Creative

Versioned, personalized, customized — what are the differences between these types of catalog segmentation and printing techniques? The following definitions are courtesy of Heidelberg, which manufactures and sells the NexPress 2100 digital color press that makes these types of printing possible. 1. Versioned printing allows you to print multiple short runs of different catalog versions that follow a common design/layout. That is, you can incorporate some unique content or language for specific audiences while still staying with the common look and feel of your catalog, according to Heidelberg. With this type of digital printing, you can economically target your messages and

Modern printing technologies have made the promise of one-to-one — or more appropriately, one-to-some — marketing a reality. Indeed, today’s catalogers can select from a wide range of personalization printing techniques, such as inkjetting customers’ names on catalog covers or inserts, crafting special offers for small customer segments, or even printing four-color customized catalogs with products, imagery and copy hand-selected for each recipient. It’s a dizzying array of new catalog production and marketing possibilities. And catalogers are taking advantage of them. Just in the past few years, for example, catalog printer Quebecor World recorded a 15-percent annual growth rate in personalized catalogs among

Catalogs are such wonderfully visual experiences that copy, a critical component, often is overlooked. But the truth is that copy can make a star out of a mediocre image, or it can make good merchandise sound boring. Many catalogers spend thousands of dollars looking for just the right designer, the perfect photographer and an inspiring shoot location, but then fail to consider the importance of the written word. Indeed, visuals today often are placed at a higher level than copy. Yet to truly affect customers and boost sales, catalog copy should work even harder than its accompanying visuals. In general, good catalog

Roughly speaking, all catalogs are styled in the tradition of either Louis Vuitton or Wal-Mart. No, really. The former are created using a traditional catalog workflow: merchandiser, designer, photographer, stylist, color house and web printer. The result often is a high-end look that’s inspirational enough to coax customers into paying the substantial product costs. Cocktail-party stories about these catalogs feature the photographer too heavy to fit into a helicopter and an art director arguing with modeling agencies by cell phone while standing on an island in a remote Alaskan lake shooing deer away from a fully styled bedroom set at midnight (true,

The metamorphosis of Rob and Diane O’Connor from wide-eyed idealists to razor sharp, gimlet-eyed catalogers who are on top of every facet of a $17 million merchandising operation is as inspiring as it is fascinating. Now in their early 60s, the O’Connors are at the top of their game and supremely fit. How fit? Rob O’Connor recently ran a 150-mile marathon across the Sahara in 100-degree heat carrying on his back bedding, an eight-day supply of food and a small stove. In the process, he raised $17,000 for cancer research at the Cleveland Clinic as a thank you for his successful prostate surgery.

What if you could achieve double the response rate you currently earn with your catalog mailing? What if you could mail for much less than the cost of the catalog? And what if you could do all this and make a profit? You can. Highly targeted, lower-cost marketing communications vehicles such as mini catalogs, solo direct mail pieces and flyers complement your catalog mailings. An advantage business-to-business (b-to-b) catalogers have over consumer catalogers is their knowledge of purchasing motivators, industry-wide purchasing patterns and product life cycles. Think about it: Customers in certain industries buy during specific times of the year, while others buy

What if you could achieve double the response rate you currently earn with your catalog mailing? What if you could mail for much less than the cost of the catalog? And what if you could do all this and make a profit? You can. Highly targeted, lower-cost marketing communications vehicles such as mini catalogs, solo […]

Comma Crazy “I’ve got a lot of changes,” said the cataloger. I sighed. We’d already been through countless rounds and sent files to the color house very late. And the cataloger still was making changes. Color costs were soaring. I got out my red pen. “Ready for your changes,” I said. “OK,” said the cataloger, “in the first sentence, third word, remove the comma before the word ‘and’ ... “ One nice thing about smaller catalogs is that often they’re run by entrepreneurs who are pretty good at distinguishing between things that matter and things that don’t. But as a catalog company

Like so many facets of direct marketing, improving Web-site conversions depends as much on applying an appropriate focus, some common sense and thorough planning as it does on adopting the latest technological breakthrough. Indeed, 43 percent of Web executives, marketers, developers and IT managers said conversion rates are the most important Web-site metrics they track, according to a survey from NetIQ. It’s astonishing, then, that 66 percent didn’t know their own conversion rates. What’s needed? The logical first step toward improving conversion rates — and overall Web-site performance — is to apply some of the same knowledge you use in initiatives for

Many catalogers who use customer testimonials say this creative element boosts sales and adds a friendly touch to their brands. Below are some things to consider if you, too, want to utilize this creative element in your print catalogs. Testimonials Work Most catalogers report a general boost in product performance when they use testimonials, although many admit they don’t scientifically measure the impact. “I used testimonials at Gardener’s Supply and think they can be really powerful catalog marketing tools,” says Susan Stone Russel, the former circulation manager at Gardener’s Supply catalog, and currently a manager at Intuit. “My main objective