Ted:

This is a really good point. We in the business tend to think that the Internet and email are the only answer. Yes email is faster, cheaper and more effective than direct mail and e-commerce web sites are more dynamic and allow users to easily find what they want, yet there are people who prefer printed materials. In some cases the printed materials stand out simply because you receive them in the mail instead of in your computer. This is why integrated digital and traditional campaigns tend to do better then campaigns that are just one or the other.

I am well immersed in online shopping, email and all the other paperless communications, but I still will look at a catalog to see items I might want to buy as gifts. Then I go to the web site and look for new stuff and make the purchase. By the way, this year I have received more catalogs than I every remember receiving.

One more benefit of catalogs is it is much harder to bring your laptop to the bathroom when you do your daily business.

Thanks for the posting.

Harry

One of the advantages of the paper catalogue is the ability to truly browse (in Harry's bathroom or curled up on the couch). I do a lot of online buying from LL Bean, but I typically have gone through the catalogue before I do so. Online, LL Bean does a nice job of showing you what might complement your purchase, but there's no way I'd "page through" the web site to look at all the purchase possibilities. I'm guessing people who look through the catalogue first buy more than someone who just hops online and clicks on a pair of cords and a turtleneck they already know they want.

I agree with Maureen. For some reason, a catalog seems to make products more tangible than a web site. While I'm inundated with them, it's enjoyable to leaf through them when I have some time. I might still opt to order online, but sometimes it's nice to just pick up the phone and order from the catalog. Receiving a catalog prompts me to think about the fact I need to buy some new turtlenecks from L.L.Bean; otherwise, I wouldn't necessarily be thinking about it. Nor would I just go to the web site to see what's new. Catalogs probably do prompt more purchasing action than e-retail sites do alone.

Tim,

Our house receives a minimum of one catalogue every day, and sometimes as many as seven or eight. Why? My 80-year-old mother-in-law lives with us. Now think about that audience. How many people are between 65 and 85 and how many of them prefer to shop from catalogues? And on the other side of that coin, how many of them use a computer or a cell phone, enabling us to e-market to that generation?

As a marketer, I seldom recommend e-marketing only to my clients. Perhaps I'm old fashion, but I still believe we need to use as many tools as possible to reach potential clients and customers, including paper.

Ted,

Our house receives a minimum of one catalogue every day, and sometimes as many as seven or eight. Why? My 80-year-old mother-in-law lives with us. Now think about that audience. How many people are between 65 and 85 and how many of them prefer to shop from catalogues? And on the other side of that coin, how many of them use a computer or a cell phone, enabling us to e-market to that generation?

As a marketer, I seldom recommend e-marketing only to my clients. Perhaps I'm old fashion, but I still believe we need to use as many tools as possible to reach potential clients and customers, including paper.

Ted,

I was hoping Ann would delete my first post. I had Tim on my mind. Weird huh?

I used to write for Old Pueblo Traders before they were bought out by Charming Shoppes. Now why would CS want to buy OPT? Because OPT has been a successful catalogue company for over 60 years and because of all the reasons stated above, CS realized the extreme value of the direct mail catalogue. They call it multi-channel marketing - Retail, Internet and Catalogue = more growth and higher sales.
My customer at OPT was the 65+ set and I wrote copy describing what we lovingly called "bullet-proof polyester" That's what she wants. So in comes CS and adds Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug and more to the already 20+ catalogues produced by OPT. It just makes sense.

You bring up some interesting points, Ted. I agree with John (of John and Kiras, the candy company quoted in BusinessWeek) that catalogs do more to attract new customers.... as well as accompany Harry to the bathroom (lol!)

But at the same time, I'm a little confused (and sometimes annoyed) by the strategy. Ben and Jackie have a great post on their Church of the Customer blog about "catalog spam"...(which is where the photo was from -- link above), and it seems that catalog companies are broadcasting their efforts more broadly and frequently than ever before. This season, for example, LL Bean has sent me no fewer than 5 or 6 catalogs, most recently one a few days ago screaming the headline, "There's STILL TIME!"

Well...duh. It was only December 4! I could WALK to Freeport, Maine, and still be back in time for Christmas.

Bottom line: Perhaps it works as a strategy for new customer and sales development, but it seems a terribly wasteful and expensive strategy.

p.s. Wholehearted endorsement of John and Kira's chocolates for holiday gifts and celebrations:

http://www.johnandkiras.com

I discovered these guys a few years ago when they were on the cover of Gourmet...and they totally rock! Great company, great philosophy, great chocolate.

Thanks to everybody for weighing in on this. I agree that catalogs can be a very successful marketing tool; nor should companies forsake getting into customers' homes in this manner. The e-marketing alone isn't adequate in most cases.

A special thanks to Leo, I mean Lewis, for your thoughtful comments. You're insights are always much appreciated.

I deserved that Ted. And Ann, catalogue SPAM is a stupid and wasteful strategy. One to be avoided, no matter the marketing tool used.

It seems that this is a day for lapses, large and small.

Correction in the last line on my last comment, and a double compliment to Lewis: "Your insights are always much appreciated."

Catalogs work (usually) because we're all passive consumers of stuff. Sure, we're active when we're on the hunt, but this passes. We like to take our time and get sold, too.

What a boom market for recyclers.

Great point, Stephen. Catalogs usually stay in homes for a period of time, so we're likely to look at them more than once and buy when we feel motivated to do so. Thanks for posting this insightful comment.

Ted,

I think your post points to a much larger issue, the value of the printed medium.

Whether its a report, white paper, magazine, or newspaper there is something about the tactile nature of print that will never go away.

Somehow the idea of a commuter on a train reading a brochure, catalog or newspaper on a tablet computer only seemed to apply to television commercials for Microsoft or HP, but never with the general public.

Jonathan,
Great point. But there is a place for both print and electronic communications. People tend to keep articles or reports that are impactful when they are in print and read them again. They also download and either save or print online articles that impact them, as well. So it's great have a choice and to be able to exercise one's personal preference.

Ted,

You make some great points. I think this is very clever, and I'm looking at it also as a backlash against electronica marketing.

If any other marketers are like me and my team, we are always analysing our own behaviour and trying to figure out what our target cutsomers' behaviour might be. We've often commented how we have signed up for electronic marketing things (actually taken the time to sign up) and then when they arrive in our email's they generally go straight to junk... think about the HUGE number of emails you receive that you don't read...I get so little actual physical mail (that's not bills) that I actually read it - a photo source catalogue really caught my eye and I've kept it.

My team and I have been "going retro" sending catalogues for specific promotions, and using postcards. We've been seeing success with these "old fashioned tools".

Great blog!

Kate,
Thank you for your kinds words. I appreciate it very much. I think this goes to prove that when it comes to marketing, there is no single approach that works by itself. A combination of tried and true marketing tools with some cutting edge technology-based marketing is probably best. We are now so bombarded with emails, that we either delete them without reading them, or they get caught in our spam filters. E-marketing alone isn't sufficient, in my view.

E-marketing is great for buying stuff you know you want. Catalogs create demand you didn't know you had.

Also, catalogs e.g. Pottery Barn are not just selling merchandise, but the illusion that if you buy that (sofa, table, painting) you are buying a particular lifestyle. They create worlds that the consumer wants to inhabit. You want to be the person who lives in that (kitchen, living room etc.)

Thanks, Lupi, for perfectly illustrating my points. Catalogs do have the power to create a powerful brand image and a fit for a lifestyle that people either have, or aspire to. Hence, their great power to persuade, or as you eloquently put it: ". . .(to) create demand you didn't know you had."

CatalogCourt Shopping & Worklife Catalogs offer eclecticity in the best traditional and online catalogs based on frequency and depth of discounts, variety, and a high cycle of service customer satisfaction rating. The introduction of Point&Click Windows Comparison Shopping, CatalogCourt Business & Personal Shopping Solutions guide, and interactive gift exchange platform adds innovation to the online shopping experience...

Save a Tree! Go Paperless! Shop CatalogCourt.net

Shop. Learn. Play. @ kiosk.CatalogCourt.net... for "The Ambitious & Innovative"