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NEWS TOP STORY
PR Bonanza Media spread the love of card sending In what has been something of a ‘purple patch’ on the PR front for the greeting card sector, TV programmes, newspapers, radio stations and news sites have been awash with positive coverage about the sending of cards. “We have seen an unprecedented amount of press interest and the resultant media coverage has all been very positive,” Amanda Fergusson, ceo of the GCA told PG. “What’s more, a lot of the coverage came in good time to encourage more Christmas card sending. Journalists contacted the GCA wanting some feelgood stories, and card sending is definitely one of those,” added Amanda. Among the PR highlights was the BBC 1’s A Very Country Christmas programme which starred card publisher Laura Stoddart as well as information from the GCA and Max Publishing’s Jakki Brown (who owns one of the first Christmas cards). Laura explained to journalist Angellica Bell that she had “sold Christmas cards every single week of the year, even through the summer” and also spoke the industry’s progress on the environmental footprint front. Christmas cards also featured extensively on an episode of BBC 1’s Britain’s Christmas Story, that was presented by Gareth Malone and Karen Gibson. As part of this, Karen visited the
Right: Laura Stoddart being interviewed on the BBC programme A Very Country Christmas.
Postal Museum to learn all about the origins of the Christmas card and how the tradition of card sending evolved, agreeing that Christmas cards influenced culture in that “they showed you how to do Christmas,” said the Postal Museum’s curator, Joanna Espin. Meanwhile, Amanda Fergusson’s discussions with iNews journalist, Susie Mesure, led to a sizeable article on the news site, entitled ‘Christmas card sales are booming during the Covid crisis as we send our love this year’ as well as a further piece giving more insights into the origins of Christmas cards and some cards from the last century showing how they reflect the trends and history of the time. In her Notebook column in the Mail On Sunday newspaper, Alexandra Shulman gave a big thumbs-up for Christmas card sending recently. With the headline of ‘A Proper Christmas Is Finally On The Cards’, the former editor of Vogue prophesised: ‘A bumper year for Christmas cards. Proper ones too, none of your digital nonsense. Sending a card is a small gesture but I reckon everyone will be particularly pleased to know they’ve been in your thoughts when they open that envelope.’ Above: BBC 1’s Britain’s Christmas Story, presented by Gareth Malone and Karen Gibson covered the enduring culture of card sending. Left: One of the early Christmas cards in the Postal Museum.
Archdeacon of Hackney praised greeting cards Like a gift from the gods on the morning of the greeting card shops reopening in England after Lockdown 2, the Venerable Liz Adekunle, Archdeacon of Hackney (right), delivered a moving tribute that was dedicated to the importance of sending Christmas cards in the BBC Radio 4’s Thought for the Day spot. Her message touched on the enduring culture of Christmas card sending saying that it is a “testimony to the changing tradition that card giving still exists, given that so much of how we communicate is through the use of email and social media. The tradition holds importance for many. A YouGov survey commissioned by Royal Mail has shown that 55% of people think that sending Christmas cards this year is more important than ever. For Christmas cards are not an immediate form of communication; they are a very special form. They are a reminder that someone is thinking about you and not just in that moment. As the biblical instruction says, it can be a form of giving without expecting anything in return. I feel energised when I send a card. It is my gift and in some ways it feels like I have achieved something. And once a card sits on a table or a window ledge, there is a timeless quality to the care given as you glance over. Many of us can’t get everyone a gift at Christmas, but a card is a gift.”
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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Festive Friday Christmas card kickstart The greeting card community helped to kickstart Christmas card sending by embracing the 2020 Festive Friday initiative. Publishers, retailers, trade suppliers, Royal Mail and Isle of Man Post were among those to participate in the GCA’s Festive Friday initiative at the end of November by writing and sending their Christmas cards, ensuring that the first wave of this year’s Christmas cards arrived just as Lockdown 2 eased in England. One avid supporter of Festive Friday was House of Cards. The retail group, co-owned by Miles Robinson and Nigel Williamson, really got behind the card sending activity - and posted 1,073 Christmas cards that were written by the HOC team to their friends and family, with the postage costs generously covered by the retailer. “Festive Friday is
Above: Emma Bryan (left) with the Royal Star & Garter activities and volunteers manager Raquel Pena Aristazabel who ran Festive Friday event at the Surbiton care home.
a brilliant GCA initiative. It definitely works in prompting the sending of Christmas cards, which were more warmly received than ever before,” commented Miles. Meanwhile even before she became president of the GCA, Rachel Hare, founder of Belly Button was a big fan of Festive Friday, but this year the publisher further widened its activities. Not only did the company send a handwritten Christmas card to all of its retail customers, but it made up 50 Christmas goodie bags of its products for The Christie Charitable Fund that were sold with donations going to the charity. Another publisher whose altruistic nature came to fore during the Festive Friday run up was Emma Bryan, namesake of Emma Bryan Designs. Emma donated a whole bunch of cards to help spread some festive cheer among veterans at the Royal Star & Garter care home in Surbiton. As Emma commented “My job as a greeting card designer has never felt more important than this year where connection has been so crucial during the lockdowns, so it gave me great pleasure to donate these greeting cards so that the residents of the Royal Star & Garter could enjoy writing to family and friends on Festive Friday.”