Abbey Blessings
The first Abbey Blessings catalog is positioned for "Celebrating the Spirit in the Everyday" with a large and varied product selection.
The merchandise carries spiritual and psychological messages, literally in the form of imprinted Bible passages and personal affirmations, and symbolically with products such as the "Heart and Cross" ornament. Like its parent catalog Abbey Press, the offerings in Abbey Blessings' Spring 2003 book are generally more decorative than functional. Home decor goods dominate the product mix, though some clothing and jewelry is included as well. Pricing is as varied as the selection, though most merchandise costs less than $50. The 56-page catalog is divided into more than a dozen sections, with titles such as "Spirituality," "Slowing Down" and "Community." Each two-page spread includes a quotation relating to the section title. For example, Ralph Waldo Emerson is cited under "Hospitality," reading "Go often to the house of thy friend, for weeds choke the unused path."
National Campaign for Tolerance
The inclusion of paper freemiums, such as bookmarks and pocket calendars, can sometimes be a relatively inexpensive and high-impact method for boosting donor response.
In its latest 11-1/2" x 8-1/2" package, the social fundraiser National Campaign for Tolerance experiments with a very unique paper gift, a set of eight personalized business cards. The 2" x 3-1/2" cards are delivered as a single perforated sheet, with the recipient's name and address on the front and the organization's mission statement on the reverse. Similar to free incentives such as bumper stickers and address labels (the latter is also a component of this mailing), the cards are designed to help spread awareness of the National Campaign for Tolerance's worthy cause. Most of the physical elements of the package have been carried over from past mailings, though the address labels and insert have undergone minor alterations. The $25/$35/$50/$100/other donation ask ladder and collection of step-up premiums offered with a donation remain identical to the control.
HighRoads Catalog
Catalog industry veteran Carl DeSantis is loosening up a bit with the new HighRoads men's apparel catalog, a dress-down offshoot of the more starched DeSantis Collection.
Subtitled "A New Direction in Casual Wear," the Spring 2003 catalog arrives just in time to start making summer vacation plans, and aims to fill the other half of men's closets with easy-care polo shirts, khaki cargo shorts, basic tees and Hawaiian prints. Like its dress-clothes predecessor, HighRoads carries both classic and contemporary styles, and sizes ranging from small to XXXL. But for all its apparent similarities, this new catalog operates with a few noteworthy differences. To encourage large sales, free shipping is offered for orders exceeding $250, compared to $450 for the dress catalog. Plus, there is no explicit link made to the DeSantis Collection and no attempt to leverage that brand, other than a small welcome note from DeSantis himself, who offers to "help navigate the wardrobe landscape this spring." Shoppers can order via mail, phone or the HighRoads website.
Seen in the Mail items are identified and researched by MarketRelevance.com, an online direct mail and email promotion tracking resource offered by ParadyszMatera. CM staff conduct the interviews.
|
