"Death to Catalog Marketing!!!"

SEATTLE, WA -- Kevin Hillstrom's Mine That Data weblog has some excellent posts on the catalog cancellation craze.  Well, maybe it's not a craze just yet.  But it's gonna be.  Look at this video from Kevin's post ...

About the kids:  Gimme a break.  This is some adult's agenda, and they are using kids to promote their cause.  Seriously.  Non-profits are businesses, too.

When a little girl tells a cameraman that "You can save two trees and some 92 pounds of carbon dioxide being released in the air ..." I want to laugh.  Not because she's wrong or because her cause isn't noble (it is) -- but because to quote Warren Buffett: "You can teach a duck that its mother is a battleship if you get to it early enough."  I have five kids and you can trust me on this one:  Little kids only know what they are told.  We just had a visit from Santa, so let's not get carried away.

About catalogs:  We all get too many catalogs, and my first take on Kevin's posts is that if my kids came home from school and willy-nilly unsubscribed me from all of my catalogs -- I'd be pissed.  Not because I need 56 catalogs coming to me.  But because I probably want five or six of the ones they canceled.

And maybe that's the point of Catalog Choice.  The consumer chooses what they want and don't want.  I understand the mathematics of catalog marketing.  I know all about prospecting.  But perhaps this flap/ trend/ shake-out/ whatever is a blessing in disguise.

All marketers need to take a page from Seth Godin and communicate with their customers in a way that's CRAP: Consistent, Relevant, Anticipated, and Personal.  And when catalogers prospect, they should do it in a way that saves pages.  It is possible -- but catalogers don't do it, I presume, because of the way their organizations are structured and incentivized.  Bummer, because you can't talk your way out of problems you behave yourself into.

But hey.  I'm just a marketing recruiter.  Yet even I know about better targeting and niche marketing -- which means that far brighter minds than mine can avail themselves to the problem.  The catalog industry has many great consultants.  But sadly, just because catalogers know what to do in the face of this growing crisis doesn't mean that they'll do it.

Several years ago I bought ~$1000 worth of used Dan Kennedy, Joe Cossman, Gary Halbert, Melvin Powers and Jay Abraham tapes off of eBay.  Roughly 150 in all.  Best marketing education I ever got.  Halbert, called the Prince of Print by his adoring fans, repeatedly said that if you have 3000 SKUs and you want to prospect -- narrow it down to one irresistibly offered item mailed with sniper-like precision to exactly the right prospect.  Gerardo Joffe said the same thing.

Trouble is, catalogers mail an entire book to prospects.  Statistically speaking, this is an inefficient approach -- for them and the prospect.  And now it's a politically incorrect approach as well.

So now we have an election year witch hunt, where a "green cataloger" is an oxymoron -- like a jumbo shrimp.  Too bad.  Direct mail is a very effective marketing channel, when properly used.

UPDATE:  Tom Vogl of REI weighs in on this issue.

UPDATE # 2:  Turns out that Catalog Choice are hypocrites.
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Comments

[Jeremy Chan]

This was funny actually. Do these kids know how many of them would actually end up becoming a successful "marketer" who uses catalogs as his/her channel?

The adults who made this video know it. Lets not use kids.

Thank you

[alan hutchinson]

any good marketer knows that relying on one mode of communication is death knell to the marketer. So catalogs are not going away they probably will actually increase as there are more direct marketers now than ever because the internet has created so many new direct marketers. No one way replaces another way, buy the book integrated marketing communications and you'll see what I mean.

[Bob Schwartz]

GREEN trend evokes deep passion… You can see how as this grows people will become totally pissed of that catalogers are polluting, many people are already annoyed at the mass mailings. Can you see a future environmental tax on mass mailings?

Solutions?
- as mentioned: Better print mailing targeting
- Digital marketing, both as a replacement to print AND as a means to pre-prospect to target your print catalog
- Add Value - content: not just targeted but interesting content. I am a big believer in the crossing of content and commerce (See Vivre.com or their catalog). Yes there is risk which is a cost to adding content but if done right it can be mitigated by increasing targeting and readers (that is content can increase targeting because your mailing is more than a catalog and adds value to more targeted people)

Harry - Thanks for sharing this.. Bob Schwartz SchwartzGroup

[Lisa @ Corporate Babysitter]

Since when is marketing anything other than "some adult's agenda?" Is this really any different than "I want an American Girl Doll, I want an American Girl Doll, I want an American Girl Doll?"

[Ted Grigg]

I have followed Kevin's blog on this subject. His evidence is irrefutable because he comes armed with the facts. He is an analyst of the first order.

I wonder what the impact of the Internet will have on other traditional media such as direct mail.

My take is that traditional media will continue to shrink, but it's impact (and cost) will increase.

The latest research shows a growing problem with spam that now represents 9 out of every 10 emails.

So printed material continues to grow in legitimacy.

But the direct marketing world is changing at light speed.

The real challenge of the Internet age is the dearth of quantifiable and attributable sales coming out of the online channel.

No doubt the industry will improve its ability to track sales by source. But until then, the medium is somewhat chaotic causing a lot of consternation for multichannel marketers.

[Kevin Strawbridge]

Since my days at JCP (the western hemispheres largest catalog - don't ask me the eastern hemispheres) the debate has raged regarding print. As a multi-channel guy, the beauty of print to internet to retail is the synergy of being able to use less to promote more (i.e. a post card directing one to a website and that website then lists store locations or specials). One piece of paper and three ways to shop. The catalog has its place and we as marketers will always be looking for it.

[Kevin]

Well said, fair and balanced!

And that's what I want from the merger of my industry and Catalog Choice. Good can come from both sides.