Tactics > ECMOD in focus
A story of rapport T
ECMOD exhibitor TA Design and Turtle Mat work together to create more than just a doormat catalogue
he first meeting of aspiring agency and potential client
took place at the Royal Horticultural Society in London. Immediately, there was a feeling that we’d all get on and that we would have a
productive and enjoyable meeting. This was because it was instantly clear that the Turtle Mat team (for it was they) shared our approach of being open and open-minded. The Turtle Mat team said right from the outset that they were aware that they needed to take their catalogue forward and felt that fresh creative was key to this. The products may “only” be doormats,
but Turtle Mat wanted to position them as aspirational, lifestyle purchases—helped by their design and functionality—as opposed to merely necessity purchases.
Open to ideas Turtle Mat made it clear that, after they’d given
us all the information, we had a free hand as to what we came back to them with. The awareness that a client, or potential client, isn’t going to be marking us down for “having ideas” is like nectar to a good creative agency. So the TA team got busy, then presented
the creative concepts fruits to Turtle Mat on a windswept aerodrome in the westcountry. Here are a couple of examples of how this rapport found expression in print:
ECMOD freebies
Visit the TA Design stand to enter its catalogue makeover competition and be in with a chance to win a redesign worth £7,200. Here are some more offers you’ll find at this year’s ECMOD.
Before the redesign, Turtle Mat had a good
image on the cover, but it was a “still life”. The products were listed but not shown. After the redesign, the end user is shown a benefit with an image of a family. The product range is
24 Direct Commerce Catalogue e-business
www.catalog-biz.com While the product spread before the
redesign featured large images of the mats, there was no real brand personality or humanity to engage the reader. To tackle that, we used a lifestyle image showing a situation where a good absorbent mat is a very real asset. We featured a recipe as an involvement device and gave enough room to the three mats, and added other proven elements to the page such as a best-seller dot whack and a word from creative director Susan Leaver.
shown, headline stands alone and the logo gets a tagline.
The inside spread prior to the refresh
looked more like point-of-sale material, with a functional headline. The brand personality was not shown. The new design features a warm, personal welcome with a lifestyle headline, and a little brand positioning. What’s more, there’s now how to order information, a contents panel, and a section to make more of what’s new.
The moral of this tale? An agency has to be told everything in order
to construct the most compelling, truthful story. And just as in any good relationship, if there is mutual respect and trust, it’s easy to discuss ideas and resolve differences without anger or hurt. In other words, the catalogue and other materials are significantly better than they would have been otherwise. Significantly better. And it hasn’t cost any more. And the results… we’re still working as part of the Turtle Mat team—and we’re still all enjoying it immensely.
James L. Clarke is direct marketing consultant and copywriter
with catalogue design agency TA Design.
Left top:
a product spread. Left bottom: the result of the makeover.
Win an iPad2 First-time ECMOD exhibitor Bray Solutions will be running a competition on stand 3 to win an iPad2 3G. To enter, the fulfilment provider will be giving away a memory stick containing a link to the Bray Solutions website where more information can be found. Visitors can also enter by scanning a QR code.
Win golf membership
at the De Vere Club Difference and Logicalware will be running a competition on stand 16 offering one lucky winner golf membership at the De Vere Club. Worth £295, the
winner will be granted access to 11 golf clubs and 16 courses across the UK. All competition entrants will also receive a voucher for a half-day marketing response consultation worth £375.
protection insurance ECMOD has teamed up with CatEx bronze sponsor Seico Insurance to offer free identity fraud protection insurance for a full year for all visitors, delegates and exhibitors. Simply register to attend ECMOD and visit Seico on stand 12 in the CatEx Village to activate your own personal policy. There are 2,000 policies (for UK residents) waiting to be claimed.
Free identity fraud
By James L. Clarke
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