Who doesn’t love a great makeover story? You may remember that Hammacher Schlemmer was in the Cat-U Pub for a Catalog Critique with Neil Schuler from J. Schmid last year. It’s a year later and John Gagliardi and the very talented creative team at Hammacher have updated the catalog, reworked the pagination, created a stronger […]
This week the big news in Direct is that Nordstrom’s has had to cut it’s forcast because it cut it’s direct mail program. But the big takeaway isn’t that direct mail is awesome, though it is. The big takeaway is that saying “Thank you” to customers is one of the most powerful things a brand […]
In 1998 I first heard that online was going to kill catalogs. Thirty years later they are still here, still relevant and gaining a younger audience. But as technology advances and retail evolves what will happen in 2025? I am thrilled that Kevin Hillstrom is also pondering this very thing and will be sharing his […]
I’ve spent the last 30 years with a laser focus on how women shop and what we have now isn’t cutting it for women. The web was designed by engineers and coders who value speed and efficiency. They did a brilliant job, it’s fast and efficient, but if you actually like shopping, if you want […]
This weekend I watched Brené Brown’s Netflix special for the second time. If you aren’t familiar with Brené’s work here is a link to her Ted Talk, it’s one of the most watched in the world. Her eight books have been international bestsellers and, well, she rocks. One of the many things she said that […]
I’m not really much of a baseball gal (Go Sox!) but the changeup I’m talking about is the cover changeup. Every year all good catalogers will take the results from the previous year and see which covers did the best. There is always the winner that works every time. A hero shot of the best […]
A friend and colleague, Kristen Stetson, asked me recently if I knew someone at The Company Store. I don’t, but when you are done reading this please pass it on if you do. The disconnect Kristen saw a headboard that she liked in The Company Store catalog. She was looking for a headboard so this […]
The 3 rules of advertising are benefit, benefit, benefit When you want to increase sales of a product, the most important thing to do is determine the benefit. What is the product going to do for the customer? Most product copy focuses on the attributes, product specifications, what it does, what it’s made of, where it […]
Everytime you add new product you have to position it. Positioning is the story you tell the customer about why they want it and what it will do for them. The first and most important question is “What is it good for?” That isn’t a simple question—consider the avocado. In the 70’s, when avocado growers were […]
When someone says “Can we promote this in the catalog?” how do you answer? Catalogs can move the needle on a lot of fronts: customer acquisition, inventory issues, brand enhancement, and customer education. To do things effectively there needs to be a pretty relentless focus on the catalog’s strategy and costs. If you need to promote […]