Edinburgh store gets up close and personal with This Morning’s Holly and Phil
Television got up close and personal for Paper Tiger this week – as the Edinburgh indie card and gift retailer’s personalisation service popped up on ITV’s This Morning show.
Owner Michael Apter was glued to his TV set on Wednesday, 30 November, watching along with the million-plus regular audience as the show’s consumer expert Alice Beer revealed various items in the Christmas Gifts From Independent Brands slot to hosts Holly Willoughby and Philip Scofield.
“I love this company, Paper Tiger,” an enthusiastic Alice declared. “You know when you’re personalising something, when you’re choosing ‘have I got three initials, two initials, what am I going to do’, Paper Tiger does a foil personalisation and you can do up to 30 characters.
“So, you can do a quote, you could do a little song lyric, a phrase that you’ve got. It’s really lovely personalisation that is included in the price. And these ones are £16 for personalised Moleskine notebook and I love Moleskine – that is such a good present.”
And with the screen showing Paper Tiger’s website address, the exposure has already proven beneficial as Michael revealed just a couple of hours after the 35-second clip, which you can view below, aired: “We are having an incredible month in our stores and an exceptionally busy Christmas season online, nevertheless, the power of TV is quite amazing.
“Our Moleskine sales today are currently more than 3,300% up on last year, and we are joyously – and a little scarily – swamped with hundreds and hundreds of orders.
“Each and every member of the Paper Tiger team has made a qualitative difference to our performance through the Christmas trading to the end of November. I am so proud of them and what has been achieved – so far!”
Michael’s also been out and about in the Scottish capital with his own marketing and newsletter, taking to the streets to show off Christmas greetings from various Scots designers and publishers including Catherine Rayner, Joy Nevada, Gingerpaws, and Neon Magpie, where co-founders Chris and Megan Hicklin are also part of the Paper Tiger team.
Admitting he’s in his annual Grinch-off with the team about when the Christmas music can be used in his two stores, Michael laughed: “Even though there are four different playlists to choose from, I’ve been pulled up about favourites that are missing!”
Appropriately with today, 2 December, being Festive Friday which kicks off the annual seasonal greeting sending, he added: “There have been many trials and tribulations for so many of us over the last couple of years, but I sincerely hope that you’re able to look forward to the coming season with some optimism and some gratitude, and with those that mean the most to you – and please, send them Christmas cards!”
