Management

HOW HE GOT STARTED IN THE CATALOG BUSINESS: Burns began his career with another science cataloger, Science Kit. Working in its bid sales group, he handled all the contracts and line-item bids with schools and school districts. Much of the educational market buys its science products via the bid process, Burns notes. (Science Kit acquired Edmund Scientific in 2001, and both are independently operated divisions of VWR Corp.) Following a brief hiatus with an Internet firm, Burns returned to cataloging in 2004 to become the brand manager of Edmund Scientific. He’s been with VWR for 10 years. WHAT CHALLENGES HE FACED UPON HIS RETURN

There’s postal, then there’s everything else. This is our everything else issue. Not quite everything, of course. This is our operations and fulfillment-themed issue. And considering that an overwhelming majority of catalog/multichannel merchants handle their own fulfillment according to our quarterly Catalog Success Latest Trends Report, which focuses on management issues, the buck stops here with fulfillment. In our special cover report, Kate Vitasek, who helps companies evaluate their operations, and call-center guru Liz Kislik provide advice on fulfillment-center benchmarking, performance metrics and call-center rep attentiveness. This issue offers plenty of the other everything else, too, including a multipoint plan on hiring interns, a

The dream of many B-to-B catalog marketing entrepreneurs is to “cash out” someday. If that’s your dream, start planning at least five years in advance. First compile a list of what it is you think you have to sell. Be realistic, because if you’re not, the only people you’re hurting are yourself and your shareholders.
Your initial list might look something like this:
* solid three-plus year track record of sales and profitability growth;
* solid three-plus year growth in the 12-month buyer file with increasing one-, two- and three-year customer values;
* high, dependable margins;
* unique, hard-to-find products and services;
*

Catalog Success: Where’s the company headquartered? Tim Burns: Tonawanda, New York. CS: What’s the catalog’s demographic? TB: We’re about two-thirds male, 35 to 55 [years of age] and they’re typically a professional. So a teacher, engineer, lawyer, doctor. We index really high in terms of those professions. So that’s pretty much what it looks like. CS: What year was the first Edmund Scientific catalog published? TB: The company was founded in 1942 and the first catalog was mailed in 1948. CS: What’s the primary merchandise offered in the catalog? TB: Science-related products, gifts and toys. So innovative, educational and science-themed.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Could Charles Dickens have described the state of multichannel retailing any better over the past few years? Whether your business is doing well or could be doing better, whether you’re in a hiring or layoff mode, a sometimes overlooked, cost-effective strategy for recruiting and developing top talent — and a critical source for your workforce — is the hiring of interns. With so many computer- and tech-savvy young people out there, and technology and e-commerce playing such important roles in the future of the industry, some of the brightest, most talented

As per my headline, for this issue of Catalog Success: The Corner View, I hand my pen — um, keyboard — over to Catalog Success E-Commerce Insights columnist Alan Rimm-Kaufman. Alan heads the Rimm-Kaufman Group, an online agency providing large-scale paid search bid management and Web site testing services, and was formerly a marketing executive with the Crutchfield catalog of consumer electronics. I leave the stage to Alan, who starts with a potential scenario followed by nine predictions for the future of the catalog/multichannel business as it affects you. Scene: A bar at a conference hotel during a marketing trade show. Bill:

Catalog Success: Where is the company headquartered? Martin Smith: Minneapolis/St. Paul. Roseville to be more specific — just north of those two cities. CS: What year was the catalog established? MS: I believe Jeanne [Voigt, the founder of MindWare] started it in 1990. It’s certainly not earlier than that; it might have been 1991. CS: What is the primary merchandise offered in your catalog? MS: Toys and games, all of which have some educational or developmental attributes. This could be physical attributes, physical developmental skills, or it could be mental skills … it could be math, it could be more

A Chat With March’s Profile, Martin Smith, CEO of MindWare

WHAT GOT YOU HERE: A background in strategy and contacts. As a direct marketing veteran, Smith got his start in the catalog/multichannel business in 1984 with Avon Products (now Newport News) where he spent nearly 20 years before joining MindWare as CEO in October 2003. Before joining Avon Products, Smith worked at General Electric in an internal strategy consulting role. While there, Smith recalls, “a former senior GE executive, who was the CEO at Avon Products, wanted to recruit people with a GE strategic-planning background. I was interested, and a job came up. That job happened to be in the direct response division. I

I would have preferred my first column for Catalog Success to focus on good news. But I just can’t describe a rash of businesses that are about to close or sell in 2008 as good news. The 2008 valuations and acquisitions forecast for multichannel marketers looks cloudy, especially for those in the $20 million to $50 million range whose businesses remain print-centric. Paper and postal price hikes imposed last year will likely lead entrepreneurs to sell this year. The Storm’s Here A perfect storm of increased paper and postal costs has conspired to put a chokehold on mailers everywhere, particularly small and midsize