Forget going to the gym more often or eating better or any other resolutions you’ll abandon by mid-February. I’ve made a list of New Year’s resolutions for 2017 … and they’re all about catalogs. Ignore any proclamations of catalogs going away. They’re still here. They’re still relevant. And they can be better than ever. Because […]
Human beings have an attention span of 8 seconds. We don’t read anymore. We scan. Brands usually say too much. Cut your copy. Make your point. Quickly. Make things more visual. Get rid of anything unnecessary. Edit again. My 8 seconds are up. You get my point. The end. Having trouble trimming your message? […]
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 […]
Catalog heroes rise up against democratic oppression One voice, one vote? Equality for all? Democratic rule? No more! Not here. Not now. Not ever. Before you report me to Homeland Security or flood the comments decrying my fascist propaganda, let me explain. I’m not proposing a violent overthrow of the government. No, my revolutionary screed […]
Understanding what goes into the adjustment of postage rates is like watching a computer wizard remotely dial into your computer to fix something. Until we go through the initial stage of total confusion, slog our way through understanding the basic things that make the machine run properly, and finally narrow it down to the few […]
Yes, mailing a catalog can be a powerful advertising tool. However, we realize its role has changed over the last several years. A successful catalog should DISRUPT your customer’s lives and get noticed. Once inside your catalog, it must DELIGHT with relevant products and stories that matter and finally, and most important, it must have […]
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 […]
