Catalogs Drive Loyalty, Even Without Clear Attribution
Summary
Cutting catalogs often cuts customer loyalty too. While the ROI isn't always immediate, brands that invest in catalogs consistently attract higher LTV customers. J.Crew’s collapse post-catalog proves the power of brand over short-term tracking.
Transcript
In our world, the brands that do catalogs and really like this top of the funnel branding with their new collection, they're telling a brand story and there's not a lot of direct response stuff going on in their catalog. J.Crew is the extreme example. When they cut the catalog. The business goes bankrupt like a few months later, and you don't see that direct tie between this expense item on the PNL and a drop in revenue later on.It's hard to draw that connection. It's more of like a dotted line. But you do know that the catalog brings in higher AOF customers, higher LTV customers, and that back over time. We see this manifest in all the brands that invest in brand advertising. It's typically in a catalog that typically pays off over time. They've got a good sense of customer lifetime value and sort of this whole life cycle.