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| Greeting Cards |
A real instant
message
When it comes to providing
consumers with the right
message for any occasion, no
one has more expertise than
greeting card manufacturers.
By Barrie Dawson
The multitude of social media and networking sites can be great for sharing interesting new recipes or the latest images of little
Chloe taking her first steps. However these
sites still do not replace the intimacy of a greeting card expressing a birthday wish.
According to industry figures, consumers
purchase roughly 6.5 billion greeting cards
per year, spending nearly $8 billion. Industry
observers say 70% of those buyers consider
greeting cards to be “absolutely” or “almost”
essential to them. Nearly 80% of those buyers
expect their purchase rate to remain the same
going forward.
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Simply put, greeting cards remain an extremely popular way for consumers to convey
their thoughts and feelings to others, and that
is the message greeting card manufacturers
want grocery retailers to receive.
“Consumers have shown that they place a
high level of importance on staying connected, which is reflected by advances in social
media and personal communication technology,” says Larry Esten, the divisional vice
president of sales and operations at Cleveland,
Ohio-based American Greetings Corp. “Even
with the many options at their disposal, shoppers’ commitment to greeting cards remains
high in helping them connect in a creative way
that is authentic and meaningful.”
With that in mind, American Greetings
will give shoppers more ways to celebrate
every occasion this year. For Valentine’s Day,
the company will introduce its new Glo Pops
line. It features day-glo, pop-up cards that
contain whimsical copy, high-quality audio
and intricate paper engineering. Esten says
that shoppers will also find Valentine’s Day
cards from American Greetings’ content
partner, Mary Engelbreit.
Consumers can also choose cards from
the American Greetings Premier collection,
which Esten says combines elegant design and
a warm message of love, as well as the more
playful justWink line. For the spring, American Greetings will offer cards specifically for
‘tweens, teens and Gen Z members.
“American Greetings continues to wow
consumers with products from our Pipeline
of Innovation,” Esten says. “Leading the industry with more than 100 greeting-card
inventions, we continue to deliver the most
relevant and exciting products to meet the
diverse needs of consumers.”
Designer Greetings boasts lines of more
than 21,000 every-day and seasonal cards that
range from traditional to alternative. A card
publisher for more than 30 years, Designer
Greetings also offers boxed and packaged in-
| Greeting Cards |
vitations and thank you notes
as well as decorative note cards
and gift wraps.
“Designer Greetings is always hard at work on new products,” says Suzanne Haines, vice
president of marketing for the
Edison, N.J.-based company.
“Every year we introduce a series of beautiful, poignant and/or humorous new greeting card collections. These collections add
variety, stimulate interest and generate additional sales.”
These collections include the Home of the
Brave line, which is dedicated to showing the
pride of family and friends to those serving in
the military. A portion of the sales proceeds
is being donated to those who serve. The
‘Cause it Matters line is designed to express
important messages during difficult times,
including miscarriage, cancer treatment and
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a child’s notable achievements to his or her
smallest triumphs; the amusing It Runs in the
Family line; and its Sharing Life’s Important
Moments Specialty Captions, which honor
extra-special occasions.
Alzheimer’s disease; a percentage of the proceeds from this line is being donated to the appropriate charities. The Designer Impressions
line uses letterpress and hand-drawn imagery
for an elegant greeting. The collection offers
memorable greetings for special moments,
such as the birth of a child.
Card buyers will also find some new additions to the New Jersey manufacturer’s
Designer Boutique line, which celebrates the
handmade greeting card; its Julie Rae cards,
which feature cute themes; its 4Kidz collection, which highlights everything from
A CARD FOR ALL SEASONS
With so many card-buying options, how can
the grocery retailer make sure shoppers know
there is a card for every occasion?
“Signage is the best way to merchandise
and draw customers’ attention to the greeting card section from far away or up close,”
says Haines. “Whether in search of a seasonal or everyday card, seasonal banners,
sectional banners, caption strips, boulevard
signs and title finders guide consumers to the
perfect Designer Greetings card. Additionally, outpost greeting-card displays such as
quad, triple or double spinners, and moveable
greeting-card lane blockers, take up minimal
| Greeting Cards |
space, can be positioned almost anywhere
and augment revenues.”
Gary King, the national accounts manager
for Hallmark Cards, based in Kansas City,
Mo., says that greeting card sales continue to
perform at or above overall chain results for
most of his company’s supermarket retailers.
“Leading grocery chains have recognized
that the greetings department is still a major
trip driver, and as such, continue to heavily promote the category in ads, digital and
in-store marketing campaigns,” King says.
“Those that are leaning into the category are
seeing very strong results. Most grocery retailers have recognized, and are seeing the results,
from leveraging incremental programs such
as innovative gift items and impulse items like
stadium cups, to help build the basket and take
advantage of the traffic which is already in the
store and coming into the card department.”
King adds that as the shopper landscape
continues to evolve, Hallmark remains focused on optimizing the assortment to provide the appropriate level of depth by occasion,
by recipient and by demographic.
While Hallmark offers thousands of products and joins American Greetings in dominating the category, Avanti Press focuses on
producing humorous greeting cards. Marc
Trobman, vice president of business development for the Detroit-based company, says
Avanti is “a niche greeting card provider.”
Its focus is on high-impact photography and
graphic illustration.
In addition to Avanti cards, the company
also manufactures the A*Press line. Avanti is
a full greeting card manufacturer in the sense
that it makes cards for all the major everyday
sending opportunities, all the major life-cycle
events and it also publishes greeting cards for
all the major seasons.
“We do it all, but here’s the rub: Most of the
chains, especially in grocery, we believe don’t
dedicate enough branded humor space in their
card aisle, and that’s where we come in with
our real unique, one-of-a-kind look at our
high productivity by appealing to consumer
needs that the other vendors just can’t do, or
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don’t do,” Trobman says. “There just
aren’t enough funny greeting cards
out there, and we help the retailer
by helping them focus on the No. 1
type of greeting card consumers are
buying.
“We’re certain beyond any doubt,
through the research that
we’ve done and the information that we’ve read from other manufacturers, that humor
is far and away the No. 1 type
of greeting card that consumers purchase in everyday cards,
and it’s probably pretty high up
there on the list with seasonal
cards as well,” he adds.
Trobman says Avanti cards
feature a cast of zany characters that are
put in exaggerated, real-life situations.
The images are designed to attract the
shopper’s attention, while the joke or
verse inside elicits laughter—or at least
a smile. Avanti’s characters occupy the
entire front of each card, and the
company has begun to
license its characters to
other manufacturers. It is
also introducing its characters to the public via seven
different social media platforms. That initiative began
last April.
Perhaps the busiest greetingcard manufacturer is Design Design. According to Colin Littler
marketing director, the Grand Rapids, Mich.based company plans to offer 800 new products in 2014, ranging from paper tableware to
gift packaging and candles. When shoppers
have an occasion to celebrate, Design Design
wants to provide for all of their needs.
“Our on-point service really knocks it out
of the park for our retail partners,” Littler says.
“We pride ourselves on trend-driven products,
and our greeting card category is no exception. In addition to animals like foxes, owls,
cats, dogs and birds that continue to trend
from last year, we’re
seeing some fun options emerging
out of everything from fashion
to home décor, such as doodling
and retro imagery, like cameras,
watches and vinyl records.”
Design Design’s children’s
cards are interactive, with games
and puzzles. The company also offers a line of
humor cards, which it wants to make edgier
through a partnership with provocative humor specialist MikWright.
“We’ve paired up with them for a hilarious
and fresh selection of photo-applied art, pattern play and sassy one-liners,” says Littler.
Design Design has also launched a collection of cards celebrating the Jewish faith,
called Judaica. It includes 36 new designs for
a variety of milestones and occasions. Littler
says they have already received very favorable
comments on the new line.
GHQ