U.S. Box’s Product Array Impresses, but Confuses

The U.S. Box Corp. catalog does a great job of showing potential customers that the company carries an impressive array of paper products to cover the packaging needs of everyone from boutique shops to catering companies to jewelry stores. However, the book has a number of flaws too, most notably a number of confusing product references that can leave customers scratching their heads.

Front Cover Solid, Back Lacks
The front cover shows both people and products; it’s engaging and fun. I’d recommend adding the Web address and toll-free phone number to the cover and spine of this perfect-bound, 176-page annual catalog, as well as adding the Web address to the back cover.

The back cover is more of a throwaway. Showing a UPS man delivering a package in a super-boring brown box is wasting a chance to show how distinctive packaging can elevate a company’s brand presentation all the way to its customer’s doorstep.

The bulleted text is selling the Web. I really have to question the use of the best selling space in the catalog to promote something that every customer knows you have. Other than the Video Product Tutorials, there’s nothing on that list I wouldn’t expect to find on any respectable company’s Web site. The images next to the spine give no indication of what they are or where in the catalog to find them.

Most mysterious are the flying craft-paper packages tied with twine. They look cool, but no carrier would let you mail them. The back cover is where the best of the best products and services should be highlighted. It can be used for key messaging, but that message has to be very important to outweigh the opportunity cost of not using it as selling space.

Inside Gatefold Too Busy
The inside gatefold is too busy to shop from. Customers see a random sampling of everything and wind up retaining nothing. This spread would work better with fewer items or as a “customer favorites” spotlight.

The 60th anniversary is another great story U.S. Box could have told well here (e.g., with old photos and recent customer stories) but doesn’t. The bottom line is, gatefolds are expensive and they need to work to be worth the money. All of this could have been done as an ordinary pgs. 2-3 spread.

Another problematic element is the tabs used on the right side of the page. Tabs can be very useful. But in this case, I couldn’t figure out the logic because there’s so much crossover between the categories that they raise more questions than they answer.

The photography in the catalog is quite good for a B-to-B. It’s clear, attractive, well-lit and has just enough propping to make you imagine it in use, but not so much that it’s busy. The images are large enough that you can see the detail in the logos and the overall impression is upscale.

The problems that are undoubtedly costing the company sales start to show up when you actually shop. On pg. 4, there’s an intro page that starts the section on the “Shades of Success” line of packaging. The picture is of a collection of coordinated boxes and bags, and the text says, “it is easy to create your own unique coordinated packaging.” But is it?

Say I want to order something that looks just like the picture, except with my logo on it. There are some hard-to-read lines at the bottom that tell me I’m looking at the “powder blue matte color on white rope bags.” The rope bags are on the next page — so far, so good. Except the white bags have white handles and these have blue handles. Are these hot-stamped? It says I can only hot-stamp one color and these logos have two colors. How much is printing per piece? It isn’t there. It says that customizable sizing and colors are available on orders of 2,500 or more. Does that mean printing is also at a 2,500 minimum? It doesn’t say.

Confusion = No Sale
Now I go back to the text under the image to see what the boxes are, and it says that one is a “One Piece Auto Flip Top Apparel Box” and the other is a “Two Piece Lock Corner Gift Box.” Only problem is, four boxes are shown. So I don’t know which is which or what page to look on. Still confused, I just move on, and a selling opportunity is lost.

The next spread depicts shopping bags in various color groupings and I keep moving. Page 8 has another great photo of coordinated packaging. It appears to be called “Chameleon” coordinated packaging, since Chameleon is the logo written on the bags. Now I’m wondering: If I order them, will they have that logo on them? That would be odd. Maybe it’s just the name of the color, but chameleon is not a color option I can find.

Under the picture in big type it says, “Stock and Standard Box colors for items on pages 9-17, 19, 22-23, 26, 28.” Uh, I’m on pg. 8, so that makes no sense. The next page has the Kenzie Kids Collection. The text says, “A unique combination of Southwest orange lids and white bases with a splash of hot pink.” The problem here is, the only pink on the lids is the logo. So now I’m seriously wondering if all the coordinated collection comes with the collection logo on it. The big problem with that is, I’m starting to feel stupid.

I flip to pg. 21 and see the Arancio Sherbert, Celeste Aqua and Rosa Pink Linen Embossed boxes. Pretty. It says, “specify color,” and gives a choice of Arancio, Celeste or Rose. There are only two different-colored boxes in the image. I have no idea what colors arancio or celeste are, so I look at the image next to it, which is the Marrone Chocolate Linen Embossed boxes. But the callout at the top says Sherbert, which could be the color as there are no colors listed.

My advice to U.S. Box, or just about any cataloger: Try shopping from your own catalog. If you aren’t good at pretending to be a new customer with no prior product knowledge, bring in a focus group or ask friends to shop your catalog. Doing this would certainly help U.S. Box.

Sarah Fletcher is creative director of Catalog Design Studios, a Providence, R.I.-based catalog consulting firm. You can reach her at sfletcher@catalogdesignstudios.com or (401) 490-0530.

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