Here's To A Great Year Ahead!    

We look to the new year with wishes for hope, health and opportunity.  And after the past couple of tricky years, the mood feels different to me. Retailers and manufacturers were pleased with the season’s results, as the stationery industry delivered another crop of outstanding greeting cards, invitations, wraps, ribbons and bows, décor and paper tableware to suit the consumers’  taste, culture, attitude, mood and budget.  Moving into the new decade, I feel quite optimistic!  Here are a few reasons:

Holiday Spending was Up

The critical 4th quarter holiday buying season grew a healthy 5%, reported to be the largest increase in many years!

The Facebook Generation Turns to the Power of the Written Word 

A recent research study conducted by Unity Marketing revealed something unexpected.  Its president, Pam Danziger, discovered a counter-trend toward paper greetings, where a small, but growing segment of consumers recognize the power of a hand-written letter or personalized note. “People are finding that a hand-written note is the ultimate way to connect with those who really matter to them. One might have 350 'friends' on Facebook, but only a handful that really count. They are the ones that the Facebook generation is reaching out to with a personalized, hand-written greeting," she notes.

But to also embrace social networking and the connections it enables, you’ll see the NSS in many online forums spreading the word and encouraging industry professionals to join us in May – through LinkedIn invitations, Facebook events, and Twitter.  Help us reach our widest audience by joining these groups and sharing these invitations.

Profit from Attending the 2011 Show

Paper Power will be in 3D when we come together at the National Stationery Show! Buyers can expect an abundance of products that they will not have seen yet at market, as gift shows present just 10% of the social stationery vendors that buyers will see at the NSS in May. 

Buyers worldwide will indulge in the best selection, breadth and variety of the social stationery sector.   The majority of the 900 exhibiting companies will release their new collections at the NSS.  So, get ready for one exciting show, where fashion, trend, color and design take center stage – and where the products you buy will turn big profits for your store! Check out the new Product Search feature on the NSS website to see what I mean.

From the experiential perspective, we’ve got events and promotions on tap that will inspire your creativity, stimulate your thinking and motivate you to achieve great success in 2011.  Whether you’re an exhibitor, buyer, supplier, event planner, rep or member of the media, stay tuned for a series of exciting announcements to come. 

So out with the old and in with the new year!  Best wishes from the NSS Team, and all of us at GLM, for a prosperous 2011! 

Patti Stracher
Show Manager
 

The greeting card industry’s “Oscars” will reveal exciting changes to modernize the 23rd Annual LOUIE Awards program and embrace the essence of the social expression industry – greeting cards and  invitations.  The changes were made to better reflect the role of our product in modern society, and ultimately create ongoing, long-term consumer demand.  The changes include:

Increased number of retailer and blogger judges Broad consumer/trade PR and social media strategy Category consolidation Fabulous venue for the gala and exciting awards presentation

• It all comes together at the National Stationery Show where for the first time the display of LOUIE nominees will be designed by one of the industry’s leading fixture and display suppliers. 

The program’s theme, “CONNECTION-it's in the Cards,” highlights the history of greeting card use, and also corresponds to today’s “connected” society where, despite the prominence of the digital age, card and invitation sending is vibrant and strong. With all the new electronic means of connecting, people still send cards when they want to “friend someone for real” because paper greeting cards stand out in the mailbox and in the heart and mind, becoming treasured memories of important events and relationships in our lives.

Nearly a thousand cards will be judged on February 2-3, 2011 in New York City, where key industry executives will privately rank each card independently based upon the criteria of: Originality, Impact, Design Excellence, Sendability and Value. Click here to view the renowned panel of judges representing the entire greeting card business community.  It includes independent and major retailers, bloggers, reps and manufacturers (no manufacturer judges his/her company’s product).

After the scores are tabulated, the three nominees for each category will be made public in March 2011, with the actual scores and the winning entry for each category announced at the gala at Espace in New York on Monday, May 16th.

Why should retailers pay attention to the LOUIEs?

The cards nominated are considered to be the “best of the best” in the industry.

Nominees and winners come from companies large and small, from industry leaders to fresh, creative new resources.  In fact, many years, the winner of the prestigious “Card of the Year” has been awarded to companies relatively new in the industry.  The LOUIEs provide an easy, effective way to make sure that all the creative talents participating fly “above the radar,” getting the recognition they deserve.  The Louie display onsite at the National Stationery Show, as well as the glamorous and festive gala awards event allow retailers a wonderful opportunity to source and discover the industry's top-rated cards and invitations as well as a chance to meet and network with leaders from all facets of the stationery world. Following the Louie nominations and award-winners also provides a great way to share this information with your customers—everyone loves a winner!

A new feature to encourage broader retailer participation is a “RECOMMENDATION BOX” located at the LOUIE Award display at the NSS, where retailers can ‘write in’ suggestions for companies or cards that they have seen at the show in 2011, and that they would like to see enter the 2011 LOUIE Awards, in order to be recognized for their creativity and impact.

For over 20 years the LOUIEs have celebrated creativity in greeting cards, and the new vision for the LOUIEs builds on that history but with a renewed passion to remind us that now, more than ever, CONNECTION – It’s In The Cards!
 
Andy Meehan, a veteran of the greeting card industry, is President of Development Solutions Global and serves as the 2010 LOUIE Awards Strategic Chairman

BREAKING NEWS!

Kathy Krassner, well-known for her expertise in the stationery industry for more than two decades, has been appointed Director of Communications for the Greeting Card Association (GCA). In this newly created role, Kathy will provide strategic public-relations and marketing-communications services and support to the Greeting Card Association. Her role includes media, industry, and consumer relations; providing editorial content for "CardTalk" - GCA's e-newsletter, as well as other print and digital communication; trend reporting; development of membership and event promotional materials; and more.

Kathy is a longtime, widely respected industry veteran and has been active with the GCA for more than 20 years as an editor of several stationery-related trade magazines. She was most recently Editor-in-Chief of Greetings etc. magazine, which she worked with the GCA to launch in 1999. Prior to that, she was Co-Editor of Giftware News magazine, Editor-in-Chief of Gift & Stationery Business magazine, and Stationery Editor of Gifts & Decorative Accessories magazine - at which she also currently serves as Editor-at-Large.


"I'm honored to be working with the Greeting Card Association - an organization with which I have had close ties for many years,” says Kathy. “As a magazine editor and now as director of communications for the GCA, my goal is to help greeting card and stationery companies to succeed and the industry as a whole to flourish."

And Doug Faust, president of the GCA and Executive Vice President at Masterpiece Studios/The Occasions Group, couldn't agree more:  "The Greeting Card Association is thrilled to have Kathy working with us!  Her industry background, knowledge and contacts are an incredible asset for our Association, helping us to provide effective leadership for card publishers small and large."  

 

by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
A 30-year retailing veteran and former owner of five specialty retail stores, Carolyn Howard-Johnson is also an award-winning author with a series of best-selling “Frugal Retailing” books on promotions, branding, and social media.

Branding is not advertising, nor publicity, not even general marketing exposure.  It is how all of your efforts, working together, coalesce into the public's perception of who you are, and what you do.  Branding sometimes confuses even professionals. The word “branding” comes up, and they think of the trademark or the logo or, in these days of Internet marketing, the avatar or icon we use when we tweet.
 
Those are all part of our brand, for our brand is really about everything we do to create a memorable image (or, better still, a memorable feeling!) about our business.
 
We make another mistake with our branding, too. As we’re planning our campaign we think “store, store, store”--whether our store is in a mall, on the street or on the Web. The thing is, if we’re independent retailers, we should probably be thinking about ourselves. Even big business branding works well with individuals as the standard bearers of their brand. Steve Jobs with his black turtleneck, Levi’s, and glasses is as memorable as the little apple with a bite out of it. The reason a human being is so important to a marketing campaign (when that can be arranged) is that humans relate to other humans. Simple as that.
 
In retailing, the human element is even more important. Because our own little selves is what we can offer that big boxes can’t. That’s why big companies often pay lots of money to appealing actors to be the “Faces” of their company. Think of the new insurance agent supreme, Flo. She’s on your TV screen every single day. People—individuals—is the reason Facebook has been so successful. It’s even why Twitter works for businesses! Some real person has to be the Tweeter and the best Twitter accounts are when that person shines through in the Tweets. Even CNN puts their highly paid anchors to work tweeting. They know person-to-person interaction produces loyalty.
 
You are after the same kind of universal approach to your branding. It’s okay if you aren’t a Johnny One Note. In fact, it’s preferable. Narrowing your marketing efforts to a single message is the last thing you want to do. Yes, you want to stay focused enough—whether you’re blogging, buying billboard space, or bonding with your local Chamber of Commerce. But you also want to be you and let your store reflect who that is.
 
Here are some aspects of branding to consider:

• Decide what you want your brand to say. Take into consideration what you want to be known for but keep in mind your store may change its focus as time goes on and trends change.
• Once decided, consider your branding as you design (or re-design) your Web site, your blog, your stationery, cards, invoices, your in-store signs,your voice mail greeting, your e-mail signature, the look of your instant messaging and more.
• It’s easier to work yourself into your brand if you fashion yourself into an expert—something related to your store.
• When you’re making branding decisions, follow your star. It will be easier to follow a direction you are passionate about.
• Branding is akin to building a reputation. You need to focus, but you wouldn’t want to be known only as honest among dozens of traits you aspire to. You are store owner, event planner, traveler (think tradeshows!), designer. You have hobbies, sometimes related to your merchandise or store.

Put your thinking bonnet on and get ready for branding success!