’Tis the Season to Keep It Simple

HOLIDAY CARDS AS a client gift might initially ring of predictability. But in an economy where everyone is looking to tighten belts and knot purse strings—not to mention one in which corporate culture has gone digital and receives less personalized mail overall—greeting cards might be the answer to keeping clients in end-users’ sights during an economically challenging holiday season.

According to the Greeting Card Association (GCA), the greeting card industry rakes in over $7 billion a year, and 90 percent of U.S. households purchase cards for a variety of occasions. The GCA also reported nine in 10 people welcome the feeling of importance attached to the arrival of greeting cards. The charm of a holiday card brings with it nostalgia and tradition. But with an item so ubiquitous and often so routinely sent, what’s the product’s “road less traveled”? With homemade touches and innovative selling techniques, blazing new trails with greeting cards is the easiest thing a distributor can do this holiday season.

DETAILS MAKE THE IMPACT

Despite a technologically obsessed world, Charley Johnson, vice president of Salt Lake City-based SnugZ USA, believes in the heightened value and novelty of handmade products. The ImpressionZ line, which the company introduced in October 2007, offers handcrafted cards, complete with embellishments that add dimension, such as paper Christmas trees or ribbons. Johnson asserted such personal touches are not as likely to face the doomed fate of most holiday cards: the trash can.

“Why not increase the odds of that card getting opened, and why not show your customer you care about them a little bit more,” Johnson asked, and added that homemade extras, such as a handwritten note, are often a good way to go the extra mile. Usually, “People just generically get a thousand of them made up with the same signature and the same saying, and they just send them out and get it over with,” he noted. “It’s more of a hassle, instead of an opportunity for them to get in front of their clients and show them how much they care.”