Jamie Marquardt, Director, Marketing & Communications
Happy Holidays to you and yours from all of us at Arandell Corporation! Our corporate blog’s innaugural year is nearing its end and we can’t begin to express how much we have enjoyed this addition to our marketing repetoire. Here are the links to your favorite articles to date:
A Flurry of Postal Updates: Droop Test, Move Update, Winter Sale, Dry Release Cards
Do you Pass the Droop Test?
9 Reasons to Mail More in 2010
No Postal Increase in 2010 - Really?
Canada Post Corp. Rate Changes Effective January 11, 2010
If you have any suggestions or requests for future blog posts, please send an email to blogging@arandell.com. We thank you for all of your feedback so far and look forward to adding more in the New Year.
On behalf of all of us at Arandell Corporation, we wish you a happy and safe holiday season.
Jamie Marquardt, Director, Marketing & Communications
Have you heard that line before? If so, I hope you don’t accept it as your “final answer.” Just because something has always been done a certain way, that’s no reason to keep doing it the same way, unless of course the method has no room for improvement. And, I certainly hope you have not been applying the “because it has always been done that way” mentality to your catalog design. You can still maintain brand image while also changing up variables such as layouts, messages, formats, sizes, page counts, in-home dates, etc. In fact, you should be changing things up to measure how response rates fluctuate from one catalog design to the next.
Maybe you’re a cataloger who has always mailed letter-size booklets or “Slim Jims.” How has your response rate changed since the USPS implemented its new tabbing regulations earlier this year? If it has gone down, maybe it’s time to try something new, like a traditional upright format. Have you typically produced a catalog with an oblong format? With the USPS bringing out new Droop Test regulations, now is the perfect time to implement a new format for your catalog because the oblong is not going to survive with the new droop/deflection standards. Could you transition to an upright or square format? Try it! Have you always treated all customers, regardless of purchase history, the same? If so, maybe it’s time to use a more dynamic approach to how you target customers. Do you use database marketing to help you with those efforts? If not, it’s time.
all about ROI recently released its “50 Best Tips of 2009“; I highly recommend reading it, as it gives some great ideas for changing up your current multichannel marketing plan (or offering you reassurance for the one you already have). Regardless of what strategies you decide to implement going forward, don’t apply the same ones as this year just because “that’s the way it has always been done.” That’s a sure fire way to bring your success to a standstill. Change is good. Embrace it!
Anna Hoffman, Sales and Marketing Analyst
What was then…
As consumers we all know what a catalog is. Personally, I was introduced to catalogs starting at a young age. My older sister and I often got into battles over who could view the American Girl doll catalog first. As we were both avid fans and collectors (my sister owned “Molly” and I myself had “Samantha”) of the new trinkets and clothing items that had come out for our little dolls. I remember vividly carefully earmarking the glossy pages of the catalogs filled with items that I positively NEEDED for Samantha.
What I have now…
Today, though I don’t receive the American Girl catalog any longer; my mail box is full of catalogs…well, what some would consider a catalog. Just yesterday I received a Patagonia “catalog.” Beautifully printed (kudos to Arandell!) the book was filled with images of waterproof shells, down jackets and other outdoor gear and apparel. There was, however, MORE than just merchandise. As each cover indicates, the catalog is filled with amazing images from around the world. Captions denote the location and credit the photographer and in some books, provide inspiring narrative for browsers. In fact, about 45% of the catalog consists of non-selling space. The photos, captions and tales not only reiterate Patagonia’s commitment to restoring the disappearing wild world they love so much, but they also inspire the readers to keep the catalog a bit longer. Angela Weidmann, Catalog Print Production Manager at Patagonia stated,
“Customers report that the captions for the image photos are the most-read copy in our catalogs…The editorial content does prompt customers to contact us regularly. They let us know they keep our catalog around the house for months or longer; some have collections dating back decades, and many have told us they savor reading our catalogs.”
Not sold on the customization theory? Read on…
Read more…