Home » Case Study: How Agencies Are Using Catalogues To Great Effect For Aussie Retailers

5 September, 2016

Case Study: How Agencies Are Using Catalogues To Great Effect For Aussie Retailers

Last Friday saw the unveiling of all the winners of the Annual Australian Catalogue Association Awards for 2016. Here, in this case study, B&T takes a look at how agencies are using this tried and true marketing method to huge effect for Australia’s major retail chains…

As the retail industry celebrates the 25^th Annual ACA Awards, department stores were fighting to hold the titles of the most effective catalogue and letterbox marketing campaigns. It was a fiercely contested event, however Myer took the gong winning five Awards on the night.

Newly appointed agency, Clemenger BBDO were triumphant for their work on enhancing the Myer brand. Not only winning ‘Agency of the Year’, Clemenger BBDO and Myer won a grand total of five categories winning ‘Catalogue Retailer of the Year – up to 1.5m’, ‘Children’s Apparel’, ‘Whitegoods, Electricals, Electronics & Home Entertainment’, ‘Technology on Paper – Effectiveness’ and ‘Multi-channel Campaign’.

The relationship between Agency and Department Store is building solid collaboration not only with Clemenger BBDO and Myer, but also AJF Partnership with Officeworks, Leo Burnett with Big W and Whybin\TBWA & Maud with David Jones.

So what are the trends for Department Store catalogue marketing in 2015 and what are the forecasts for 2017?

Myer and David Jones have appointed new agencies over recent years and have worked diligently to develop strong brand positioning and equity. Last year Myer engaged Clemenger BBDO and refreshed their marketing suite with bold colours and seasonal style and product guides. Whilst aligning ‘promotional’ catalogues strongly with their cross-platform digital campaigning, they developed luxurious seasonal and product guide catalogues to build brand ‘positioning’. The careful balance and recognition of the value for both marketing styles is a key learning tool which has worked well with integration throughout the highly performing Myer one loyalty program as well.

In 2014 David Jones moved to Whybin/TBWA (now Whybin/TBWA & Maud) and commenced on a journey of creative catalogue production that aligned with their prestigious brand position and ‘Designer Brand House’. Publications have moved from being sales centric to stronger content with Style and Seasonal Guides carrying a magazine look and feel. The ‘Jones’ magalogue, launched in August of this year, raised product range and brand engagement offering a further extension of the publication style.

Kmart have shuffled around their catalogue and letterbox marketing schedules over the past eighteen months analysing Frequency and Product Range with a clean creative and core ‘Everyday Low Prices’ pitch line. Whilst pairing back in the first six months, Kmart have stabilised their schedules now, returning to increased catalogue circulation to a targeted demographic data-driven letterbox distribution.

Big W has seen changes to their marketing team with Ana Escobar, General Manager Creative (design, marketing online), appointed in February of this year. Since her appointment, Escobar has overseen a review of Big W’s creative output across their catalogue range from glossy tabloid to stylised photography, newsprint publishing paper range and an amended size to find the golden ticket in their marketing stable as they work with Leo Burnett to turn the company around. The next twelve months will be a journey to watch as the Woolworths group is under pressure to perform.

Target is the next Department Store to start their revision journey and will no doubt look to its cousin, Kmart for insights following the appoint of Guy Russo to turn the iconic brand around. All areas are under review, however catalogue marketing holds strong with research across the effectiveness of all Department Store catalogues revealing Target owns the highest targeted audience readership. This should deliver strong sales results with Russo’s reported refined product range and improved in-store experiences looking to re-engage customers.

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Designworks Stephen Scheeler