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