Winners Speak!
Autumn Fair suppliers reap the benefits of Gift of the Year success
“The PR value has been amazing and the reaction from the trade has been overwhelming. The increased interest from both the giftware and nursery industries has meant that we actually received the full equivalent of orders we would normally receive in one quarter in just February alone,” says Lynda Harding whose ‘ewan™ the dream sheep’ scooped first prize for her company Easidream Ltd in the Kid’s Category of the 2011 Gift of the Year Awards. “Being able to use the Gift of the Year logo has enhanced our credibility in a huge way and I certainly urge other companies to enter. These awards really do have an incredibly positive impact on your company and give all involved a fabulous boost,” she continued.
Lynda is not alone in her praise for the pulling power of a Gift of the Year Award.
Mark Stevens of Dora Designs, whose ‘Bertie Bristles Bookends’ took first place in the Home Accessories category was equally enthusiastic about the benefits that winning has brought to his business.
“It definitely attracted a lot of people to our stand at Spring Fair. I think people were particularly impressed because as well as winning the Home Accessories category our Barkley Bassett
An off-shoot of winning the Award has been that Dora Designs has subsequently taken on a design graduate intern. “It made us realise how important it is to ensure the continuity of good new design within the company,” Mark told giftwrap.
The power of the Gift of the Year award to add credibility is not lost on Brian Turner, creative director of Bluw, winner of the Under £10 category with its ‘Sculpt Your Own Boyfriend’ gift. “The gift industry’s a competitive place, so having a seal of approval makes all the difference. We are delighted with our Gift of the Year awards. We put huge amounts of effort into creating great products with great character so it’s fantastic to get recognition for that. Our company’s e-mail signatures all now feature the logo and we’ve arranged for our packaging to show it off too,” he commented.
“The biggest thing about winning is it increases brand awareness in the gift trade,” says Susie Purling of One Button Limited, winner of the Fashion Jewellery and Accessories Category. This was not One Button’s first success in Gift of the Year. “We won in 2009 and that created a huge amount of interest and the same is happening this year. We’ve already run out of the winning product and have had to reorder,” she told giftwrap.
For Susie one of the biggest plusses of winning is the boost in confidence it gives to everyone in the company. “It increases credibility and it gives our sales agents, we’ve got nine of them, something they can build a story around. It’s a nice little opener,” she says.
Helen Hornsby of Talking Tables, winner of the Judge’s Choice and of the Occasions Category with their ‘Something in the Air Wedding Collection’ also recognises how a Gift of the Year Award can raise company morale. “It’s had a huge and positive impact, especially to our in-house design team. It’s a great compliment to them to have their efforts recognised.”
“Winning undoubtedly has an impact on new enquiries and on enquiries for the winning product from existing customers. We’ve just had our best ever Spring Fair and winning undoubtedly bought new people onto the stand and onto the website. We will definitely enter every year now,” she says.
So too, Wild and Wolf, winners of the Branded Character Category with the Scrabble Collection. This business has a long history of success in the competition and marketing coordinator, Patsy Taylor, needs no convincing of its efficacy. “Winning Gift of the Year is great for our customers to see and has definitely increased interest and therefore sales in the Scrabble Collection. The Gift of the Year logo is also a great marketing tool for us and been used for our website and recent advertising, as well as future 2011 shows,” she says.
The final word goes to Matthew Tangye, of Canova, who won the Made in the
