Catalog Critiques: Making Bad Good, and Good Better

Uncommon Goods: The Friend That Knows Just What You Need Throughout history, there have been millions of catalogs designed, printed and distributed to customers around the world. So what separates the good ones from the bad ones? Here at J. Schmid, we believe the answer to that question is actually pretty simple. Every great catalog […]

Catalog Critiques: Making Bad Good, and Good Better

Filson: An American Tale There are a tremendous number of catalogs out there, spanning the arc from breathtaking all the way to ‘this could use a little work’. I wanted to take a moment and talk about “Filson”, a brand that has flirted around the peripherals of my upscale workwear interests, but that I had […]

Catalog Critiques: Making Bad Good, and Good Better

Olive & Cocoa: Draw Your Shoppers In I’m a sucker for an illustrated cover, even when I’m not in the target audience – J. Peterman, Duluth Trading Company. There’s something about the artisanship, timelessness and unique look that calls to me and makes me want to see what’s behind it.  At J.Schmid, we like to […]

Catalog Critiques: Making Bad Good, and Good Better

Duluth Trading Company It’s my turn to chime in as part of our critique series, where we assess catalogs with an eye for the “Three D’s: DISRUPT, DELIGHT and DRIVE.  Does the catalog stand out and grab my attention (Disrupt)? Does the book engage me somehow (Delight)? Does it encourage me to go online or […]

Knowledge-Based Creative

Part 5: Left-Brain Creative Creative and analytics teams are drastically different disciplines, driven by different personalities and workflows, which means that merging them takes purposeful planning. The timeline is the first big challenge. The creative team looks ahead, creating new campaigns to be launched in the future while analytics teams review the past, examining what […]

BREAKTHROUGH CREATIVE

Part 5: The Art of the CTA Ah, the ubiquitous—and critical—Call to Action. Great branding, sumptuous, emotional or humorous creative, a strong voice: they are the vessels that hold the CTA. The ask: to buy now; sign-up; get more information; go online; hurry, don’t miss this sale. For every response-driven tactic we create—from catalogs to […]

BREAKTHROUGH CREATIVE

Part 3: The Art of Simplicity Simplicity in marketing isn’t easy to achieve but making engagement easy can be fairly simple. That sentence is a brain twister, right? Let me untangle the words. ‘Simple’ and ‘Easy’ are two different things, and both are critically important when it comes to effective marketing. Simple means making something uncomplicated, like expressing […]

CAMPAIGN BUILDING BLOCKS

PART 2 : COORDINATE YOUR CAMPAIGN The following article is part of an ongoing series from J.Schmid with the critical elements and insights you need to strategize, execute and launch successful omnichannel campaigns. Watch your email and follow #CampaignBuildingBlocks on social media to keep up with the full story. Crafting memorable creative that will compel […]