In the News GCA CEO Amanda Fergusson (left) and Karen Wilson
Keynote speakers – L-R Amanda Fergusson; David Greaves; outgoing president Rachel Hare, Belly Button; David Robinson; Jo Bennett, Card Factory GCA president Chris Bryan, Second Nature
GCA conference heads north October’s GCA conference saw the most attendees in its history (barring its 100th anniversary event in 2019). Leading the organisation of the event was Karen Wilson, director at Paper Salad, who told Greetings Today: “The conference was held in Manchester for the first time in its history. A lot of the attendees said they enjoyed Manchester so much they were going to bring their partners back for a weekend.’’ The venue was Bridgewater Hall, home of the Hallé Orchestra and host to the BBC Philharmonic.“We themed the event around Manchester and its music,’’ Karen explained “and we were so pleased that a lot of the speakers followed the theme too. “It was just good to see that a conference held up north worked so well. Many of those who came arrived the night before and we held a drinks party, which was great for networking - and we know how people love to network!’’ Karen added that she hoped the AGM could be held at other northern locations such as Leeds and Liverpool in the future. GCA CEO Amanda Fergusson opened the conference. She spoke about how the GCA has been providing information, support and an industry voice on issues that affect its members, such as Covid, Brexit and supply chain problems. She highlighted some of the key themes for this year, including sustainability and the rise in online sales, and stressed how vital it is for the industry to be engaging the next generation of card senders. She noted that another key area for the GCA this year has been diversity and inclusion - the organisation sponsored the new Diversity & Inclusion Henries award, and worked with supermarket giant Sainsbury’s on a project for Black History Month. Incoming president Chris Bryan, who is general manager at Second Nature, took attendees on a whistlestop tour of the past 18 months or so, highlighting how the greeting card industry had responded so quickly to events. He said: “A senior industry figure once said to me ‘greetings cards - apart from being a way of conveying sentiment and sharing warm wishes - are actually a strong record of society at any given point in time, often reflecting changes in attitudes, key events in history and bookmarking notable figures of the time’.’’ And with cards reflecting everything from Brexit and the MeToo campaign, to lockdowns, clapping for the NHS, Captain Tom and Covid jabs, he showed just how true that is. Chris shared the good news that the GCA’s recent consumer market research discovered that “80% of card buyers said they were now purchasing as many cards, or higher, than they were pre Covid, and the majority of those believe they will continue the same pattern going forward – with more than one in 10 intending to send more greeting cards in the future.’’ He concluded: “The British public has not lost their appreciation for the humble greeting card, if anything, they’ve rediscovered their appetite for our most wonderful way of communicating sentiment.’’
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Danilo gets green light for Squid Game The past couple of years has seen a rapid increase in viewing figures for streaming platforms such as Netflix, and the most recent show to capture the public’s imagination is Squid Game, which has become Netflix’s most-watched series to date, with more than 100 million viewers since September. It remains in the top 10 Netflix chart of shows to watch. Danilo has worked quickly with the support of CAA-GBG and Netflix to secure licence rights for the official calendar, diary and greeting cards in order to meet the rapidly growing demand for Squid Game themed merchandise. “We have been very lucky to have got the officially licensed calendar approved and manufactured within a few weeks, and the product is now available to buy at retailers such as Calendar Club, Amazon and HMV as well as our own Danilo.com web store,’’ said Dan Grant, licensing director, Danilo. “The show has become an overnight success and we hope that the product sales will reflect this too, and that the calendar could even become a best seller this year. We have also developed Squid Game greeting cards as well as a number of personalised items, which will launch very soon.”
Last chance to enter Gift of the Year There’s not long left to get your entries in for the largest competition in the gift and homeware world. Gift of the Year (which includes Card & Wrap and Stationery categories) gives companies a chance to enter their products and get them seen by buyers and retailers who judge the competition, as well as raising their profile. Previous winners have described the effect it has had on them and their businesses: “Winning Gift of the Year has been a huge help to my business. I received a lot of publicity at the time and it gave the products and myself as a designer a level of credibility and reliability that I did not have before.” Victoria Eggs, winner 2012. “The awards have really supported us with industry-wide awareness as we’ve moved more into gifting over the years. Being recognised in a category helps us to reach new buyers.’’ Burgon & Ball, winners 2015 & 2016. “We would definitely recommend that other businesses enter the Gift of the Year. It is a great platform for meeting new customers, raising the profile of your business and receiving the acknowledgement of the hard work that goes into producing great quality products.” Wrendale, winner, 2016 For your chance to be one of the 22 category winners, or take home the judges’ choice or peoples’ choice crown, go to www.giftoftheyear. co.uk and enter your products now. Closing date is 30 November.
