Creative Cut: Keep Catalog Sales Healthy

They say “don’t judge a book by its cover,” but with a catalog, you must. A catalog has about three seconds to inspire someone to open it — or toss it. My first impression of the Botanic Choice catalog is chaos. This catalog, which sells nutraceuticals, vitamins and supplements, features no fewer than nine fonts and 12 point sizes, a free shipping offer call-out, a free shipping coupon, and seven products — and that’s just on the cover!

Perhaps people who shop this category respond to this type of visual onslaught. But my initial impression is that shopping from this catalog would be like wading upstream in a muddy river wearing heavy boots and carrying a 10-lb. sack of potatoes. I was exhausted before I even opened it. There are some ways to channel (and ease) the shopping experience while staying within the price/value requirements of this category.

Branding

Is there any value to branding in a price-driven category? Definitely! Even more so than big red sale prices, consistent branding is what will set your catalog apart in a cluttered, discount-driven marketplace. Branding is the key to creating credibility (and loyalty) for your products.

The Botanic Choice logo should appear larger on the cover, and its positioning tag line, “Superior Quality. Exceptional Value. Doctor Recommended. Satisfaction Guaranteed,” should be shortened, appearing as a unit with the logo on every occasion where it appears. That logo and tagline (as well as the Web site address and phone number) should be in the same location on every mailed catalog.

In a discount-driven environment, the discount should be the prominent message on the page. Here, the 75 percent discount is dwarfed by the “Summer Sizzlers” phrase.

A limited number of fonts, point sizes and colors should be selected, and the catalog designer should stay within that range and palette to make the catalog recognizable to the customer, again and again.

Consider limiting the number of products being sold on the cover. Choose three or four products for different health conditions, and give them big play.

The stock photography used looks extremely dated. Since actual lifestyle photo shoots undoubtedly aren’t part of the creative budget, consider purchasing newer and better quality stock photography.

Get Organized

The frantic look of the pgs. 2-3 spread misses a huge opportunity to direct the shopping experience and drive sales. It’s OK to let people browse your catalog to a certain extent, but in a product heavy, high page-count catalog, you also must provide them with a road map so they can navigate toward what they need.

The “Easy Index” isn’t so easy. It should be larger and color coded to match the category pages within the catalog, directing customers to their health concerns and turning browsers into buyers. Make sure each category has a unique color. The current treatment is confusing, as several categories, such as Digestion and Vision, use the same color.

Where’s the Deal?

This catalog offers a fabulous deal: $50 worth of FREE products after six purchases! Yet I had to actually search for it on pg. 2. And though it’s explained in detail on the order form, I had to find that on my own as well.

The upper right corner of pg. 3, arguably the choice selling spot in the catalog, should feature a product you can buy. Here, the product is hidden in the lower right corner.

Use the standard-of-authority letter to both introduce the company’s president and the doctors who endorse the products. Visually group them all together in the same box.

The interior spreads also could use a dose of design best practices. Shopping this catalog is like flipping through a phone book — all the spreads look and feel the same, and all the products carry the same visual weight.

In this catalog, each product treatment looks like it was designed as a quarter-page, half-page or full-page “ad,” placed randomly onto the spread. The cataloger should consider designing in spreads using a clearly defined grid, with best selling and high margin products appearing larger and in the upper right position. Designed as a spread by giving more visual emphasis to some products and less to others lets customers connect the products together, opening up cross-sell potential.

Cut the Clutter

Cut back on the clutter. Extraneous borders, drop shadows, dingbats, screens and other elements limit the ability of the copy to communicate the products’ benefits.

In the Weight Loss section, every product has a headline of equal size proclaiming its effectiveness, often with the same benefit. That’s very confusing for the consumer.

Contain type styles and sizes to a few. Assuming that most customers are more than 40 years old, they’ll struggle with the small point sizes.

Consider creating separate sections for Men’s Health and Women’s Health. Design these sections so they stand apart from the rest of the catalog

Packed with percentage-off coupons, free shipping and other promotions, this catalog feels like a direct response TV commercial translated into print. If these gimmicks are necessary to sell, the company ought to give them some play.

Make offers for free stuff larger. These offers are likely to create sales with this audience, so make them big and put them in the best selling positions.

Conclusion

As experts in marketing vitamins and supplements, Botanic Choice knows which sales formula its customers respond to the best. But the cataloger must leverage this knowledge by doing a more strategic job with branding, organization, navigation and promotion. It can do so without abandoning the copy heavy, busy style that works. «

Christine Carrington is president of King of Prussia, Pa.-based Catalogs by Lorel. Contact: (610) 337-9133, chris@lorel.com.