35_37_39.qxp_Grid 13/12/2018 09:00 Page 35
VIEWPOINTS
State Of The
(Card) Nation Above: (Far left) GCA president Ceri Stirland with all of the other speakers at the recent GCA AGM & Conference. (Right-left) Jakki Brown (PG/GCA), Amanda Fergusson (GCA), Sarah-Jane Porter (Moonpig), Geoff Sanderson (Moonpig), Sue Morrish (The Eco-Friendly Card Co) and Karen Hubbard (Card Factory).
“If there’s anything to be learned from this year, it’s that change comes rapidly, and often from unexpected places,” was a quote (from The Future 100) that Ceri Stirland, GCA president (and UKG’s customer and channel director) projected onto the big screen at the recent GCA AGM and Conference, before launching into a thought-provoking ‘state of the nation’ welcome speech that summed up the position the UK greeting card industry finds itself in. Admittedly, things could be better in the UK greeting card sector, but they could be a lot worse too. Drawing on their collective wisdom, members of the GCA Council share their views on confronting some of the industry’s key challenges and the opportunities that should be grasped.
Amanda Del Prete managing director designate of Hallmark UK: Key challenges: “Our major focus, as an industry, has to be to ensure that the consumer continues to send greeting cards in the age of more digital methods of communication. The greeting card industry is becoming more challenging as the retail market is getting tougher, across the high street and in the grocers. We also know that the consumer mindset and behaviours are constantly changing, as shown by the increasing use of social media for communication and online shopping options. So, as publishers, we need to ensure that we have the diversity in range and captions to appeal to a wide variety of shoppers, from young to old, as well as focusing on the changing family dynamics. The independent retail sector has been under attack from all angles. With independents being vitally important, anything we can do to support them will surely help their challenging situation, and safeguard the vibrancy of the sector as a whole. We (Hallmark) have renewed our focus on independents, namely our Gold Crown customers, hosting over 80 customers at our Bradford Head Office to launch a new phase of the programme, something we will continue to underpin over the coming years.” Major happenings: “The past year has seen shopper missions and behaviours impacted by a number of factors, including an increased presence from discounters and bargain stores in our category, the
hottest summer on record impacting where and when customers shop and a heightened awareness of sustainability and ethical consciousness. We also saw increased uncertainty and questioning around how Brexit will affect our industry and our customers, which will surely continue throughout 2019.” Opportunity knocks: “I believe more could be done to highlight all the emotional benefits of a handwritten card to both the sender and the recipient. We receive overwhelming feedback from consumers - ‘card lovers’ - about the impact that greeting cards have on their relationships. Building on the fact that the UK continues to have one of the highest per capita consumption of greeting cards across the globe, we have a real opportunity to maintain the consumer’s engagement in the category. Supporting our retail partners to promote the category, at key seasons and beyond, will help ensure that greeting cards are front and centre with consumers and make it onto their shopping list every time they have a greeting card need. However challenging trade may be, it is still true that the card category is one of the most emotive categories to shop, and we know that shoppers are highly engaged, so there is still a lot to celebrate. It is important that as an industry we join together for the greater good, share opportunities and our experiences to support one another.” Above: Amanda Del Prete (left) with the GCA’s new ceo, Amanda Fergusson at the recent AGM. Left: As part of its Thinking of You Week activity, Hallmark received very positive feedback from its engagement with bloggers as to the mental health benefits of sending cards. PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
35