Great Greetings™ Send-Off: Celebrating 30 years of Inspiration!

While visiting her grandmother, a young girl would be given lipstick and nail polish to draw and paint on the glossy cardboard used to package her grandfather’s dry-cleaned shirts. She was inspired to make small folded cards with these nontraditional materials. She eagerly gave the cards to family and friends to delight or send good wishes. During the holiday season, her family received cards from around the world. Stamps were admired. Images were examined. Messages were enjoyed. All were proudly displayed, and the enclosed personal notes and photos prompted conversations over dinner. These tangible touch points allowed families and friends to stay connected and reunite seamlessly in person.

That girl was me. Flash-forward, my early passion for greeting cards inspired me to thrill and show appreciation to Impagination’s best clients and relationships. Corporate greeting cards were unquestionably dull. What an opportunity to let our brand values shine – unique thinking and engaging design with measurable impact! Successively complex or elaborate designs and campaigns emerged over 30 years that continued to retain and maintain connection with Impagination’s best clients and relationships.

In 2000, mailed greetings were being abandoned in favor of bulk emails with unremarkable photos and greetings. Impagination sought to challenge the trend, surveying each year for 15 years, with remarkably consistent results. Hands down, tangible forms of communication received the highest scores despite the emergence of more and more sophisticated digital technologies.

• 85-90% of respondents received their favorite greeting by mail
• 70-75% kept their favorites (often displaying it year after year)
• 65-70% shared their favorites with others (extending your brand to others)

30 Years of Great Greetings™

How do you celebrate 30 years of inspiration?

The winning holiday greeting: 2017 3D Pop-up Snowflake. Photo credit: Plexman Photography.

“Adding Dimension to Communication” is one of our core values. As our client and community base grew, individual handmade greetings on tactile paper shifted over the years to sophisticated print pieces that accompanied our client appreciation campaigns. These were loaded with festive themes like food, holiday decor or game boards. There were some special years too, when we launched Impagination’s rebrand; another the birth of my daughter; as well as celebrating Impagination’s 10^th, 20^th, 25^th and 30^th anniversaries.

For the first time, Impagination’s archive of 30 years of Great Greetings™ came out of the vault and went on display to honor the collection, creativity, and story behind each campaign. 65+ fans and supporters viewed and voted for their favorites. Attendees shared their reminiscences of past holiday greetings with us. Several designs topped the shortlist, which was shared on social media to determine the ultimate winner.

No matter what time of year, or how you maintain, retain or deepen your connection with your best clients and business relationships, consider the engaging impact of a tangible, physical reminder of your brand values. Check out our five tips for creating an irresistible promotion here!