Catalog
Identity and First Impressions
Donald R. Libey
Libey Incorporated
Advisors and Intermediaries for the Direct Marketing
Industry
Ah
. . . When it was fun!
Remember
what we used to do when we were young and building the business?
We sent orders to ourselves regularly and we evaluated the process.
For a number of years, I provided a Mystery Shopper service
to CEOs. I would call and request a catalog, wait for it to
arrive (sometimes it never did), call back or mail an order
for products, and see what happened. Every step of the entire
process—and the follow-up for a year--was evaluated, measured
and reported on directly to the owner or CEO. It was surprising
what was learned. More surprising was the fact that most of
the owners really didn't know what was going on from the
beginning to the end of the purchasing process or in the post-purchase
period.
Identity
and first impressions count
One
thing we learned was that the identity and first impression
of the businesses were not being carefully managed and controlled.
For many catalog companies, inconsistency was the norm. This
was especially true when we received the order and looked at
the product packaging and the labeling of the boxes.
The
box arrives usually by UPS. It comes off the truck either intact
and pristine or crushed and dirty depending on the stacking
and handling involved during its journey from the catalog company
to the recipient. You can't really manage and control that,
but you can control the quality and appearance of the boxes,
and my advice has always been consistent: spend money on the
first impression. A ratty looking, scruffy box with a non-descript,
shipping scale-generated label and sloppily applied sealing
tape does not an impression make. When you have to squint at
the 8 point type in the upper portion of the UPS shipping label
to see who the box is from you have abandoned the first impression
in favor of the expediency and convenience of shipping technology.
Why not just bar-code everything and be completely
anonymous? This is an event! Even if the products are network
interface cables or paint sprayer nozzles, it's still an
event! And events require drama and magic to be memorable!
Construction
of the box
The first element to be controlled is the construction of the
shipping box itself. Are you using corrugated that is the minimal
weight to get by or corrugated that is heavy enough to assure
your boxes can survive the rigors of UPS stacking and handling
so they have a percentage chance of arriving in good condition
in order to create a good first impression?
The
second construction element is the choice of kraft or white
boxes. If you are in tractor parts, kraft is okay; if you are
in cashmere sweaters, white is better. The cost differential
has to be evaluated against the impression created and then
applied to the product and customer expectations. Err on the
side of good impressions. But, imagine what you could do with,
say, a red box or a black box to create an impression. Kraft
and white don't have to be the only choices.
The
third construction element is pre-printed exteriors or plain.
Plain is cheap; printed is not. What is your brand worth? If
you use pre-printed boxes, you have to consider the value of
extraordinary design over just acceptable design. The
cost of designing a box to create a dramatic and memorable event
is the same as designing a box to create a mediocre and unmemorable
event. Set up a competitive environment among several box suppliers
and go for the best designs their designers can create—and
then augment that design with your own design team; after all,
it's your image.
The
dressing and accessories
The
fourth element is the sealing tape that is applied to your boxes.
Is it reinforced paper, water-activated tape or is it the ubiquitous
transparent tape? Or, is it a quality paper tape that is also
pre-printed with your logotype or a particularly attractive
wording such as, "Thank You So Much For Being a Special
Cork & Bottle Customer!" But, perhaps even more important
is how that tape is applied. Is it just stuck on off-center
and uneven, or is it carefully applied to cover the flap edges
evenly and neatly? A shipper sealing a box should be no different
than a surgeon closing an incision: neat, orderly, uniform and
precise is the only way to work. Do you monitor that aspect
of the shipping process? Is tape application a specific and
important part of your warehouse training? Is it important to
you personally? When it is, the tape will
be put on straight and even.
The
fifth element is the labels that are applied to your boxes.
You can take a plain, unprinted box and make it look exciting
and special by using a large, top quality, superbly designed
adhesive, foil label. The very best custom designed labels we
have ever seen come from the Stephen Fossler Company in Crystal
Lake, Illinois (www.fossler.com; tel: 815 356 5500). These are
deeply embossed, foil labels with an endless palette of color
choices produced by the best label designers in existence. If
they were located in London, they would hold the Queen's
Royal Warrant for labels; that's how good they are. Nothing
makes a box look more elegant and upscale for less cost than
a beautifully designed foil label. You'll get over the
cost; you'll never get over the effects of a sloppy presentation.
Labels
don't have to be limited to identity of your company or
shipping addresses. We have had rolls of "Thank You"
labels hanging at the final inspection point on the shipping
line. The last person to check an outgoing package places—perfectly—a
Thank You label just above the address label so that it is the
first thing a customer sees. And when it comes to the cost versus
benefit analysis, remember that BIG labels make a far greater
impression at relatively the same cost. If it's worth having
a label, it's worth having a BIG label! Labels can also
call attention to special offers inside: "Look Inside For
a Great Deal on Replacement Parts for This Item!," or any
of hundreds of offers.
Similarly,
a label can be used to call attention to a particular benefit:
"Your Order Qualified For FREE Shipping!" Here, I
would use a lime-green fluorescent label to be sure the message
was visually driven home; but, then, subtlety has never been
one of my virtues. You might attempt to upsell or cross-sell
with a label: "FREE shipping when you buy the companion
piece to this item within the next 10 days!" The point:
a label is a means and opportunity to do
many beneficial things in communicating with the customer.
The
story that says it all
In the early days of The Vermont Teddy Bear Company, there was
the Legend of the Box. It seems children were concerned that
their bear would be afraid of the dark when it was shipped to
them from the factory by their doting grandparents. So, the
company had a lamp printed on the inside of the box so the bear
could "turn on the light" enroute. The children were
concerned the bear wouldn't be able to breathe in the box.
The company had air holes printed on the outside. The children
were concerned the bear would be hurt in an accident while it
was being shipped by UPS. The company had the bear seat-belted
in a "car seat" inside the box. The children were
worried the bear would be hungry during the trip. The company
placed a package of "Bear Nuts" inside each box as
a precautionary snack, a "little something" as it
were. The children were afraid the bear would get lost. The
company printed a "map to your house" on one of the
interior flaps, right next to the lamp. The outside of the box
was made to look like the Vermont home of the teddy; in short,
the whole packaging concept became an event for the children.
Actually, it became more of an event for the cash-heavy grandparents
who visited the factory by the tour bus load. When they saw
the box it became a reason to buy the bear because the box concept
was, "Just so adorable, I couldn't resist." I
don't know if Vermont Teddy Bear still does the Bear Box,
but they once created the highest example of what can be done
to turn an ordinary box into an extraordinary event.
