A Conversation Over Tea
Over the past several weeks, we’ve looked at a variety of brands and how they approach their catalog. As you may have noticed, there are many different ways to achieve the same goals of DISRUPT. DELIGHT. DRIVE. How brands stand out in the mail, engage their target customer (or even better, the prospecting universe) and ultimately motivate people to purchase may look different, but they all use the same principles. How you apply them and make them work for you makes all the difference.
Sit back and enjoy a cup of Tea, a children’s clothing brand with so much personality. They approach their catalog in a thematic, story-telling way, giving each a destination where the merchandise and brand story come to life. Let’s dig into what they’re doing well, and talk about a few things they could improve on.
Three things Tea is doing well:
1) LET’S BE FRIENDS!
One of my favorite things about this catalog is how the brand’s personality is palpable after looking at just one spread. It’s inviting and affable. The visual table of contents on page 2-3 immediately captures my attention by using color blocks and showing the depth and breadth of their product assortment. Now that they have my attention, reading page 2-3 gives me a true sense of who they are right from the start. They are playful, candid and inspired, and their copy and photography reflect this personality throughout the catalog. Notice how they also invite people to connect with them on social, a great engagement tool. The inclusion of social media reinforces the catalog to be a driver to other mediums. If nowhere else, don’t let an opportunity slip by like page 2-3 to tell consumers who you are and why it matters.
2) SO MANY VARIETIES OF TEA!
The pacing throughout a catalog is a critical part of keeping a consumer engaged and turning to the next page. No one wants to see the same thing over and over again. People become disinterested and move on. Tea’s catalog is the epitome of variety. The pacing of their book is exemplary, varying page layouts so it never feels stagnant. Grid layouts, full-page laydowns, large model hero shots, you get the idea. Just like how products differ, how you sell them in your catalog should be different too.
3) CREATIVITY MEETS FUNCTIONALITY
My favorite selling spread in this catalog is a mix-&-match themed spread. It’s a great creative solution to leverage both storytelling and selling. They tell a captivating color story through the burgundy background and show you how each of their pieces is intentionally designed to do your own mix-&-match. And most importantly, they make it really hard not to buy all of them! Always ask yourself– what story do we want to communicate and how can we balance it with selling the product we’re talking about?
Three things Tea could do better:
1) BREAK IT UP
People crave simplicity. So when things don’t appear quick and easy, chances are you’ll lose them. See the below spread for example. There are a lot of things to process. I flipped right past this spread at first because it was overwhelming. Little did I know, it’s a story about a real family! (pretty cool, right?) The large subhead paragraph should be split into two, so it’s not as daunting to read. Another solution would be to format longer paragraphs flush left, instead of centered, for readability.
Similarly, the fourteen different product listings in one block are really hard to shop. When selling this many items on a page, break up the product listings so we can find what we’re looking for. In this case, it’d also be beneficial to remove one of the supporting product images to create white space and breathing room for the story. Typography should be used intentionally, supporting the visuals and the story you’re telling, while being cognizant not to overwhelm.
2) TELL ME MORE!
After going through this book, I found myself wanting to know more about Tea’s charitable giving efforts. It’s mentioned in a few places, but not more than a brief overview. This is an important part of who Tea is and that importance should be represented in the catalog. With all of the daily distractions and brands craving consumer attention, one great way to be noticed is to give them an emotional connection with you. Make them feel something. This will go a long way in brand loyalty.
3) WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?
Now back to the last goal of a successful catalog, DRIVE. If we don’t know how or where to find the product, it’s not working hard enough. Don’t mistake this for the misconception of “our catalog has to tell everyone everything”, but don’t lose sight of why you’re mailing: to drive sales. I would love to see Tea utilize stronger call to actions instead of just in the footer.
You not only want to tell them to go online, but give them a reason to do so. Tea has some great examples- “See our entire collection of Fall Dresses at….” or “Shop all our sets at…”, but they’re placed at the bottom of the page where most people would miss them. It’s crucial to put these callouts where your eyes go to first, like at the top of the page near subhead or quote copy.
I think Tea has one of the most unique and entertaining children’s catalogs out there. They tell their story from the beginning and continue to play off their admirable and inspiring personality throughout the book. They highlight their merchandise in a variety of ways to support its story and features. Just top it off with a few small improvements (maybe a little more sugar?), and this Tea catalog is perfection.
Can your catalog work harder for you? We can help! Email allisond@jschmid.com
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Tags: #catalogcritiques, Brand Storytelling, branding, catalog, catalog design, creating emotion, Customer Experience, marketing
