Fairy Tale Marketing
Matthew Kalash -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 5/1/2001
When Marcia Ceppos, owner of Tinsel Trading Company in New York, opened a booth at the 2000 New York International Gift Fair, visitor reaction was both good and bad. Visitors were enthusiastic about the wide selection of new and vintage ribbons, ornaments, florals, and tinsels available, but uncertain about how to retail Ceppos' merchandise in their stores. For many years, Tinsel Trading Co. had exhibited at designer and antique trade shows, where attendees were more likely to buy product in unpackaged, raw quantities. For future Gift Fair appearances, Ceppos' and her staff worked to repackage merchandise in ways that were more sui able for the gift and decorative accessories retail environment.
In addition to the new packaging and display strategies, a promotion idea grew out of the Gift Fair experience. Tinsel Trading Co. designed a floppy disk with graphics featuring Ceppos and her niece, Sarah. The disk follows a fairytale narrative, and gives directions to the Tinsel Trading Co. store, at 47 W. 38th St., in New York. More than 300 of these electronic Christmas cards were sent to buyers they had met at the Gift Fair.
According to Ceppos, response to the disk at this year's fair was so good that they're planning to produce future versions, which will include more direct product promotions along with narrative presentation. A decidedly low-tech industry found a high-tech way to promote itself.
