Stationery Icons, a 304-page illustrated hardback by Christopher Leonard-Morgan, has launched its first Christmas campaign. The book profiles 100 stationery brands and is being presented as a distinctive gift for stationery enthusiasts, collectors and design lovers. It is intended for readers who collect stationery, follow design and enjoy the histories behind specialist brands.
The campaign will run through Christmas. It combines advertising on StationeryNews.net and PGBuzz.net with promotional activity on Instagram and LinkedIn. The promotional message focuses on the brands, personalities and stories that the publisher says make stationery an enduring interest. The campaign is timed around the Christmas gifting season and seeks to reach readers who already follow pens, paper and stationery retail.
The launch follows sales at two London events. Open House at Stationers’ Hall took place on 20 September, and the London Pen Show in Hammersmith ran on 10–11 October. At both events, customers bought copies for friends, family and fellow stationery enthusiasts, according to the publisher. Those purchases highlighted the book’s appeal as a present, the company said.
Christopher Leonard-Morgan, the author, said he was particularly encouraged that many people saw the book as a gift for someone else. He noted that most people know someone who has a favourite fountain pen, treasures a particular notebook or finds it difficult to resist a stationery shop. Stationery Icons, he said, brings together the stories behind the brands those readers love in a book they can enjoy and return to over time.
The Christmas campaign also invites the 100 featured brands to celebrate their inclusion through their own social-media channels and customer communications. The publisher says this activity is intended to extend awareness of the book among stationery enthusiasts around the world. By involving the featured companies, the campaign aims to reach audiences already connected to the brands included in the book.
Richard Webb, publisher at Narrative Media, said stationery inspires a remarkable degree of affection and loyalty. He said the book is special for the breadth of stories it brings together, spanning six centuries of ingenuity, entrepreneurship and design. He added that Narrative Media was pleased to give the featured brands an opportunity to share their own stories with customers and followers, building on the wider interest generated by the campaign.
The first edition of Stationery Icons has an initial print run of 1,000 copies. It is priced at £80 and is available to order directly from the book’s dedicated website.