Who said “yes” to what? I’ll get to that in a minute. First, let me share a story. Decades ago, we heard the following from almost every food retailer we worked with: “We want our catalog to look like Harry & David’s.” Why Harry & David? Because at one time, they set the standard for […]
I’m asked to critique catalogs on a regular basis. Assessing catalog design is important, and I’m of the belief that we can “always do better.” However, many of my comments point out small deficiencies that at the end of the day do not make a big difference in overall results. Collectively they can make a […]
Catalogs are a visual medium. This fact has not changed – even in a world where everything else seems to have evolved. This is good news for the catalog industry! According to recent science, the brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than it takes the brain to decode text. Why is this? We understand […]
Why You Should Keep It Simple “Simple is harder than complex.” –Steve Jobs Browsing through a catalog of one of my favorite brands, I found myself completely frustrated, to the point that I eventually threw the catalog aside. Why? Because they made it hard for me to shop. We are in an era […]
I won’t keep you in suspense: print is alive and well. Back in the day, when investing marketing dollars, it was easy to draw a line between mailing catalogs (the only direct marketing investment at the time), the value of acquiring a customer and the bank statements that arrived months later. This news from Victoria’s […]
The research stopped me cold. And I seriously thought our team had it right … we didn’t. Let me back up to the beginning. At J.Schmid one of our mantras is that catalogs should DISRUPT, DELIGHT and DRIVE. I’d like to focus on the latter. Catalogs should DRIVE customers or prospects to DO something. In […]
Amidst all of the inbox clutter, one thing gets easier every day — swiping to delete email on our mobile devices. Most of us do it daily or even several times a day. We sit poised, device in hand, trigger finger hovering at the ready. We scan, we process, we either tap to open or […]
The world of marketing has exploded with opportunities to capture the heart of both customers and prospects alike. Whether it’s online or offline, marketers bombard consumers with a cacophony of messages that overload the senses and create confusion. Therefore, it’s more important than ever to present a simple, compelling directive to guide prospects to a […]
Good news! According to new research published by McKinsey & Company, consumers are feeling better about their financial situation than they did throughout the 2008-2012 recession. And yet, there’s bad news: consumer morale remains challenged, and consumers continue to look for ways to save money. With so many options at their fingertips, consumers have the […]
