Gift Focus - Jan/Feb 2020 (Issue 117)

8 Industry news PANTONE REVEALS 2020 COLOUR OF THE YEAR Pantone has unveiled 19-4052 Classic Blue is its Colour of the Year for 2020. The timeless and elegant hue is intended to highlight the desire for a dependable and stable foundation from which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era. “We are living in a time that requires trust and faith,” explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. “It’s this kind of constancy and confidence that’s expressed by Pantone 19-4052 Classic Blue, a solid and dependable hue we can always rely on. Imbued with a deep resonance, it provides an anchoring foundation. A boundless blue evocative of the vast and infinite evening sky, Classic Blue encourages us to look beyond the obvious to expand our thinking, challenging us to think more deeply, increase our perspective and open the flow of communication. “Representing peace and tranquility, the shade is non-aggressive and easily relatable. It highlights the relationship between trends in colour and what’s taking place in our global culture at a moment in time,” adds Laurie Pressman, vice president. “As society continues to recognise colour as a critical form of communication and a way to express and affect ideas and emotions, designs and brands should feel inspired to use colour to engage and connect.” In fashion, blue is genderless in outlook and seasonless in endurance, taking on a distinct appearance through application to different materials, finishes and textures. Across home décor, the shade can inject creative confidence, transforming a space through colour combinations and tonal statements. For packaging, it conveys a message of honesty, credibility and reliability that today’s consumers will respond to. Pantone has also collaborated with several sensory experts from the worlds of music, food, fashion, beauty and technology to envision Classic Blue as a sound, smell, taste and feeling, inspiring creatives and consumers to think about colour differently. Find out more at pantone.com New ful ly digital gift card Catch up on all the latest in our news round up Leading gifting and engagement company, Appreciate Group, has launched the UK’s first fully digital multi-brand gift card with add-to-wallet capabilities. Appreciate Group has collaborated with payments technology business CleverGift to launch the UK-first technology, which is available for consumers and business now through highstreetvouchers.com , the popular online store. The Select Digital Gift Card reimagines how gift cards should work, enabling people to send cards instantly and directly to family, friends or colleagues by email, SMS, Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp. With no postage costs or waste, the card converts to a secure prepaid Mastercard once activated by the recipient and they can then spend the full value of the gift card in-store or by simply tapping their mobile wallet at more than 6,400 outlets of 61 of the most popular retail brands in the UK. By enabling the recipient to check their balances at any time, the gift card also removes the age-old problem of people forgetting which gift cards they’ve used or what balance they have remaining. “We’re proud to be the first company in the UK to bring this type of technology to market,” said Appreciate Group CEO, Ian O’Doherty. “It’s a real game-changer in many ways as it completely reimagines how gift cards should work in a mobile- enabled world. “We want to make celebrating, rewarding or creating moments of joy – whether that be buying a gift card for someone special or as a thank you to a colleague – to be incredibly simple, and the Select Digital Gift Card does that.” For further information on Appreciate Group please visit: appreciategroup.co.uk