MANU UF FACTU TUR TURE T U E
Over 400 Bespoke Envelope Sizes
AT TED D WRAPPING SERVICE NEW AUTOMA
100% Recycled Paper Available
8 Sizes Permanently in Stock RECYCLED
PAPER
Stock & Bespoke Cello Bags
CALL CA CAL C LL US ST TO ODAY OD
0122 1228 228 2 28 8 5605 56 60 052 26 6 www.fful ulcrumfilms. ulcrrum mfillm ms s co.uk uk
Peel & Stick Envelopes Bespoke Service on Request
ORDER ON LINE AT: www.regentenvelopes.com 01274 583000 sales@regentenvelopes.com PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 63
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W W W. EN VE CO .CO .U K
01 90 83 78 86 6
ENVELOPES
l CLASSIFIED
IN FO @E NV EC O. CO .U K
‘we we make Envelopes and Stationery’
MOREE THAN 50 COLOURS 6 POPULAR GREEETINGS CARD SIZES 50+ WH HITE SIZES IN STOCK BESPOKE ENV VELOPES AV AVAILABLE PEEL A AND SEAL CLOSURE RECYCLED / KRAFTT / 140GSM / 120GSM 11 SUPER BRIG GHT NEON COLOURS BESPOKE NOTEBO OOKS & STATIONERY
PLEASE GET IN TOUCH FOR YOUR COMPLIMENTA TARY RY ENVELOPE OR NOTEBOOK WATCH PA PACK SWA
FLITTERING FOR ALL YOUR FLITTER REQUIREMENTS
FOR ALL YOUR ENVELOPE NEEDS!
ABL Foil Ltd
Largest range of in-stock colours Over 400 Bespoke Envelope Sizes 8 Sizes Permanently in Stock RECYCLED
PAPER
100% Recycled Paper Available
Unit 1, Industrial Estate East Hanningfield Chelmsford Essex, CM3 8AB
Stock & Bespoke Cello Bags Peel & Stick Envelopes Bespoke Service on Request
ORDER ON LINE AT: www.regentenvelopes.com 01274 583000 sales@regentenvelopes.com
Manuffa acturers off high quality envelopes 10 popular greetings card sizes in stock recycled & kraft envelopes in stock RECYCLED PA P APER
Enquiries: warren@max-publishing.co.uk or Tracey Arnaud traceya@max-publishing.co.uk PRINTERS
Hello Cards are FSC approved digital printers, offering high quality print at competitive prices, working with both large and small publishers. Contact us to discuss your requirements.
CALL US TODAY
01773 537810
www.transrappackaging.co.uk sales@transrap.co.uk
Enquiries: warren@max-publishing.co.uk or Tracey Arnaud traceya@max-publishing.co.uk 64 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Contact DAVID JIGGINS Tel: 01245 400104 Email: david@abl-ltd.co.uk
Additional Services • Foiling with no dies • Inhouse fulfilment
• Distribution • Wiro Bound Notebooks
T 01274 305832 E info@hellocards.co.uk
www.hellocards.co.uk
57-67_Classified Complete 2023.qxp 28/11/2023 12:32 Page 65
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PJ Print PJ THE SPECIALIST GREETINGS CARD PRINTER Litho Print
D Die-cutting
Digital Print
F ering Flitt
Foiling
Packing
Embossing
D Distribution
Tel:0127 e 4 4531828 Email: info@herbertw o alkers.c co.uk
www.herbertwalkers.co.u uk
woulldd lliike to w isshh our clliie nts and co lllee aaggu gue s in thhee gre eting card industry Meerry Christmas M and a very Haapppppy Ne w Ye ar The Pr int W Wo orks Colville Road, Acton London W3 8BL tel 020 8993 5160
e-mail sales@ppjj-pr int.co.uk www w..ppjj-pr int.co.uk
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 65
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WAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTION WA WAREHOU USING & DISTRIBUTION
• We Store
• Sa ame Day Dispatch
• Hand Finish
• Ac Accurate ccurate Fulfilment
• Wrap Wrap, Band
• De edicated Line Manager edicated
• Pick
• Transparent Invoicing
• Pack
• Cos o ts Reflect Cash Flow
T: E: E: www.lb-warehousing.co.uk
66 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
57-67_Classified Complete 2023.qxp 28/11/2023 12:35 Page 67
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DISPLAY AND SPINNERS
WAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTION
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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 67
WHETHER YOU’RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING SLIGHTLY CHEEKY, RIDICULOUSLY FUNNY OR SICKENINGLY SWEET, SCRIBBLER HAS IT COVERED!
ECO HAPPY! PRINTED IN THE UK. JUST ONE OF SECOND NATURE’S NEW ECO HAPPY! COLLECTIONS.
REGISTER AT SECONDNATURE.CO.UK TO ORDER ONLINE OBC_PG December 2023.indd 1
25/11/2023 16:36