Stationery Icons, the 304-page illustrated hardback by Christopher Leonard-Morgan, has launched its first Christmas campaign, positioning the book as a distinctive gift for stationery enthusiasts, collectors and design lovers.
The title profiles 100 stationery brands and is presented by its publisher as a premium illustrated book, aimed at readers who follow the category closely as well as at design-minded buyers looking for a present.
The campaign runs through to Christmas and combines advertising on StationeryNews.net and PGBuzz.net with promotional activity on Instagram and LinkedIn. Its theme is the brands, personalities and stories that, in the publisher's framing, make stationery such an enduring fascination, with the trade advertising and social promotion running alongside each other for the duration.
Campaign follows two London events
The push comes after sales at two recent events: an Open House at Stationers' Hall on 20 September and the London Pen Show in Hammersmith on 10–11 October. Both, according to the publisher, highlighted the book's appeal as a present, with customers buying copies for friends, family and fellow stationery enthusiasts.
Leonard-Morgan said the most encouraging signal was how many buyers saw the book as a gift for someone else rather than for themselves. He noted that most people know someone who keeps a favourite fountain pen, treasures a particular notebook or simply cannot resist a stationery shop, and said Stationery Icons gathers the stories behind the brands those readers already like into a volume they can enjoy and return to for years.
Featured brands invited to join in
The campaign also invites the 100 brands featured in the book to mark their inclusion through their own social media channels and customer communications, an arrangement the publisher expects to extend awareness of the title among stationery enthusiasts around the world.
Richard Webb, Publisher at Narrative Media, said stationery inspires a remarkable degree of affection and loyalty. He argued that what makes the book particularly special is the breadth of stories it brings together, spanning six centuries of ingenuity, entrepreneurship and design, and said the publisher was pleased to give featured brands an opportunity to share their own stories with customers and followers, building on the wider interest the campaign generates.
Limited first edition at £80
The first edition has an initial print run of just 1,000 copies and is priced at £80. It is available to order directly from stationeryicons.com.