Creative Questioning
Though it's tedious at times, you should never stop self-evaluating your catalog's creative elements, advised consultant Glenda Shasho Jones in her "Brand Checklist" presentation during The Direct Marketing Association's Annual Catalog Conference. Here are a few of the questions she offered to help catalog marketers look at their editions with fresh creative eyes:
COVER
* Do you have a recognizable, easy-to-read and prominent logo?
* Do you treat your covers as a campaign?
* Do your covers always stand out in a pile of catalogs?
* Do your covers have strong elements of REDD (Relevance, Emotion, Drama, Differentiation)?
* Do you treat the communication of your offers consistently with your brand?
DESIGN ELEMENTS
* Does your density and use of white space reflect your positioning and offer?
* Does your typestyle reflect your positioning?
* Do the rule lines and icons reflect your customer?
* Do you use color to support branding efforts?
* Are you consistent with your use of design elements?
* Do you repeat selected branding elements throughout your catalog and from book to book?
Glenda Shasho Jones can be reached at glenda@sjdirect.com.
--Gabrielle Mosquera