Over the last several years, we’ve seen catalogs come and go. And we’ve seen many retailers jump into the game, spend a LOT of money (we’re talking tens of millions of dollars) and then abandon the model after a couple of seasons. This literally breaks my heart and makes me want to scream! Why does […]
Last week Toys R Us closed their remaining stores, bringing a sad end to a 70-year old brand. In the final days of the store closings, for a brief time the top link on Reddit was a strangely poignant image of Geoffrey the Giraffe standing next to empty store shelves, waving goodbye. In the comments […]
Lois Brayfield, J.Schmid CEO, and Debbie Roth, Japs-Olson Company VP Sales & Marketing, offer their take on the catalog and direct mail industry in the recently published DMA Statistical Fact Book 2018. Learn more about this valuable resource packed with recent research for all marketing tactics here. According to the stats, recipients of direct mail […]
We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog post to bring you a chilling tale of Halloween horror. But all is not what it seems. For between the screams lies a cautionary lesson for marketers. Read on, if you dare… A rusty hinge creaks, its metal scream cuts through the howling wind. You feel a cold drop […]
Oh my. I just read an article about the future of search marketing called “What Amazon Echo and Google Home mean for online retailers.” The next thing I see is a UPS package on my doorstep with “voice shopping with Alexa and Echo” printed right above “Prime” on the packing tape that seals the box. […]
Catalogers have a choice to make in the coming weeks. In this case, there are only two possibilities: Do something or don’t do anything. The choice involves good and evil. In this case, “good” is defined as spending a lot less money and “evil” as spending a lot more money. Do I have your attention? […]
Lois Brayfield, J.Schmid CEO, and Lauren Ackerman, J.Schmid Web Content Specialist, offer their take on the catalog and direct mail industry in the recently published DMA Statistical Fact Book 2017. Learn more about this valuable resource packed with recent research for all marketing tactics here. The numbers are in, and the message is clear: print […]
Ecommerce has been changing at digital speed since it showed up in the marketing world 25 years ago. Print marketing has taken 100 years to evolve from the early days of newspaper to magazines, then to direct mail and finally catalogs. Catalog circulation is the sturdy bedrock art of targeting what records to mail, when […]
(No, not you. Your catalog!) If you haven’t heard, the United States Postal Service has increased the piece rate weight limit for catalog mailings. As of January 22, 2017, your catalog can qualify for the Flat-Size Marketing Mail postal piece rate if it weighs 4.0 ounces or less (up from the long-reigning 3.3 ounces). With […]
