Secrets of the Catalog Master
Vol. MMV No. 7 October 2005
(Continued--page 3)
Now Available: Libey and Pickering on RFM and Beyond
MeritDirect Press released its first publication Libey and Pickering on RFM and Beyond, hardcover, 360 pages; ISBN 0-9765172-0-5; $59.00 (Visa/MC). Copies may be ordered toll-free 1-866-405-1300 or online at either www.MeritDirect.com or Amazon.com.
MeritDirect Press publishes books that assist multi-channel direct marketers to become more successful and profitable. Established by the partners of MeritDirect, a leading business-to-business list brokerage and management firm, the mission of MeritDirect Press is to being knowledge and wisdom to clients and the professional direct marketing community.
The Fall Ritual
There has always been something magic about October and November in the catalog business. The fourth quarter catalogs are finished and at the printer. The first nine months of the passing year are complete and the performance is being analyzed in preparation for adjustments to the circulation plan for the coming year (which was completed in September).
This is the time for the leisurely review of the creative state of the catalog. How does the catalog really look?
Get out of the office. The weather is great. Go somewhere and enjoy the fall scents and the cool air after the long, dry summer. Get in the mood for creative exploration. Have a nice lunch.
Take someone you trust with you. Someone who will actually tell you the truth when you pose a creative question, not just parrot the party line: “Well, you know I really like those crammed pages with forty little boxes showing small products. It’s actually cost-effective and doesn’t have anything to do with response or sales.”
Stop defending the creative and look at the catalog dispassionately. Does it accomplish what it should? Is it any good? Just how dated is the catalog anyway? I keep seeing catalogs that have become business-to-business and consumer classics, but most of them looked pretty much the same in 1990 . . . and 1980 . . . and 1970 . . . and . . . . Maybe—just maybe—it’s time for an updated look. Perhaps while things were going along pretty well, the market changed or the customer got older, or younger, or richer or poorer, in sickness or in health, till death do us part. Stuff changes! Catalogs have to change to remain relevant. Even business-to-business catalogs.
Tear out pages and look at them in isolation. Concentrate on individual page attributes and approaches. Is there an old style protocol or an old typography protocol being continued past their prime of relevance? Are those individual pages done the way you would do them for next year’s business?
How could you stand the catalog on its head and do three things totally different and totally interesting? Creative is all about keeping people interested. And showing them what’s new. So . . . what’s new and interesting in your catalog? There a number of the biggest catalogs out there that I look at and I don’t know what year it is. These dreadfully boring catalogs have looked like they look for the past twenty years or more. This is usually a sign that there hasn’t been a fresh creative idea in a decade. Why is this?
Talk about the covers. Are they predictable? Is there something that might be fresh and exciting that could be done to the cover that just might get a customer to say, “Wow! That’s different. I wonder what’s new?” That is the magic saying. It’s the only salvation from irrelevance and tossing the catalog in the Pile For Later.
Is the photography any good at all? Or is this the same, tired, old photography that every customer has seen now for several years? Was it skillfully done to begin with? Or was it just cheap? Is it digital and are the angles are correct? Is the lighting dramatic or dull; exciting or boring; does clarity rule or obscurity?
What about the copy? Some stuff, different catalog? Do the words echo the expressions of today or mimic the past? Is there continuity to the copy? Does one part of the catalog use specification copy and another descriptive copy and yet another persuasive copy? Are the customers confused? Are you?
Have a heart-to-heart with yourself. Look out at the trees and the fall sky and smell the air. Tell yourself the truth about your creative. Take the rest of the day off. Then go back to the office tomorrow, and do something about it.
BoardRoomAdvisor
CEOs who may be considering advisory or consulting services are encouraged to review the BoardRoomAdvisor information at www.libey.com. This is a cost-effective method of obtaining expertise in growing the business or in resolving problem areas. Clients of MeritDirect and Amtower & Company are accorded courtesy fees. A limited number of new clients will be taken in 2006 and we recommend pre-planning now.
Web-Site-Advisor
For a full description, please review www.Web-Site-Advisor.com or the Web-Site-Advisor page at www.libey.com
This unique 50-factor protocol evaluation of your website’s credibility from the customer’s point of view has proven to be not only useful, but in nearly every instance has resulted in the discovery of a significant flaw or problem that has caused a lot of money to be left on the table. The in-depth review is exceptionally affordable and may be the best money you will spend on your website this year.
The Libey Incorporated Economic Outlook and Secrets of the Catalog Master is published seven times annually by MeritDirect. The information provided is published for information purposes only and does not constitute recommendations for investment or other financial activities. No guarantee of business performance is made or implied and readers are encouraged to seek adequate professional advice prior to making strategic and financial decisions or investments, or altering planned business activities.
Copyright 2005 by Donald R. Libey. No reproduction or dissemination of this material by any means whatsoever, electronic or printed, is permitted without written consent of the author and publisher. Copyright infringements will be pursued to the full extent allowed by law.
The Libey Incorporated Economic Outlook and Secrets of the Catalog Master is provided to clients of Libey Incorporated and its strategic partners, MeritDirect, Libey Incorporated, Concordia Financial Group, Inc., and Amtower & Company.
Back
Pages: 1 2
3
