Manufacturers and designers are invited to enter for the next Gift of the Year Awards, which are organised by The Giftware Association (GA) and open to both members and non-members. Gifts & Greetings Review is once again delighted to be participating in the judging process, alongside senior retail buyers and other members of the trade press. For the first time in 2018 retailer categories have been added.
Celebrating the best in home and gift retailing, the Gift of The Year Awards are the most highly-respected industry accolades aimed at recognising the best new products and top retail talent.
2018 marks an exciting new era in the 40 year history of these prestigious Awards, as the Spring Fair and the GA join forces to offer a night of celebration at The Vox, part of the Resorts World entertainment complex, located adjacent to The NEC, on Sunday 4th February.
GA chief executive, Sarah Ward (pictured right with marketing manager, Chris Workman) says: The GA has been running the Gift of the Year competition for 39 years. Our partnership with Spring Fair represents our shared mutual interests within the industry and we look forward tos eeing the newly crowned Gift of the Year Awards achieve greater awareness and expansion, with new categories, awards and approach. With each year we have seen the competition get bigger and this year is going to be especially exciting.”
The competition is open for entries and the timeline is as follows:
- ‘Early Bird’ entry rate ends Friday September 29
- Competition Closes Friday November 24
- Online Judging Commences Monday November 27
- Shortlisted Products Announced Monday December 11
- Shortlisted Sample Submission from December 11 to January 8 2018. Products arriving after this date cannot be guaranteed to be put on display.
- Live Judging Day January 11 2018
- Winners revealed on the evening of Sunday February4 at Spring Fair, The NEC Birmingham. Tables and seats for the ceremony are available to buy for £1800 (table of 10).
- The cost is £50 for GA members (£35 for additional entries) and £75 for non-members (£55 for additional entries)
Qualifying product must have been launched to the trade from March 1 2017 and delivered by the end of the second quarter 2018. Product should be available for sale up to Christmas 2018.
Product categories include: Home, Kitchen & Dining, Festive & Occasional, Contemporary Gift, General Gift, Greetings/Stationery, Children’s Gift, Fashion Accessory, Gift Food, Body, Bath & Home Fragrance, Hot Novelty, Under £10, Garden & Outdoor, Licensed, Shirley Frost Award for Design & Craft.
Retailer categories include: Multiple Retailer/Buying Team, Independent Retailer Buyer/Team, Online Retailer Buyer/Team.
Gift of the Year honours are awarded to the latest most original and innovatively designed products that could be given as gifts. Judges are looking for, considering and selecting on the following elements:
Design, innovation and originality, The WOW factor, presentation and packaging, quality of manufacture, customer appeal and value, sales potential and commercial viability, retail profit potential, marketing and merchandising material, The shortlist and selection, The judges will shortlist approximately 10 items per category.
One winner will be chosen from each category based on scoring by the judges. In addition, two or three products will be highly commended. Being crowned a winner can give your business industry-wide recognition and increase sales and revenue, so what are you waiting for, show us your stuff!
