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In Conversation With... Cherry Orchard
Scents
Making Perfect
There were hundreds of new greeting card ranges launched at PG Live last month, all vying for buyers’ attentions, but Cherry Orchard certainly ‘nosed ahead’ with its debut. They may say that it is ‘the eye that buys’ where cards are concerned, but Cherry Orchard’s Scent with Love range appeals to another sense too, as the cards’ inserts, when brushed, emit a beautiful subtle perfume of rose and vanilla. PG followed its nose to Tewkesbury, home of the publisher, to find out more about the journey to create this innovative new fragranced collection. Scent with Love is a beautiful range of cards. The female-orientated contemporary yet traditional designs combine floral depictions in a lifestyle setting and crafted script. The captions and editorial are clearly crafted by a team that knows and understands the greeting card purchaser, both at trade and consumer level. But the range’s appeal goes much deeper into the psyche than purely the visual, igniting our oldest sense - smell -
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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
through a subtle pretty aroma that wafts out when the inside of the cards are lightly touched. This is no ‘scratch and sniff’ novelty range, but a labour of love that made ‘perfect scents’ to Jackie Collins, managing director of Cherry Orchard. “I knew I wanted to come up with a very special idea for a range, but didn’t quite know
Above left, above and left: There are 40 designs in the Scent with Love range (16 Code 50, eight Code 90 and 16 Code 75 squares). Below left: Some of the Cherry Orchard team on its stand at PG Live where the Scent with Love range was launched. (Right-left) Jackie Collins, Jo Bennett, Keith Taylor, Fi Douglass-Gibson and Beverly Fisher. Below right: The Jo Malone book that helped inspire the range.
what it would be. You just have to be open to inspiration,” reveals Jackie. That initial inspiration came from Jo Malone, the namesake behind the now world famous fragrance brand. “I spotted that Jo Malone was speaking at Autumn Fair last September and so hot footed it to hear her. She was so inspiring. Here was a woman who started her own business from scratch, is severely dyslexic, battled breast cancer, and has gone the extra mile to stand out from the crowd. When she spoke about being determined to include a scented page in her new book it was a lightbulb moment for me!” adds Jackie. Jackie immediately recognised that if stunning artwork was combined with a subtle, non-synthetic scent that would bring joy to most, then the cards would appeal to two senses, not just one. While Jo Malone sparked the idea for the new range it was Jackie’s mum, Ruby, who clinched it.