20-21_GF.qxp_Layout 1 06/08/2021 12:21 Page 2
cardsharp
Walk Like An
Egyptian? Whisper it slowly and ever so gently…Cardsharp believes most of us in the greeting card industry are in a state of ‘De Nile’. He thinks we are all like ancient Egyptians, trying to hold back against the power of the mighty African river. Whether publisher, manufacturer, designer, wholesaler, international distributor or retailer we all think that we are still the young disrupters we were 10, 20 or 30 years ago! When, in actual fact, in most cases, we are the opposite. The crisis of the last 18 months has put a lot into perspective. Although last month’s PG Live was a joyous celebration of our great world leading British industry, and while not wanting to take away from the inspiring publishers and products that gave the show so much sparkle, there was a bit less young creative talent there than in previous years. Part of this was no doubt due to the lack of publishing opportunities in the last year and a bit with retail being restricted for such a long period. The ‘Class of 2021’ of greeting card entrepreneurs were more likely to be mature students, than newbie graduates. Looking back at some of his previous rantings over the last 30 years, Cardsharp is somewhat embarrassed by some of his old articles, but accepts that any columnist writing in any media is always overtaken by events. Hindsight is everything. If nothing else Cardsharp reflects, all you are doing is giving (depending on your view), an ill-informed or hopefully illuminating perspective commentary on current events and ‘meme’.
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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Above: Those ancient Egyptians certainly knew how to make an impact! Left: Earworm time…The Bangles’ catchy ‘Walk like an Egyptian’ will live on… Below: PG Live saw the greeting card community enjoying getting back together.
Cardsharp has to accept that we are in fact, like many others, an ageing industry. Cardsharp thinks sometimes we have sought solace from that fact. In many ways it serves us well. There is nothing wrong with a bit of ‘De-Nile’.
Look at PG Live last month, what an incredible showcase for our industry. Despite the pandemic, ‘pingdemic’, international travel restrictions, summer holidays, some multiple retailers’ ban on allowing buyers to attend, so many of our cardie ‘Egyptians’ turned out in force to support the industry and get things going, placing orders and getting things moving back to normality again. But then, Cardsharp reflected that the overwhelming majority of those visiting or exhibiting at PG Live were in fact at a certain age where they have already had both had their vaccinations. That wasn’t a cause for complacency by the organisers, but just a statement of fact. The last 20 years have dished up a series of challenges for ‘cardies.’ We have had to compete with (and at many times have seen off) the threat of text messaging, ecards, a massive recession from 20082011 and a stagnation in disposable income. Moreover, we have since then experienced the online retail revolution and