7 Keys to Marketing Genius: Catalogs
The following is an excerpt from The 7 Keys to Marketing Genius by Michael Daehn
I have seen some good examples of direct marketing from catalogs. I used to receive a catalog from FranklinCovey, the company that sells time management planners. I purchased a set of calendar pages by mail order, and the next year I received a catalog about two months before my pages expired. The catalog had my name on it with a personalized message that said something like, “Michael, your pages will be expiring in October, and we have some great new products to choose from. Your Monarch size products are available on page 22.” I was very impressed.
I felt good that they knew who I was and were giving me information to make my life easier. They were actually meeting my time and convenience needs instead of giving me more unsolicited advertising to sift through or throw in the trash. I am sad to say that I no longer get those personalized catalogs. I started getting about one non-personalized catalog a month from them that I usually threw away because it was too many. I was also not happy that all of sudden they did not know who I was anymore. I had slipped back into the anonymity of the mass market. Now, for some reason I do not get any catalogs from them at all.
My marketing professor was a big fan of a running store in San Diego that sent him personalized catalogs. While in the store, they measured and tested his foot. They were able to determine what kind of runner he was and his unique pronation (the angle of the foot striking the ground). They smartly entered his information into their database and would send him personalized catalogs. Their message said something like, “Hello Nick, it has been six months since you bought your Reebok running shoes. Based on your running style, you probably will need to replace them soon. Turn to page 17 to see some suitable replacements.” This is a great use of collected data to focus marketing efforts (Key 6) and to build relationships with customers (Key 5).