Branding

Having topped out at $287 million nearly six years ago, Lillian Vernon’s sales have been falling ever since; it’s expected to finish out its fiscal year at about $170 million. But the bleeding could stop soon. A public company until 2003, the general mer-chandise cataloger was sold to investment conglomerate Direct Holdings, led by media company Zelnick Media. But despite an aggressive game plan to broaden Lillian Vernon’s reach, Direct Holdings’ initiatives largely backfired. Direct Holdings bailed out in May 2006 and sold Lillian Vernon to investment firm Sun Capital Partners, which installed former Miles Kimball CEO Mike Muoio to turn the company

Finding and retaining good employees tops the list of major concerns for catalogers. Often catalog companies are located in less populated areas, where finding qualified staff is a challenge. If you’re located in a larger city, you face the challenge of losing your trained staff to other companies. Salary, benefits and work environment are important for employees. But an overlooked aspect of employee retention is brand. Brand not only helps attract and retain customers, but it’s also essential for attracting and retaining good employees. A good gauge of whether customers will want to shop at your company is whether employees want to work there.

A crucial point of your brand inventory is to take a look at the most important element of your business: your customers. Who are your customers and why do they buy from you? Why do your customers identify with your company? Are your customers high end, wanting the best? Are they unpretentious with solid reputations? Your customers are identifying with your company. Discover more about them, and you’ll discover more about where your business should focus its efforts. Next ask, who are your employees? Are they highly trained wanting to continue their professional development? Are they innovators looking for new ideas to improve the company?

Like other insert media programs, such as package stuffers and blow-ins, miniature catalogs have been around a long time. But in recent times, their popularity among catalogers appears to be on the rise. Catalogers as diverse in nature as nursing mother products marketer Motherwear International and B-to-B uniforms mailer UniFirst Corp. have been successful marketing through mini-format catalogs. What’s more, multi-title apparel and food cataloger Crosstown Traders plans to test its first miniature later this year. Defined primarily as having no more than 24 pages at various dimensions, miniatures can be a more efficient way to get your product offerings in front of

Last month in this column, I defined the basic psychological and behavioral groupings of prospects and customers as suspects, prospects, triers, buyers and advocates. Developing marketing plans with these groups in mind can increase your results and profitability. This month, in the second of a three-installment series that concludes in the December issue, I’ll explore some strategies and tactics you can implement to accomplish this. For the purpose of this discussion, let’s assume that you’ve done a proper circulation plan and already know who you suspect will become your customers. Your suspects have become prospects by way of list research, and you’re ready to develop

I’m often surprised by the answers I get from catalogers when I ask them, “What new products are you featuring?” They usually respond with a round of additional questions, such as “What do you mean by new?” or “How many new products are enough?” Often they’ll simply say, “New products never work for us.” But new product development should be the lifeblood of every multi-channel marketer. And if done correctly, it can be one of the most rewarding aspects of a merchant’s job. To get your product development program on the right track, consider the following: * Reinvigorate your product line all the time. Even if

As the summer winds down, it may be time to check up on key some elements of your catalog business. Among others, consider reenergizing your brand. As Andrea Syverson, marketing strategist and president of Black Forest, Colo.-based catalog consultancy IER Partners, points out, brands are steadily evolving because customers, the competitive environment and the marketplace is constantly changing. Following are Syverson’s step-by-step strategies for reenergizing your brand. 1. Signs your brand is in trouble: If sales have started to slip or plateau, it’s a sign that your brand isn’t living up to its promise, Syverson says. While you may have decreased prospecting efforts or reduced

Missing Person Description: high-quality multichannel buyer Last Seen: purchasing online 18 months ago The Details: A customer placed an online order for top-quality merchandise 18 months ago. Delivery confirmation was received three days later. Your repeated attempts to contact the customer via direct mail and e-mail have been met with no response. This customer is extremely valuable, with a high lifetime value and history of repeat purchases. Please forward any information as soon as possible. Do you know which customers are missing in action? Somewhere deep in your housefile are people who no longer shop from you. For some, service and quality issues alienated

If you’re thinking about rejuvenating your brand in 2006 and you want to hire outside experts to help with the project, you have the following three choices, according to Marty Neumeier, president of Neutron, a San Francisco-based branding agency, and author of the new book “The Brand Gap: How to Bridge the Distance Between Business Strategy and Design” (New Riders). 1. Outsource the branding strategy to a one-stop shop that’ll handle work such as advertising, PR, product design, Web design, promotions, events, exhibits, research, packaging and more. Neumeier notes that today’s one-stop shops usually are either multi-disciplinary firms or holding companies comprised of specialist

Selling a catalog business can be an emotional decision. Owners often have an inflated view of what their businesses are worth. So arriving at a realistic price tag can be difficult. The old adage “For every seller there’s a buyer” certainly holds true. But finding the right buyer for your business — someone willing to pay your asking price — isn’t always easy. While we at Lett Direct aren’t investment bankers or business brokers, I’ll share with you what we’ve learned during the years from working with catalog business owners wanting to sell their companies. Timing is Everything Knowing when to sell