The social media campaign has kicked off for National Stationery Week 2024 with the return of the popular #Shelfie competition, where retailers are encouraged to post a stationery display from their store on social media, with the public voting for its favourite. The winner this year will receive a bundle of Silvine products with an RRP of over £800.
National Stationery Week runs over Monday to Sunday, 13-19 May, this year, and encompasses the London Stationery Show on the Tuesday and Wednesday at the Business Design Centre in Islington – both are now owned by Max Publishing, owners of Progressive Greetings, PGBuzz and PG Live – and founder Chris Leonard-Morgan is back on board as a special advisor.
For the second year running, Sarah Laker, owner of Stationery Supplies in Marple and Wilmslow is heading up the programme for National Stationery Week, which encompasses a seven week countdown to the actual week and then daily activities during it.
Maped Helix, Pentel, Staedtler, Zebra Pen and Ohh Deer are among the headline sponsors who will each sponsor a day of the week. Each day will have a special theme and these will be announced closer to the time. In the past, themes have included #CreativityDay, #WorkHappy, #ItFeelsGood and #SustainableStationery.
Maped Helix will start the week with a bang, as Rebecca Ostrowski, marketing executive explains: “National Stationery Week is one of the most important dates in our calendar and the message to get everyone writing in this digital age is one we feel passionate about. Last year we had enormous success with our Pen Pals for Pupils campaign, which paired schoolchildren from around the UK and encouraged them to pick up their pens and write to each other. This year we are excited to kick off National Stationery Week with our Mindful Monday campaign, which aims to get stationery lovers everywhere writing to improve their mental health through journalling and creative writing.”
Staedtler has booked the Wednesday for its headline sponsorship slot, and senior marketing executive Rebekah Bell said: “We’re thrilled to be sponsoring National Stationery Week again in 2024, following the success of the 2023 event. It’s a key event for Staedtler, and this year is set to be full of colour and creativity!”
Sarah Laker commented: “I’ve been blown away by the response from these world-renowned brands sponsoring NSW this year. It’s going to be an exciting week filled with all sorts of amazing competitions and giveaways, a true celebration of all things stationery. The buzz on social media around the sponsors during the week is fantastic. It’s a great way to not only show support for the industry, but also showcase new products and just have a bit of fun with the stationery-loving public.”
The official countdown to National Stationery Week starts on March 24, with Lamy sponsoring the first week. “The countdown was something we did for the first time last year,” explains Sarah, “And it was very popular, with brands using the week to promote new products and create a buzz leading up to the event itself.”
The weekly countdown will be even bigger this year, with the seven weeks leading up to National Stationery Week sponsored by seven different brands including: The Art File, ExaClair, Lamy, Manuscript, Pilot Pen and Silvine.
Lamy will be sponsoring ‘7 weeks to go’ and Hollie Bottrill, UK sales manager had this to say: “We’re very excited to participate in this year’s National Stationery Week. It’s an excellent opportunity to celebrate everything related to stationery. At Lamy, we’re dedicated to fostering creativity. With Lamy’s writing instruments, we provide individuals with the thinking tools to express and capture their thoughts. As part of this week’s festivities, we’re offering one lucky winner a special goodie bag to encourage them to indulge in their creativity and appreciate the magic of writing.”
The Art File will take the other end of the countdown, with ‘1 week to go’. James Mace, sales and marketing manager for The Art File said: “The Art File are absolutely delighted to be sponsoring the National Stationery Week Campaign this year. Along with our new stationery release this year, we feel it’s incredibly important to help in spreading the importance of the written word of course on greeting cards, but equally as importantly on stationery as well, so it’s great to be involved. For our countdown post this year, we’re going to be doing a huge giveaway, as well as releasing a press release on the importance of a notebook in this modern age.”
Sarah is still looking for a Thursday and Sunday sponsor for National Stationery Week. Anyone interested, please get in touch on sarah@nationalstationeryweek.com.
