PG January strides into 2019 with a plethora of greetings industry views, news, stories, hot topics and a wealth of fresh greeting card launches, and much, much more!
To kick-off her thought-provoking ‘state of the nation’ speech at the recent GCA AGM and Conference, Ceri Stirland, GCA president (and UKG’s customer and channel director) projected on to the big screen a quote (from The Future 100): “If there’s anything to be learned from this year, it’s that change comes rapidly, and often from unexpected places.”
Adding to Ceri’s astute insights, PG draws on the collective wisdom of members of the GCA Council who share their views on confronting some of the industry’s key challenges and the opportunities that should be grasped.
“Our major focus, as an industry, has to be to ensure that the consumer continues to send greeting cards in the age of more digital methods of communication. The greeting card industry is becoming more challenging as the retail market is getting tougher, across the high street and in the grocers,” stated Amanda Del Prete, the new managing director of Hallmark UK.
There is ground to be gained in trying to create new reasons to buy cards not hold on to all the old ones. Yes, Valentine’s sales may have seemed to slow down in some areas as young people seem to have more meaningful ‘friendship’ relationships. This is an opportunity that can be grasped with the right design and contemporary sentiment,” says Rachel Hare, managing director of Belly Button Designs.
Read more GCA Council members’ views in PG January’s Viewpoints. (click to pages 35-39)
One retailer who has grasped opportunity to great effect is Oliver Bonas. From a standing start 25 years ago with a second-hand till, a small shop unit in Fulham selling some watches and fashion accessories that young entrepreneur Oliver Tress had imported from Hong Kong it has flourished into leading chain of lifestyle stores.
Its 77 stores span the length of the nation, winning the hearts of its (mostly female) customers with its curated collection of products – and cards are high on its ‘must stock’ list.
The typical Oliver Bonas customer is “intelligent, confident, takes a great interest in the world around her, puts a high value on health, happiness and well-being, is style conscious and aware of trends, but picks and chooses what works for her”, explains Natalia Kosterska, Oliver Bonas’ assistant buyer responsible for all the card buying (as well as the wall art and books).
Discover more about Natalia and Oliver Bonas in PG’s January issue. (click to pages 49-51).
Meanwhile on the publishing side, Redback Cards has become revered as a leading humorous card publisher, with several Henries awards to prove it. And the licensing agreements it now has with both Transomnia and Glick for its Cloud Nine brand for giftware and giftwrappings further underline its success.
Redback is breaking out of the confines of funny cards and is extra sparkle to its portfolio with its new Shine range, which debuts at Top Drawer this month – an eye-catching collection featuring reversible sequin ‘patches’ that can then be peeled off and used to adorn clothing, bags or stationery.
PG travelled down to Devon to meet the publisher’s co-owners Chris and Kate Stanley. (click pages 41-43).
Finding a firm footing on the greeting card publishing climb to success can be tough, that’s why The Ladder Club was set up over 20 years ago by Lynn Tait and PG’s Jakki Brown to help newbie publishers safely scale the rungs.
A handful of those who attended one of the two day Ladder Club seminars last year share their ‘life before cards’ and what led them into the industry, what they gleaned from attending and what plans are afoot for 2019.
Find out more in January’s issue. (click to pages 65-69)
And, of course, January PG also includes new product pages Innovations, this month featuring some of the new launches at Top Drawer Spring, (click to pages 53-63); wise words from regular columnists, card publisher Blue Eyed-Sun’s Jeremy Corner, who reflects on creating incredible customer experiences (click to pages 45-47), and David Robertson of Scottish retailer JP Pozzi, who this month discusses indies’ daily hustle (click to pages 27-29).
Plus, what’s currently the hottest card product for retailers (click to pages 79-81) and the industry’s latest news (click to pages 11-25).
All this in the pages of a lovely glossy magazine and online too!
Click here to read the whole PG January 2019 edition online.
