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Post by maribeth on Jul 1, 2014 14:30:47 GMT
So much talk about the downfall, demise, death of the scrapbooking industry (touched on a bit in the ScrapyGals latest podcast), has really made me think. This subject has been bothering me for quite some time. Even before the closing of Two Peas and my LSS (the same week), I have been extremely deep in thought on this subject.
So my thought in a nutshell: I think the industry is focusing (marketing) too much on established scrappers who already have too much in their stash. I think there is a tremendous need to get back to the basics of scrapbooking (preserving photos and stories), and begin recruiting younger people to begin their journey of memory keeping. Remember where we all started, and lets let the beginners start with matting photos on cardstock and "sticker sneezing". Given them the time and opportunity to develop rather than intimidating them with the elaborate pages that are so prevalent now.
Your Thoughts?
How could the industry better recruit new scrappers?
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Post by miominmio on Jul 1, 2014 14:38:57 GMT
I think you nailed it! If I was planning on starting out now, I would probably be too intimidated by all the mixed media layouts. They are gorgeous, but it's certainly difficult to learn to make something that look even half as good. And not every page needs to have a tiny picture and tons of product, beginners look at those and understand how expensive it will be to make layouts like that.
I wonder if pocket scrapbooking will lure more people into the scrapbooking world?
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scrapperdee
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Post by scrapperdee on Jul 1, 2014 14:42:15 GMT
Yes, they need to focus on the younger group (convert them into the cult). I think PL is helping with that...on the surface, its quick and easy and perfect sized for their tiny smart-phone photos. I just don't think that the young crowd has the patience to think about or work on scrapbooking...even if its just shoving photos into pocket pages.
With the media keep calling us all grannies (which isn't true)...its not encouraging for the youth to do it. The industry needs to make it look hip and young with instant gratification, to get this new generation in. Hopefully, once they are in and have their own kiddos (instead of just being all me me me), they'll get obsessed with those of us that are already obsessed.
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Post by alissa103 on Jul 1, 2014 14:43:40 GMT
Hmm, on one hand I agree and on the other I don't. If you include Project Life into the mix, I think that is helping recruit tons of new people to scrapping or preventing some that have let traditional scrapping slide get back into the game.
I also think people are memory keeping by doing the pre-made "pop in your pictures" digi books at Shutterfly, etc. and that is also a form of scrapping/memory keeping.
Blogging and instagram, Facebook, etc. are also a form of memory keeping as well, if you think about it.
I don't know the answer, but I think the industry does need to mold and flex with the times, for sure.
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loco coco
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Post by loco coco on Jul 1, 2014 14:46:46 GMT
i think you are right, as I said in another thread I loved my pages and have done invitations and cards for people and always got compliments, etc. When I started coming online I was overwhelmed with all of the designer pages and tons of stores and products and it made me feel kind of crappy! There I was thinking I was really good at my hobby and after looking online I felt like a beginner! I could see that definitely scaring a real beginner away...
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loco coco
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Post by loco coco on Jul 1, 2014 14:49:54 GMT
With the media keep calling us all grannies (which isn't true)...its not encouraging for the youth to do it. The industry needs to make it look hip and young with instant gratification, to get this new generation in. Hopefully, once they are in and have their own kiddos (instead of just being all me me me), they'll get obsessed with those of us that are already obsessed. ugh YES! Im 27 and my friends call my an old lady b/c I love to scrap... maybe I just like being creative and sentimental  |
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scrap4nick
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Post by scrap4nick on Jul 1, 2014 14:55:39 GMT
I'm sorry you lost your LLS this week, too. I fear ours is on its last few months as well, just an inkling.
I think you are partly right about recruiting new scrapbookers, and I also think that this is what the industry is settling into. We got so spoiled with all the products and the talent, and now it has settled back down. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it is definitely an adjustment and it is definitely scary!
ITA about the overwhelm - new scrapbookers look at how complicated and expensive it is and are turned away. Ali Edwards is great about keeping it to photos + stories, and I love her for that!
I really think it is up to us to make this industry. This is the tough spot, because before there were so many others who did it, but now it is up to us. It's up to someone else to be a new Becky Higgins or Lisa Bearnson and invent new magazines and new techniques. It's up to someone else to be a Kristina White and find new scrapbooking talent. Not to replace them, in any way! But to keep the industry and the demand moving forward.
Also, the industry really lost when the competitions closed down. Everyone was scrambling to participate in SOY and to be published and to be on the CK Dream Team - now there aren't many mags to be published in and there are no more competitions! Those competitions drove the market - creativity went into overdrive as crafters competed for the next great technique! Those are gone. I don't know if those competitions should be resurrected, but they certainly did contribute a great deal to where we are today.
Love hearing and thinking about it all and I appreciate your thoughts!
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Post by maribeth on Jul 1, 2014 14:55:53 GMT
But when you consider that it is electronic media and just like at Two Peas we were all concerned about loosing our gallery's, isn't this form of memory keeping kind of "putting your eggs all in one basket" as the companies may cease to exist and all would be gone?
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Post by triplettkarla on Jul 1, 2014 15:01:07 GMT
It's funny i was thinking of this we are missing face to face to create a company like CM that brings people together with great product and ideas. Or even the live classes they are great in Creative Live a place to be face to face once a week crops, just thinking
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Post by alissa103 on Jul 1, 2014 15:04:41 GMT
Absolutely. But I can tell you from personal experience, hanging around teenagers in some of the hats I wear, family, etc., they generally don't care about the longevity of those things. Their parents do, often times and save pictures they post and funny statuses for prosperity. But the teens themselves can't see beyond, for the most part. heck, one of my teen cousin even deletes photos off of her phone BEFORE SAVING THEM TO A COMPUTER just to have more space for more photos, apps, music. Those are gone forever. She doesn't care. So she certainly wouldn't print them out and scrap them, sadly. But they are on Instagram if she put them there, so that's her line of thinking. Not saying I agree, but that's what our industry is up against! |
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gloryjoy
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Post by gloryjoy on Jul 1, 2014 15:07:13 GMT
I think there are a few different reasons for the downturn in scrapbooking.
There are lots of people who jump on the current "craft bandwagon", and then they jump off just as fast. I know many people who have done this.
Picture taking is different for young people now than it was for us. When I started I had boxes full of developed pictures that I wanted to get into albums, my son's and their significant others don't have that. Everything is on their phone, they share on FB or Instagram or make those photobooks.
I have a new 13 week old grandson and all the pics they have taken of him are on their phones. I love getting the texts with pics of him, but I want hard copies. So I am setting up a professional photo shoot of him in the next couple of weeks.
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Post by maribeth on Jul 1, 2014 15:07:55 GMT
I agree. The original CM philosophy was spot on. Get the photos out of the box (now-a-days, out of the camera/phone) and onto a page and tell the story. The fact that it was a supplier of product and wanted to maintain that exclusivity was what ultimately led to their demise IMHO. But the fun part of that was the crops, the guidance and support. I think that can be accomplished using new technology (GoToMeeting) and gather people together from their own scrap studios but still allow for interaction of participants. Lessons could be available (basics to advanced) as well as live crops.
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Post by creative*moma on Jul 1, 2014 15:14:23 GMT
Absolutely. But I can tell you from personal experience, hanging around teenagers in some of the hats I wear, family, etc., they generally don't care about the longevity of those things. Their parents do, often times and save pictures they post and funny statuses for prosperity. But the teens themselves can't see beyond, for the most part. heck, one of my teen cousin even deletes photos off of her phone BEFORE SAVING THEM TO A COMPUTER just to have more space for more photos, apps, music. Those are gone forever. She doesn't care. So she certainly wouldn't print them out and scrap them, sadly. But they are on Instagram if she put them there, so that's her line of thinking. Not saying I agree, but that's what our industry is up against! Some of my younger friends think this way. They had the experience, shared it with friends via social media and then it's done. I bought my sister a BH PL kit, in hopes she might print some and add them there. She did like it better than trying to scrapbook them, adding photos in a pocket page was less intimidating. |
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Post by maribeth on Jul 1, 2014 15:16:23 GMT
I don't know that it is really "different". As I teen I never saved anything and didn't take many photos to begin with. However I regret that. Some teenagers today regret not saving those photos as well. However when I talk about recruiting the younger people, I guess I mean the new mothers, young adults, those that are starting to see the need for preserving memories. As far as the teenagers go I think it is our responsibility to be preserving the photos the teenagers are taking, so they don't regret not having them as many of us have regretted. Maybe just downloading the photos from their phones to a file to save them for the future when they may care about preserving memories. Or better yet printing them and putting them into a box, post it notes attached with names and dates if you know them. Then they will have their own box of photos to work on at some point in the future.
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Post by mama2three on Jul 1, 2014 15:21:40 GMT
But when you consider that it is electronic media and just like at Two Peas we were all concerned about loosing our gallery's, isn't this form of memory keeping kind of "putting your eggs all in one basket" as the companies may cease to exist and all would be gone? Yes, that's a big problem - not only because of the companies closing but also especially seeing how quickly technology changes.
Even if you have things saved digitally, when the site closes down or technology changes, will you still be able to access what you saved? If you didn't upgrade to the next technology, you probably can't. Much as the "computer generation" likes to believe, digital isn't necessarily archival. Many of us remember saving documents to 5 inch floppy disks - can anyone read them anymore? Most probably can't. If you moved up to the 3 inch floppies - same thing. For a while, it was common to convert slides or boxes of photos to video. Most no longer own VCRs. What about CDs/DVDs? My office was archiving documents on discs. We're finding that after only 5 or so years in storage, the documents on those discs may no longer be readable, and if by chance the disc cracked (has happened, even in a storage box on a shelf in an office building undisturbed for a few years), the saved material is gone. W/o weekly back up archives, we'd have lost a lot. Hard drives crash. Last year Kodak gallery closed down and sent lots of announcements that if you didn't move your photos they would be gone. How many people didn't move theirs and lost them? Will your grandchildren be able to access the photos and stories you've saved?
My museum curator SIL has said many times that only printed images, preferably B&W, stored in archival manner, are likely to stand the test of time.
I don't know about the marketing side of SB industry as I've not seen much of it in the past couple of years -maybe that in itself is saying something. We used to have 6 LSS plus ACM and Michaels w/in a 10 mile radius. These days it's just the ACM and Michaels how they can coexist next door to each other and a new Hobby Lobby across the street I'll never understand. I do know that a lot of SB products have gotten quite expensive, more than I'm willing to pay, and there have been a lot of people in my community struggling with less income in recent years who have cut back on spending for hobbies. I could probably scrap the rest of my life using just the paper I have in my house, so I don't need to buy any more stuff.
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debduty
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Post by debduty on Jul 1, 2014 15:33:44 GMT
I think the biggest problem is that people just don't print their photos. Maybe the instagram printing apps and groovebook will help. If people start printing more, maybe they'll start thinking about what to do with their prints.
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Post by scrapbookwriter on Jul 1, 2014 15:57:31 GMT
I miss the social aspect of scrapbooking. Sitting alone in a room with a computer is not nearly as fun as meeting up with friends and creating cute layouts while sharing/reliving/preserving memories. I think that's a downside to digital scrapbooking, photo books and the like.
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Post by katieanna on Jul 1, 2014 16:28:16 GMT
Yes, they need to focus on the younger group (convert them into the cult). I think PL is helping with that...on the surface, its quick and easy and perfect sized for their tiny smart-phone photos. I just don't think that the young crowd has the patience to think about or work on scrapbooking...even if its just shoving photos into pocket pages. With the media keep calling us all grannies (which isn't true)...its not encouraging for the youth to do it. The industry needs to make it look hip and young with instant gratification, to get this new generation in. Hopefully, once they are in and have their own kiddos (instead of just being all me me me), they'll get obsessed with those of us that are already obsessed.
Good post! I think you nailed it on the head with the media, too. Although I don't normally scrap PL, I think if I was starting out it would be the way to go. I hope the younger people will feel that way, too. I've been a scrapper and have kept a journal nearly all my life; I can't imagine my life without them1
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Post by anonrefugee on Jul 1, 2014 20:29:20 GMT
Even before the closing of Two Peas and my LSS (the same week) You poor thing! I'd be heartbroken - except we've been without LSS for some time now. |
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Post by anniefb on Jul 1, 2014 21:05:00 GMT
I agree with a lot of comments. I think the scrapbooking industry has adapted to changes like a move to a digital era and introducing (or re-introducing) a simpler approach through pocket scrapbooking like PL. People have busy lives and most of my friends wouldn't spend hours agonising over the placement of one embellishment on a page, but they do want to preserve memories - usually by taking photos with their phone, using an app like moldiv to make a collage and uploading it to instagram, facebook or another site. It's about tapping into those sorts of actions and attitudes. I guess it's about us passing on the love of what we do to our families and friends. I remember my mother encouraging to make scrapbooks as a kid and to save special photos and to make albums. I might not have appreciated the significance of those things as a teen but I sure do now.
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Post by maribeth on Jul 1, 2014 21:26:06 GMT
EXACTLY!
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Post by threegirls on Jul 1, 2014 23:38:28 GMT
I'm in the process of recruiting three new scrappers! My girls love it and I hope they will continue on for a long time. They are 12, 7 and 5.
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tiffanytwisted
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Post by tiffanytwisted on Jul 2, 2014 0:40:39 GMT
Some really good points!
Today's youth (God, I feel old when I say that) probably takes a lot more pictures than we did. It's a lot easier for them to share than it was for us. So right now, scrapbooking isn't necessary for that purpose. In a few years, when they want to tell the story behind the photos, scrapbooking may be more appealing.
We can only hope, right? Us 'grannies' can't hold this business up on our own forever!
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scrapperdee
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Post by scrapperdee on Jul 2, 2014 1:35:52 GMT
I'm in the process of recruiting three new scrappers! My girls love it and I hope they will continue on for a long time. They are 12, 7 and 5. Me too....I send scrapbooking supplies to our 3 nieces...13, 10 & 6 |
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Post by sbartist on Jul 2, 2014 1:54:34 GMT
Trying to recruit members to our local FB group - I know they are out there, and I have only lived here two years. Most of the LSS have closed and the Ben Franklin's here, is not the BF's I am used to.
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Post by marykate on Jul 2, 2014 2:42:58 GMT
So my thought in a nutshell: I think the industry is focusing (marketing) too much on established scrappers who already have too much in their stash. I think there is a tremendous need to get back to the basics of scrapbooking (preserving photos and stories), and begin recruiting younger people to begin their journey of memory keeping. Yes, I agree. In today's economy, for an industry to survive and thrive, it has to bring in new clients/consumers/users. It cannot count on an existing base of customers to keep it afloat, it has to be constantly building upon and expanding that base. I think there was a scrapbooking industry "bubble" about 8-10 years ago (new stores, new product lines, new magazines, and so on). And then that bubble burst with the economic recession. And part of the decline was inevitable, given the state of the economy. But I suspect it also had to do with the fact that there simply weren't enough customers to support the expansion. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2014 3:00:04 GMT
I agree, there aren't enough new people to replace the ones leaving .
I think it had its time , don't think it will ever be as popular as it was, mainly due technology.
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sharonoz
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Jun 27, 2014 5:08:57 GMT
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Post by sharonoz on Jul 2, 2014 8:18:10 GMT
I totally agree. I was recently at a retreat with some friends and I pointed out to them that when we started cropping together (about 8yrs ago) it was mostly new mums doing baby photos but now it's mostly the grandma's doing grandkid pics.
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Post by zoeybug on Jul 2, 2014 12:35:59 GMT
Maribeth-I SO agree with you! I was thinking this the other day when I was reading the comments over at Paperclipping when Noel posted about the demise of TwoPeas. We just don't have something likeCreative Memories anymore that most of us ( I was a consultant for them for several years) got our start. I don't know anything about Close To My Heart-do they give "beginning" classes or do they just provide "crack" for us "established" scrappers ? I remember when I started scrapping when my 18 y o was just about six months old and it was just the best "release" for me; he was a really fussy, difficult baby (don't get me wrong-I live him now and then unconditionally) and after all day of trying to soothe a crying, often sick baby, I needed that creative time . I just don't think Instagram or FaceBook has that same gratification that creating does. The question is HOW do we recruit young scrappers ? |
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