UK Greetings’ entire stand at PG Live next week will be dedicated to its new standalone brand Kindred.
Making its debut at the show (which takes place June 5 and 6 at London’s Business Design Centre), the Kindred greeting card collection taps into the spirit of mindfulness, wellbeing and urge to connect.
“There is a will and a spirit that brings so many of us together, irrespective of age, gender or ethnicity. An urge to belong, share in the values of friendship and to live in the moment – this is the very essence of Kindred,” sums up Sandi Parisi, creative director of UK Greetings about the publisher’s significant new brand.
In Kindred’s case, it was less of a ‘lightbulb moment’, and more of a ‘fridge opening moment’ that reinforced the decision to create the new brand.
“I opened the studio fridge door and could not see any normal milk, but there was lots of almond milk, soya milk and oat milk!” revealed Sandi highlighting how tastes and our approach to life have moved on significantly in the last few years. “Obviously it is not just what we are putting in our tea that signifies how lifestyles and values are changing, but how we communicate with others and what we want and need from greeting cards are changing too.”
Having placed a lot of focus on elevating its core lines over the last few years, honing its offer under its Carlton, Gibson, Camden Graphics and Hanson White brands, the publisher then turned its attentions to consumer needs not being well served by its existing collections.
“We recognised that our portfolio, vast though it is, was not properly catering for those people who wanted a simpler, purer card that enabled them to communicate with friends and loved ones in a more intimate, personal way,” Sandi told PG Buzz.
Issuing an open brief to its in-house designers, freelance artists as well as to the universities with whom UKG works on student collaborations, Sandi told them to “forget the greeting card rulebook and to drop it on the floor,” wanting the creative ideas to have a looseness and capture a freedom that is relevant and meaningful to a Kindred consumer.
The inaugural Kindred portfolio spans 200+ designs, across 11 capsule collections.
UKG is expecting the Kindred collection to appeal to non-specialist card retailers, such as lifestyle stores, bookshop and fashion boutiques as well as its existing customers that attract ‘Kindred consumers’.
UKG will be showing Kindred on Stand 240 at PG Live. Retailers or overseas buyers are encouraged to register for the show. Just click here to register online or via LinkedIn, Twitter or Google+
Or, if you would rather speak to a real person, then phone +44 (0)1635 297070.
