18-19_GF.qxp_Layout 1 01/11/2022 12:18 Page 2
cardsharp
The Generation
Game Has there ever been a more uncertain time in business wondered Cardsharp? And for us in the greeting card industry, being an analogue product, mainly reliant on retail bricks ‘n’ mortar and consumer spending, we are certainly at the coalface. Cardsharp diverted his mind to some other issues, not necessarily problems, but challenges that our greeting card industry will have to deal with in years to come, that of changing demographics and how best to play the generation game. Above: Bruce Forsyth doing his signature stance for The Generation Game TV programme many moons ago. Left: The lure of living by the coast has attracted lots of retirees to Eastbourne. Below: The recent census figures confirm that while the UK has an ageing population, London is bucking this trend.
Where do we start? We have pestilence (Covid), drought (climate change) war (Ukraine) hereditary change (a new king) and political turmoil (Don’t go there!). Then add to that the highest inflation for 40 years, huge cost increases for business (and not just on energy) and counter intuitively a shortage of skilled labour. And the threat of a looming recession. Added to this, a recent essay in The Times by the brilliant young writer, James Marriott, set Cardsharp thinking. Some 30 years ago, just as the greeting card industry was really starting to boom in the UK, towns, cities, villages around the nation, were a demographic mix. Think and look around you now. How things have changed. These days generations are defined by geographical areas. And this has a real impact on the way greeting card publishers and retailers approach the market.
18
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Cardsharp sees this all the time. Anyone travelling in London cannot fail to notice that a high percentage of people seems pretty young. Not only is it incredibly diverse racially but the vast majority of the population on the move in the capital do not even seem middle aged yet. Take the borough of Hackney in East London as an example, where the median age is only 30 years old. Cities are getting younger, and the largest ten cities in the UK are witnessing an exodus of the elderly. Contrast that with non-metropolitan areas. Even by his own experiences Cardsharp can’t help noticing that the
population seems to be predominantly senior. At its most extreme, you have areas like Devon and the Lake District where over 10% of residents are aged between 75 and 84 years. Conversely, more young people are increasingly heading to the cities. London and Manchester in particular. This is one of the most dramatic demographic changes of recent history. So, three decades ago in the UK, when the greeting card market was going through its period of massive expansion, the young, middle aged and old all lived side by side, working, pubbing and socialising. These days there are few environments where young and old meet socially. The internet has accelerated this trend. With so much social life going online, even this has been segregated. Tik Tok for the young and Facebook for the middle class middle-aged. Television was once an age unifying force, but now the average age of a BBC viewer is over 60 years old. Age segregation has developed within communities. There has been a sharp decline in the collective institutions that bring people together such as social clubs, sports teams, churches and pubs. In fact, these days there