Gift Focus - Mar/Apr 2020 (Issue 118)

67 Continuing to prove that ‘Writing matters’, the annual consumer campaign runs between 20 th -26 th April and is the perfect opportunity for retailers, businesses, manufacturers and brands to really get involved. The perfect sales opportunity for retailers of all sizes, the campaign is offering a POS kit for stores that sign up – giving them an ideal opportunity to be a part of a worldwide campaign with incredible visibility of more than 70 million consumers throughout the campaign. Retailers who were involved in 2019 saw increased in-store footfall and web traffic plus a 90 per cent increase in sales, owing to their involvement in National Stationery Week. The success led Sarah Laker, owner of Marple Stationery Supplies and retail champion for #StationeryShopSaturday, to say: “It was great for Marple Stationery Supplies to head up a national campaign. Saturday was incredibly busy for the store and the campaign worked wonders for us!” Safe to say, National Stationery Week has plenty of exciting plans to keep brands, retailers and consumers busy including the Seven Days of Stationery, which include a broad range of themes to encourage stationery addicts. Alongside its offering for businesses, the campaign is running a creative writing competition for schools, will be running the Stationery Trail, promoting the art of handwriting and boasts a selection of other plans and partnerships that will help celebrations throughout the week. The campaign is set to be the biggest ever, following last year’s successes, which included trending on Twitter for four consecutive days, more than 100 official retailers having signed up, features in national print, online and radio media plus messages from over 90 countries. AT CROSS, Derwent, Manuscript, Maped Helix, Marple Stationery Supplies, Moleskine, Staples and uni-ball have all got involved to ensure stationery addicts of all ages and styles join in the fun. Premier Stationery and VENT for Change are involved with the campaign too, with the latter offering some of its uniquely created sustainable pencils to every retailer that signs up to be involved during the week. Writing matters National Stationery Week is back and is celebrating its 10 th anniversary in 2020 with more plans than ever before Are you ready to join in with National Stationery Week? It couldn’t be easier – simply tag National Stationery Week in any of your social media posts, use the hashtags #NatStatWeek #WritingMatters or send photos of your celebrations via email to: dan@smallmanmedia.com You can find out more about the campaign and its sponsors at nationalstationeryweek.com