Catalog Identity and First Impressions
by Don Libey

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.

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