Shop Talk: Best Practices for Testing Catalog Creative

You can print stickers and dot whacks in smaller quantities, and although you'll eventually want to try this directly on your catalog cover, if you use two different dot whacks (they look the same before the scratch-off label is done) it will cost a pittance compared to a four- or five-color plate change for your cover. (Not to mention the fact that the tests I've been involved with have actually always ended up with a physical dot whack outperforming printed-on ones anyway.) People forget that paper is tactile and recipients feel something different when they hold the catalog. That something different elevates their awareness of your offer.