Wednesday, May 16, 2012
  Search

If you are unable to view our images, please click here. Don't miss a thing! Add
PClips@e4.ixs1.net to your address book. Click here for details.

  Volume 5, Issue 2
 
    In This Issue:
Straight from Emily Post
Brick and Mortar Retailers' Big Advantage
Exciting Changes to LOUIE Awards
Crane and Mountaincow Announce Partnership
 		    
   

Write Here...Write Now!
I am just coming off a fabulous few days in Ft. Myers at the Greeting Card Association’s annual convention, and I am so charged up!

For greeting card publishers and suppliers, GCA’s Convention provides some of the best educational content money can buy, along with great opportunities to network and connect in a fun, relaxed atmosphere. The camaraderie and generosity of this organization is truly unique.

I want to share with you a handful of inspiring insights and practical ideas from many of the engaging sessions I attended.

First, some practical feedback, offered by six diverse and busy retailers, all of whom participated in an audience Q&A session: All of these retailers had a wish list of requests:

  • Most retailers prefer that greeting cards not have the price preprinted on the back.
  • Particularly today, retailers greatly appreciate – if not expect - flexibility on "minimum order" requirements.
  • Everyone wants to make it easier to pay on time (and take advantage of early payment incentives), reduce paperwork and keep better track of incoming orders. The retailers requested that vendors include prices on packing slips OR send the invoice and the packing slip together.

In another session presented at the annual conference, the GCA hosted a panel of college students - five woman and one man – all Gen Y. This consumer group represents 76 million Americans and 25% of the world’s population. They are the first "natives" on line, their world is virtual and their possibilities are endless.

Among the interesting feedback they revealed:

  • Gen Y-er’s regularly send and "really appreciate" greeting cards! While they affirm the powerful role Facebook plays in their connectivity with hundreds of "friends," when the occasion calls (mainly birthday, to family and certain friends ) "sending a card conveys going out of my way and feels good to do vs. using Facebook which is a 5-second thought."
  • This group grew up sending greeting cards because their parents instilled the practice early on. While in general they don’t send holiday cards because their "parents already include their names in their cards," they do see themselves sending cards throughout their lives. In most cases, sentiment drives the purchase, and they’re happy when the envelopes are brightly colored so they "stand out in the mailbox."
  • Most go off campus to big box stores - and sometimes specialty stores - to purchase their cards vs. the college bookstore. With tight college budgets, this is a very price-conscious group.

And now, for some inspirational feedback, consider these thought-provoking messages from Matthew Kelly, president, Floyd Consulting and author of "Dream Manager."

  • "Humans need silence, thinking time for laser clarity. Their passion and purpose are a result of this clarity."
  • "…the destiny of your organization and the destiny of the people that drive it are inseparably linked."

And, finally, Bonnie Marcus of Bonnie Marcus & Company, who is celebrating her 10th year in business, shared the wonderful story of how she married fashion with event planning to launch her business. Bonnie runs her business by a few basic rules that will have you nodding in agreement:

  • "Set a goal that scares you and involve everyone in your organization in engaging in that goal."
  • " If you don’t have a goal, you will never succeed."
  • "Spend time in your business ON your business."

So as we approach Q4, I wish for you continued success, and, the time to spend time on your business to position yourself for an even better 2011.

Patti


Patti Stracher
Show Manager
patti_stracher@glmshows.com

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 
 
     
 

THE (WEDDING) ENVELOPE… PLEASE!
By Peggy Post, The Emily Post Institute

As the great-grandaughter-in-law of Emily Post, Peggy Post helps carry on her family’s great tradition of teaching etiquette rules for all occasions. Peggy is a director of The Emily Post Institute and the author of more than twelve books.

The world may be getting more casual, but etiquette, especially for weddings, is always relevant.  Here at The Emily Post Institute, we are constantly asked about wedding invitations and related stationery: "What is the proper invitation wording? What are the correct ways to address the envelopes and package the enclosures, and when should invitations be mailed? How to word save-the-date notices and response cards?"  Because happy couples and their families rely on you, the retailer, to be their knowledgeable resource, here are some of the Institute's suggestions for helping your clients with wedding invitation etiquette. Let’s start with the wedding invitation envelope...

One Envelope or Two? Traditionally, a wedding invitation is sent in two envelopes, an outer envelope which is addressed and stamped, and an inner envelope—containing the invitation, reception card, reply card and other material such as directions—which bears the names of the people invited. Although it may seem complicated or overly formal, a second envelope is actually very practical because it clarifies exactly who’s invited: other family members, children, and whether or not an invited guest may bring a guest. It’s perfectly acceptable, however, for a couple to omit inner envelopes.

What’s Written on the Envelopes? The outer envelope is addressed with the names and address of the person(s) invited: Mr. and Mrs. John Smith. The inner envelope repeats the guests’ last names: Mr. and Mrs. Smith. It’s also fine to informally write the names of close relatives and friends: Grandmother, Aunt Sue, or Jessica and Henry on the inner envelope.

Addressing Envelopes 101:

• Addressing a married couple: Wedding invitations are always addressed to both members of a married couple, even though the bride and groom may know only one or think that only one will attend.

• Addressing an unmarried couple living together: Invitations to an unmarried couple residing at the same place are addressed to Ms. Nancy Fellows and Mr. Scott Dunn.

• Addressing a married woman doctor or two married doctors: If the woman uses her husband's name, the address is: Dr. Barbara and Mr. James Werner. If she uses her maiden name: Dr. Barbara Hanson and Mr. James Werner. If her husband is also a doctor and they use his last name, the address is either: The Doctors (or Drs.) Werner, or Drs. Barbara and Robert Werner.

• Handwrite envelopes: Wedding invitations are special. Address them in handwriting—the bride’s, groom’s, friend’s, host’s, or a calligrapher’s. No computer-printed labels!

• Avoid abbreviations: Street and Avenue are written out, although two-letter state abbreviations are okay (due to US Postal Service preference). A person’s middle name may or may not be used. If it is, write it in full instead of abbreviating; omit it if the name won’t fit on one line. It’s okay to abbreviate Mr., Mrs., Ms., and Dr. when addressing envelopes.

• Inviting guests for guests: Write "and Guest" on the inner envelope right after the invited guest’s name. If no inner envelope is used, the "and Guest" phase is not written on the outer one; instead a note is included in the invitation or a verbal invitation is extended by the couple: "Please bring someone with you."

• Inviting children: If children are invited, their names are written on a line below their parents’ names on the inner envelope. If no inner envelope is used, children’s names are written on the outer envelope. Children aged thirteen and over usually receive their own invitations.

• Using a return address: A return address is necessary for the US Postal Service. The USPS preferred place is the upper left-hand corner of the envelope, but the back flap is okay, too.

  

 

     
       
   

Right Now: Brick and Mortar Retailers' Big Advantage

By Jenny Morgan

Brick and mortar retailers have a tremendous advantage over online retailers. You probably don't hear this much. But it's true. Think about it: people are busy, so they often need to make last minute purchases, and given the choice between having something right now and having to wait for it, most people will choose right now.

Online retailers can't deliver right now. Online retailers can't get a customer a last minute hostess gift for tonight's ornament exchange, nor can they get a customer the invitations that should have been mailed a week ago, and now need to go out today. A brick and mortar retailer, however, can meet its customers' needs (a product/service they waited until the last minute to buy) while also fulfilling their desires (they'd like it right now). Have you thought about what a powerful advantage that is?

The issue for brick and mortar retailers, and our industry really, is that the process of buying something in a store can be a huge hassle, no matter how great the personalized customer service. Customers want variety, quickly and easily. If a customer’s desired product is in stock, a brick and mortar retailer can deliver all of those things. If something’s not in stock, or a customer wants something personalized or customized, however, it’s not easy, or fast. There are all those albums to navigate, each with different pricing, terms and turn times. The proof (3-4 days). The production (6-7 days). The shipping (2-5 days). Is variety worth all that for the customer? Compare that process to buying a movie on iTunes. Night and day, right?

It's not that customers don't want to shop in stores, it's that we've all made it hard to do so, with fewer obvious benefits than shopping online. Stores and designers have, in an effort to reduce inventory, surrendered the greatest asset in retail, which is the ability to fill a customer's need for something right now. By focusing on how to deliver variety quickly and easily, brick and mortar retailers can meet MORE of a customer’s needs than an online retailer can, and more than anything else this simple shift will generate more sales.

As we go in to the holiday season, here are some ideas for delivering variety quickly and easily while also keeping an eye on the bottom line:

Bottom line: Customers want variety, but retailers don't want to be overstocked.

Solution: Offer in store personalization using a streamlined and simplified approach to quickly create variety and the unique without a lot of inventory.

Examples from A Fresh Bunch member retailers:

  • Salutations in Charlotte, NC recently introduced a "Hot Off the Press" program by offering while you wait personalization via the Print in Store Program from A Fresh Bunch and "what you see is what you get" templates for best-selling imprintables. By limiting font and font color choice on select items, Salutations can deliver personalization quickly, using blank stock already on hand.
  • Tickle Tickle in Canada has a selection of notecards on which she offers same day printing service on quantities of 25 or less. Tickle Tickle sends customers the available styles and fonts via email so they can email their choices and pick up the order later in the day.
  • Soiree in Andover, MA offers free imprinting on all in-house boxed stationery, but charges $5 for an order to be at the "top of the bunch" for the day. Soiree’s owner Trish reports that customers are more than happy to pay the $5 to get their order quickly.
  • Webster’s Fine Stationers in Altadena, CA uses the InScribe system to imprint not only InScribe’s papers, but others’ papers as well. The store sets up ready to print templates for the ever-popular boxed offerings from Crane & Co. and by doing so is able to get the customer their order in less than an hour.

Bottom line: Customers are busy and if they don’t come into the store, you don’t have the opportunity to meet their needs right now.

Solution: Note your customers' important dates in a spreadsheet and send an email reminder with a solution included.

Example: "It's time to start thinking about holiday cards. We're having a photographer in store on this date so you can get the photo and choose the card in one fell swoop. Please join us!"

Or: "Congratulations on your engagement! You'll have many thank you notes to write in the upcoming months, and we can print your personalized thank you notes while you shop for all of the other products and services a new bride needs."

Delivering right now to customers this holiday season requires nothing more than a fresh approach to existing merchandise and services, and, above all, reminding customers that they have needs that you can meet right now!

(Jenny Morgan is the CEO and Founder of A Fresh Bunch, a community of stationery designers and buyers that works to enable each of its members to do what they do best, only better.  Jenny is also the owner of hen and barley press.)

  
       
   
Greeting Card Association - LOUIE AWARDS:
Greeting Card Industry "Oscars" Undergo Makeover 2011
Theme: CONNECTION – It’s In The Cards

The Greeting Card Association is pleased to announce the planned changes to the LOUIE AWARDS program undertaken as part of a Strategic Initiative within the association to modernize the awards program and accurately reflect the role of greeting cards in today’s society.

Earlier this year a committee of industry veterans began meeting to review the purpose of the Awards and shape a new vision for the future. Led by Andy Meehan (Development Solutions Global Inc) and supported by Patti Stracher (Manager, GLM/National Stationery Show), Chip Owen (Executive VP Avanti) and John Mavrakis (formerly President of Kathy Davis Studios), the group carefully reviewed the past LOUIE program. Knowing that the Awards celebrate a category of consumer products that that carries with it over 100 years of history, and that cards are used by almost every American household, (around 7 billion cards per year) the Committee evaluated the original purpose of the LOUIE Awards, the changing landscape of communication and the incredible artistry and creativity that is involved in the production of greeting cards, to arrive at a new vision and mission statement for the LOUIE Awards:

The LOUIES celebrate the art, editorial and design of greeting cards and reinforce the relevance of creating, sending and receiving greeting cards

Key changes in the LOUIE Awards Program for the coming years include the greater involvement of retailer judges, a streamlining of the awards categories, consumer outreach and greater PR attention (both trade and consumer press), all culminating at the National Stationery Show in New York City (May 15-18 2011) with a new prominent display of LOUIE nominee’s at the show, and at the prestigious LOUIE Awards ceremony on May 16th where the winners are celebrated and recognized. Subsequent to the presentation of the LOUIE Awards, it is anticipated that LOUIE Award winners will receive additional publicity, as well as increased sales from our outreach to Greeting Card fans via press and social media tools.

Based on the refined vision for the Awards the committee has selected the theme for the 2011 Awards as CONNECTION – it’s in the Cards. This theme highlights the history of greeting card use, and also corresponds to today’s ‘connected’ society where, despite the prominence of the digital age, the category 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.

The submission process for the 2011 LOUIE Awards will begin with a "call for Entries" on November 1, 2010, where any commercially manufactured card in the current calendar year can be entered for consideration in approximately 50 different categories. Further details and entry forms will be posted on 11/1/10 at www.greetingcard.org.

Judging will take place in New York at a time to be decided, between Jan 29- Feb 4 and corresponding to the timing of the New York Int’l Gift Fair, where key industry executives (retailers and creative and marketing professionals) rank each card independently on a 10 point system across the LOUIE Judging criteria of Imagination, Impact, Artistry, Harmony, Sendability and Value. After the scores are tabulated, the three nominees for each category are made public, with the actual scores and the winning entry for each category announced at the presentation ceremony at the National Stationery Show May 16, 2011.

In an interview Andy Meehan (Strategic Chair of the LOUIE Awards for 2011-2013) commented "For over 20 years the LOUIES have celebrated creativity in greeting cards, and the new vision for the LOUIE’s builds on that history but with a renewed passion to remind us that now, more than ever, CONNECTION – It’s In The Cards!".

About the Greeting Card Association

The Greeting Card Association (GCA) is the industry trade organization representing publishers of greeting cards and other stationery products, as well as suppliers to the industry. Founded in 1941, GCA serves as the industry’s collective voice in promoting the tradition and value of exchanging greetings cards. GCA also represents the industry before key governmental and regulatory bodies, and monitors trends and developments of interest. GCA-member publishers account for approximately 95 percent of the greeting cards sold in the U.S.

  
       
   

Crane and Mountaincow Announce Partnership

Crane & Co. and Mountaincow LLC, announced a partnership that will immediately expand the in-store design and printing capabilities for Crane’s 2,000-plus retailers nationwide.

Just in time for the holiday printing season, Crane dealers with Mountaincow software will have ready access to hundreds of exclusive new Crane design templates for easy in-store printing onto stationery, holiday cards and envelopes by Crane & Co., Martha Stewart Stationery, kate spade new york and Chloë B. All the unique Crane card and envelope sizes and ink colors are built into the software for fast layout and easy printing, and the templates include Crane’s recommendations for wording, type layout, monograms and motifs.

"Our PrintingPress Pro Extreme 6.0 software now includes templates for in-store printing onto Crane’s gorgeous multi-color hand engraved holiday cards, exquisite letterpress cards, hand engraved initial note cards, debossed panel cards and hand-bordered cards," said Josh Eisen, President of Mountaincow. "Crane dealers with our software gain the flexibility to quickly and easily add personalization in-store to their top-selling boxed stationery."

Dealers can bring their unique style to the templates using their own fonts, colors and type layouts, easily including client-provided motifs, artwork, logos and digital photos. Mountaincow’s software also enables easy in-store envelope addressing services for Crane invitations, announcements, holiday cards and stationery, managing client address books that can be imported from a file or entered manually.

"Mountaincow’s outstanding design software will greatly expand opportunities for Crane retailers who have or wish to add in-store printing capabilities," said Megan Kuntze, Crane’s brand director. "Our discerning dealers will appreciate the advanced design features to create professional and elegant stationery, invitations and announcements on Crane’s 100% cotton tree-free papers coupled with the high quality of service Mountaincow provides."

Mountaincow customers interested in becoming Crane dealers will be given priority consideration in the Crane dealer application process. Crane dealers interested in the Mountaincow in-store printing software and exclusive Crane templates will be eligible for special savings and other benefits including access to Mountaincow’s expert technical support team for guidance with printer selection and assistance with printing and addressing questions.

For more information, visit http://www.mountaincow.com/crane.html. 

  
 
     
  We hope you like receiving PaperClips. If not, please let us know and we'll remove you from the distribution. You can also send your request by mail to 1133 Westchester Avenue, White Plains, NY 10604.
  To subscribe to Paperclips please click here!
Copyright 2012 by GLM