GCA’s Media Bonanza Gives Christmas Cards A Push To Millions

Having appeared on BBC Breakfast last week www.pgbuzz.net/gcas-ceo-amanda-fergusson-appears-on-bbc-breakfast/, Amanda Fergusson, ceo of the Greeting Card Association has kept up a high media presence for the industry during the crucial Christmas run up ensuring that millions of people were reminded of the importance of sending Christmas cards.

Amanda appeared on STV’s extended piece on its prime time evening news, that was broadcast across all of Scotland, both by STV North and STV Central on the eve of the last first class posting day for Christmas cards.

Above: STV committed a sizable portion of its 6pm news programme to Christmas cards.
Above: STV committed a sizable portion of its 6pm news programme to Christmas cards.

Meanwhile, she was also on ITV Meridian, hit the airwaves on BBC Radio Sussex with the festive message plus was interviewed by the FT and Courier (published in Scotland and the Borders).

Citing the cost of postage and social media as reasons for a drop in Christmas card sending, a positive STV news feature piece celebrated that sending them remains “an enduring staple of the season”.  Setting the scene by highlighting the long history of Christmas cards in the UK before confronting their relevance to today, broadcaster Ben Philip said: “Christmas cards have certainly come a long way since the Victorian era,” before explaining how the first Christmas card was introduced by Sir Henry Cole. The film crew then took to a shopping centre for a vox pops on what greeting cards mean to people today. Encouragingly the younger people who were interviewed gave card sending a thumbs-up. “It’s the little thing that shows you care at Christmas,” said a Millennial male.

Above: STV presenter Ben Philip ended the piece by saying of Christmas card sending: “Despite the passage of time and changes to consumer habits, it would appear this annual ritual is here to stay.”
Above: STV presenter Ben Philip ended the piece by saying of Christmas card sending: “Despite the passage of time and changes to consumer habits, it would appear this annual ritual is here to stay.”

The programme then drew on the stats from the GCA highlighting how Brits send more cards per capita than in any other country in the world. Giving it a Scottish flavour the programme featured Royal Mail research findings of how people in Edinburgh last year posted more Christmas cards per head than anywhere in the UK, plus how 6% of the nation admit to sending cards to their pets.

Cutting to Amanda, she told viewers that the sending of Christmas cards “is a special way of keeping in touch with people on an annual basis – a great way of getting news from people you perhaps don’t see very often.”

Click below to watch the STV new item.

It was having heard Amanda on BBC Radio Sussex that prompted another TV station, ITV Meridian to get in touch with the GCA. “They were looking for a positive antidote to all the negative Brexit coverage, so I was able to champion how ours is a successful world leading creative industry, which exports to all over the world, based on an ingrained British culture,” said Amanda, who was filmed being interviewed by the station’s political editor Philip Hornby, outside the Houses of Parliament.

Commenting about her media ‘baptism of fire’ which kicked off almost as soon as she took over as ceo of the GCA from Sharon Little, Amanda said: “While it was the one element of the job I was worried about, I have to confess I have enjoyed the media interviews. It does help though that we have such a good story to tell and that up until now all the coverage has been very positive.”

Above: Amanda, outside the Houses of Parliament (in the dark and rain) with ITV Meridian’s political editor Philip Hornby.
Above: Amanda, outside the Houses of Parliament (in the dark and rain) with ITV Meridian’s political editor Philip Hornby.

Top: STV highlighted how 6% of people send cards to their pets.

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