Now only days away from Thinking of You Week (September 21-27), the GCA’s ‘PR machine’ is fully revved up, with information about this lovely card sending initiative reaching all manner of media, from consumer magazines to TV news, radio programmes to leading blogger sites.
Set to build on the sterling work that PR maestros, Sarah Seltzer and Mark Chapman, co-owners of PR Direct, achieved for last year’s GCA campaign, the GCA’s ceo Amanda Fergusson is again working with the dynamic duo, with an impressive media contact list this year.
“This year, the essence of Thinking of You Week to send cards to show you are thinking of them has a greater importance than ever before,” states Amanda. “The widespread support from major retailers such as Sainsbury’s, Asda, Card Factory, Cardzone, Paperchase, WHSmith as well as many indies means that the Thinking of You Week branding has great visibility, making the consumer PR activity all the more effective,” she adds, highlighting the surge in traffic to the dedicated Thinking of You Week website as being another indicator in a growing awareness and interest in the campaign.
Sainsbury’s has been enjoying a long run up to TOYW, having installed dedicated FSDUs (encompassing 50 relevant greeting card designs) into 200 of its top stores last month; Card Factory has developed specific PoS items that feature in all of its 1,000 stores while Clintons is initiating a ‘4 for 3’ on all general cards in its stores during TOYW.
Indies have been able to tap into special promotions instigated by several publishers, such as Carte Blanche, UKG, Cherry Orchard, Out of the Blue Studios.
Amanda urges there is still time to get involved, with downloadable poster templates, competition ideas and guideline hosted on the website.
Or, as Kate Whatmore of Evesham-based publisher Corniche suggests, ‘pay it forward’ on a personal level.
“I love the concept of Thinking of You Week as I don’t think any of us tell people enough that we care for and appreciate them.”
Kate is all geared up to repeat what she did last year – “To not only send cards to people who I felt would appreciate knowing I was ‘thinking of them’, but also bring into play a ‘pay it forward’ element.
I just didn’t want my sending of a card, that meant something to me and hopefully the recipient, to just end there. So, to keep it going I also included a copy of the downloadable GCA Thinking of You Week flyer that explains all about the campaign as well as an extra unwritten card for them to send on to someone else.
The response last year was fantastic, and from a social media point of view it was great as I was then tagged by the recipients and then their recipients – it was I really fun and hugely appreciated by everyone involved.
I am doing it again this year, will send even more cards than I did in 2019 – and will include the postage for the recipient.
Admittedly It takes a bit of planning, but it’s worth it. I highly recommend all greeting card publishers and retailers to give it a go 😊”
Top: This year’s Thinking of You Week has been embraced like never before.
