Dave's Marketing Dilemma

By Rudy DaCorte

I recently had an interesting conversation with a Dave, the president of a restaurant supply company, looking to re-print their catalogue. He had run out and was in a rush to re-print his main sales aid. As he was unsure of the page count, I asked that he send a PDF of the catalogue and then asked a few questions about his expectations for the piece.

The catalogue had excellent images of some products in use as well as stand-alone images. The most important feature of one line of products was the ambience and mood they created and set in mid to high-end restaurants. The other line was more functional and aided in keeping chaffing dishes warm at buffet style restaurants, halls and catering operations.

Two related, yet diverse lines in one catalogue with a client who also made it clear there was little budget for marketing; therefore, all he was looking for was “the best price to print five-hundred, one thousand or twenty-five hundred catalogues.” He added “after all, print is just a commodity, and I’m looking for the best price.”

Well, the type of print he was looking for is a commodity and I’m sure he felt he would be getting the best value by finding the lowest price. There are many printers in this city only interested in putting ink on paper. Here at Harmony, what we look for is long-term client partnerships where we help our clients develop print programs with verifiable ROI for each marketing dollar spent.

In this case, Dave’s limited marketing dollars may be better spent by segmenting his target audience. We could help him develop a marketing plan and print campaign that delivered a personalized message and image to his clients and prospects based on what they would most likely be interested in buying.

Imagine a campaign that differentiated between fine dining establishments and family restaurants, between those interested in higher-end products and those only looking for standard items, caterers and buffet-style restaurants.

Print today has to work hand in hand with the Internet. A personalized direct mail piece highlighting the benefits of products aimed at specific targets audiences is a better use of marketing dollars. Adding a personalized URL (PURL) campaign, leading recipients to a more relevant-to-them web-based catalogue and on-line ordering is a great way to refine a client list and build sales.

Dave may still buy catalogues, but now they will be dynamic documents based on the different buying needs of each of his clients. In turn, experience shows that these types of catalogues lead to higher sales.

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