In an age where digital technology governs daily life—journaling on iPads and reading e-books—analog stationery, things we physically touch and write with, is finding renewed appreciation. The recent, wildly successful ‘Inventario: 2025 Stationery Fair’ exemplifies this shift. More than just a place to sell products and promote brands, the event offered a unique glimpse into the changing consumer culture and lifestyles of the 20s and 30s demographic. Drawing over 25,000 visitors in five days and exceeding all expectations, what stories lie behind Inventario’s remarkable success?
🖋️ Writing ‘Me’: Stationery Takes Center Stage in Taste-Driven Consumption
The driving force behind the Inventario fair’s buzz was undoubtedly consumers in their 20s and 30s, particularly women. They distinctly exhibit a ‘taste-driven consumption’ pattern: willingly opening their wallets for products that align with their personal preferences and values, even at a higher price point. While stationery historically focused on functionality—for writing or office tasks—its meaning has expanded. It’s now a tool for self-expression, adding a touch of personal flair and emotion to everyday life.
The surge in 29CM’s stationery category transaction volume is a clear indicator of this shift. This signifies more than just market growth; it reflects what consumers seek from stationery. It’s not merely about the act of writing. The entire process—organizing thoughts in a favorite notebook, decorating a diary with cute stickers—becomes a meaningful experience and a form of self-expression.
Inventario’s approach of defining five stationery ‘personas’—like ‘the Inspirer’ and ‘the Recorder’—captured this context perfectly. By segmenting diverse tastes and needs to build resonance, and offering the joy of discovering ‘my’ identity, the fair provided value beyond a simple purchase. This reaffirms how crucial it is to understand not just the product’s attributes, but the meaning it holds in a consumer’s life.
✨ Beyond Just Selling: The Magic of Experience and Curation
Another key to Inventario’s success lies in ‘experience’ and ‘curation.’ Moving beyond simply displaying and selling items, the fair stood out by offering diverse, hands-on content allowing visitors to directly participate and experience brand stories. Interactive elements, like taking a ‘Stationery Personality Test’ for personalized recommendations or completing artwork through a stamp tour, offered visitors enjoyment far beyond typical shopping.
This kind of experiential content plays a crucial role in building emotional bonds between consumers and brands. Through touching products and engaging in brand activities, visitors naturally become immersed in the brand story, fostering positive brand image and loyalty. The sense of presence and multi-sensory engagement—difficult to replicate digitally—are the biggest draws and differentiators of offline events.
Collaborations between heritage stationery manufacturers and stylish emerging brands were another undeniable success factor. Pairings like ‘Hwarang Rubber x OIMU’ and ‘Jigu Chemistry x Kitty Bunny Pony’ satisfied both nostalgia and modern sensibilities, resonating across generations. This strategy cleverly tapped into the consumer desire to find novelty within the familiar, creating brand synergy and boosting buzz. Ultimately, well-executed curation proved to be more than just assembling good products; it’s a core driver for providing consumers with the joy of discovery and inspiration.
🚀 A Fashion Platform’s Metamorphosis: Stepping Up as a Lifestyle Curator
The success of Inventario holds special significance for its organizer, 29CM. Primarily known as a fashion-centric platform, 29CM successfully demonstrated its capabilities as a ‘taste curator’ spanning the entire lifestyle spectrum through this hit stationery fair. By securing a loyal customer base deeply interested in the specific category of stationery, it has laid the groundwork to naturally guide them towards other lifestyle areas like fashion and living.
This is more than just business expansion; it’s a strategic move to solidify the platform’s identity. In an era overflowing with products, consumers expect more than just purchasing items; they want platforms to ‘discover’ and ‘select’ products and brands that match their tastes. Through this fair, 29CM effectively showcased its ‘curation’ prowess. Leveraging the seemingly small category of ‘stationery,’ it proved its core brand value of ‘suggesting taste,’ employing a smart strategy to expand its influence in the broader lifestyle market.
Of course, challenges remain to ensure this success translates into sustained growth. Follow-up strategies to maintain the loyalty of acquired customers and broaden their interests across the lifestyle spectrum will be crucial beyond Inventario’s triumph.
This stationery fair revealed that even in the digital age, the need for analog experiences and sensibilities remains strong. Particularly among the 20s and 30s demographic, there’s a clear trend of expressing personal taste and values through consumption. It also reminds us that today’s marketing hinges not just on gathering good products, but on deeply understanding customer needs, curating thoughtfully, and providing holistic, multi-sensory experiences.
This trend likely extends beyond the stationery market or any single platform. The effort to read changing consumer trends and engage them with authentic communication and differentiated experiences will only grow in importance across all industries. Perhaps the key to future business success lies hidden within the seemingly small trends around us.