"I never won anything without hard labor and the exercise of my best judgment."
-- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th U.S. president

by Jami Petersen

Where is scrapbooking headed? Scrapbooking as a craft has embraced techniques of sewing, decoupage, jewelry making and more. And now, in a cyclical fashion, the industry is ready for another transformation. What the industry needs at this point is a growth in its demographic, not in technique or supply range. In this week's business SMART article, Dennis Conforto talks about how the industry can expand its demographic by appealing to a new category of crafter.

Jami Petersen
newsletters@a-z.com

Press Releases

News you can use about the latest media coverage of hot trends, noteworthy events and dynamic industry leaders. Learn more about the current headlines in arts and crafts by clicking on the title of each article segment.
 

Bowdabra® has announced a monthly contest series looking for creative approaches to crafting. The current contest is a call for the most creative use of ribbon in scrapbooking. All entries must be submitted before September 20th and the winner will be announced on September 25th.

Scotch Brand Most Gifted Wrapper Contest 2010. What/When: Eight finalists will receive an all-expense paid trip to New York City to compete in the final challenge on Friday, December 3, 2010. Grand Prize: $10,000. Deadline: Enter by October 18, 2010. 

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by Dennis Conforto, A-Z Media Group

Since the formal mass marketing of scrapbooking, the industry has been dominated by the thought that it’s simply a category for the crafter. As the marketplace matured, the products became more complex and more oriented toward the expert scrapbooker. By doing this, the scrapbooking industry has obscured and overlooked what could be its greatest opportunity and future for the industry.

In the past we have talked about the four segments of the market. These are the crafters who are the beginners, the intermediates, the experts and the collectors. These four segments of the marketplace now represent 4.5% of women between the ages of 16 and 64.

But what percentage of women have the time and/or the money to devote to the craft of scrapbooking, or any craft, for that matter? There is no question that women have all the time pressures that modern society can place on them. Over 90% of married women have jobs, kids and a home to care for. So what about women who love the idea of scrapbooks, but who lack the time of a crafter or the finances of an expert?

While the scrapbooking industry has done a good job of capturing a high percentage of crafters who will scrapbook, the industry has ignored the most vital segment: non-crafters who would like to give scrapbooks as gifts.

The non-crafter has two problems with the scrapbooking industry as it is organized today. Both issues are related to a key element – time. If you are a non-crafter and are limited in time, you need fast and elegant solutions to fulfill your scrapbooking needs. However, if you go to any store carrying scrapbooking products from the large national chains to the independent retailer, you will not find a simple, fast solution.

For example, if you were a busy non-crafter and you needed a present for a baby shower, what would you find in an independent scrapbook store? Well, what you wouldn’t find is that you could be in and out in five minutes. You would be at a loss because the whole industry is oriented towards the erector set business model. There are no scrapbooking products oriented towards the non-crafter.

As our society continues to change, women have less and less disposable time to invest in crafts, or even to cook. The scrapbooking industry should look at the food service industry as an example. To illustrate, in the 1950’s and 1960’s, most of the meals made in America were homemade. Now we are in a new century and the meals even at home, for the most part are pre-cooked or even frozen meals. The manufacturers of these products have gotten better and better. Local stores put together fresh salads, pastas and other meals to address the mass market needs of packaged products fast. Even McDonalds has learned that they need to make fast food even easier. With as few SKU’s as they have, they have packaged their products into meal numbers to move things more quickly. They do it for speed because they know that they have to respect the consumer’s time.

If you are a non-crafter and love the idea of a scrapbook, imagine how intimidating it is when you walk into a store with 10,000 SKU’s. Time is the enemy of the scrapbooking industry if it wants to be the $15 billion dollar industry it can be. With the scrapbooking industry’s erector set business model, the non-crafter easily deduces that the category is not a quick one. Consider this: if it takes this long to figure out how to buy the product, how will a busy, working mom have the time to assemble the final product?

I believe the largest segment in the industry is the “instant scrapbooker non-crafter.” This segment does not have the same needs as the crafter. They don’t have a need for the community or the time for a crop class. Instead, they have the need for personal gift-giving and creating their own personal family history.

The instant scrapbooker has the potential to be a strong and lucrative base for the industry. The other four segments that built the industry up are only the tip of the iceberg. The great news is that scrapbooking manufacturers are starting to see it, and feel it, and build products for it.

For the independent scrapbook retailer it’s a huge marketing problem, because the non-crafter knows that for now, scrapbooking is a craft business only. So they stay away. Retailers who are trying to sell packages are challenged by it because the primary shopper in their stores today is still the crafter.

It is also hard for a retailer to package products. Packaging is best done by the manufacturers, not the retailers. When the instant scrapbooking kits finally hit the marketplace they will start to pick up speed and dwarf the current business model of today.

Hallmark stores have released their instant scrapbook products. In doing so they solved several problems that independent retailers face. First, they only have to ring up one SKU, not twenty. Second, the average transaction price starts at $49, not less than $10. And finally, the selection process for the consumer is fast, and they are in and out of the store within five minutes with a real solution for their scrapbooking needs.

Fortunately for us in the industry, the non-crafter can slowly be converted to the 7-year cycle of the crafter. And yet the non-crafter has no yearly burnout phaselike the crafter does. The potential for this instant scrapbooker segment is enormous.

The time has come for all of us to look below the water level and see the iceberg that we are all sitting on and make it happen. And that is what being SMART is all about.

Shelli Gardner, CEO and co-founder of Stampin' Up!®, has announced the appointment of a new president. Rich Jutkins, who has worked at Stampin' Up! for the past nine years as Director and Vice President of Logistics, will serve in this new position.

"Rich started his career with Smith's Food and Drug in manufacturing," observed Gardner. "He also has invaluable experience in educating, implementing change, and leading. His passion for Stampin' Up!, his commitment to our demonstrators (sales force), and his skills as a leader will be valuable moving forward."

A Utah native, Jutkins worked for more than a decade with Smith's, running its culture (dairy) and ice cream plants, before spending several years teaching biology, chemistry, and physics and coaching basketball. He joined Stampin' Up! in 2001 and has overseen operations in the Kanab manufacturing facility and the Riverton home office. A graduate of the University of Utah, Jutkins and his wife, Wendi, have four children. The couple currently resides in Riverton, Utah.

Jutkins is replacing Dale Fillmore, who announced his retirement today. Fillmore joined the Stampin' Up! family in June 2006, after a 30-year career with State Farm Insurance Companies.

"From the beginning, we knew we wouldn't have Dale for very long," Gardner noted. "He came out of retirement to work with us, and I am extremely grateful for the inspiring leadership, vision, and service he has provided during the past four years-he will be dearly missed."

Gardner will continue to serve in her role as Stampin' Up! co-founder and CEO.

About Stampin' Up!
Stampin' Up!, a multi-million dollar direct-sale company, offers an exclusive line of decorative stamp sets and accessories for card making, craft projects, home décor, scrapbooking and digital designing. Currently, tens of thousands of demonstrators from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom teach the art of stamping. Stampin' Up! operates two state-of-the-art facilities including an 80,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Kanab, Utah; and a 300,000-square-foot corporate office, distribution center, and demonstrator support call center in Riverton, Utah.