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From Watercolours to QR Codes: Meet the Founder Behind addSQUIRREL
HGA Member Spotlight | addSQUIRREL
From Watercolours to QR Codes: Meet the Founder Behind addSQUIRREL
Meet Jen King, the creative entrepreneur combining wildlife-inspired artwork with technology to bring physical products to life.
What do watercolour paintings and QR code technology have in common? For Home & Gift Association member Jen King, quite a lot, actually!
Jen is the founder of two very different businesses: Jen Winnett Art, an established wildlife-inspired greeting card and giftware brand, and addSQUIRREL, a technology platform helping businesses bring their products to life through video, photos and voice messages.
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Having built Jen Winnett Art from the ground up, Jen understands the challenges faced by independent brands, particularly when it comes to standing out in a busy market and creating meaningful connections with customers.
Her watercolour designs are now stocked by hundreds of retailers, including the National Trust and RSPB, with the business continuing to expand into international markets.
But alongside her artwork, Jen has been building something completely different.
Connecting physical and digital
Bringing physical products to life
Launched in 2024, addSQUIRREL was created to bridge the gap between physical products and digital experiences.
Using a simple QR code, brands can add videos, photographs, voice recordings and personalised messages to almost any product or packaging.
There's no app to download, and the experience can be customised with a brand's own colours, logo and content.
For greeting card publishers, this could mean allowing customers to add a personal video message to a birthday card.
For giftware brands, it could be an opportunity to share the story behind a product, demonstrate how it's made or introduce the person who created it.
And for retailers, the technology opens up opportunities to engage customers beyond the point of purchase.
Exploring the possibilities
More than just a video
As addSQUIRREL has developed, so have the possibilities.
The platform now offers white-label solutions for businesses wanting to create their own branded experiences, with options including links to websites, social media and customer email collection.
Jen and the team are already exploring applications across greeting cards, giftware, events, corporate gifting and retail.
Bringing Gift of the Year entries to life
addSQUIRREL has also been working with the Home & Gift Association to help bring Gift of the Year entries to life, giving brands another way to showcase their products to potential buyers.
Meet the founder
A foot in both worlds
Running an established creative business alongside a technology start-up has given Jen a rather unusual perspective on the gift industry.
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"I think one of the biggest advantages is that I'm a publisher myself, so I understand what brands actually need. Technology is brilliant, but it has to be affordable, simple to use and add genuine value. Otherwise, what's the point?"
Jen King, Founder of addSQUIRREL
For Jen, the aim is to help brands create better experiences without adding unnecessary complications.
"There's so much potential in connecting physical products with digital content, and I genuinely think we're only scratching the surface of what brands could do with it."
With new partnerships and projects developing, addSQUIRREL is looking forward to helping more businesses explore what's possible.
Interested in finding out how addSQUIRREL could work for your business?
Get in touch with Jen and the team to explore the possibilities, from individual QR code products to fully branded solutions.
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