Catalog Critique:Marco

For MultiChannel Merchant
by Sarah Fletcher Creative Director Catalog Design Studios

November 2004

Cover
I’m not fond of this cover. The quick read for me is that the woman was assaulted or is having a heart attack and is somehow transformed into an angel—complete with a glowing halo of light—all thanks to Marco. Since Marco is also a man’s name I found myself wondering was she attacked by Marco or saved by Marco? The logo is also a cross, made from the name Marco, which adds a soupcon of idolatry to the mix. I found the whole thing disturbing.

Once I read the headline “Marco’s $5 Meeting Makeover” it became more clear that it is a “before and after” treatment rather than an emergency situation. This is so utterly overdone that it distracts from the message rather than reinforcing it. Though meeting and promotional products are important, they simply aren’t dramatic enough to warrant unbuttoned clothing and panicked last gasps. The subhead of “The difference that gets noticed” is great, but the photo that gets noticed is the poor woman clutching her chest and trying valiantly to keep her blouse from falling open.

I would like to see a stronger logo treatment that has the logo set off from the background, along with a brand positioning statement. Page 2 and the back cover have the line “Where Superior Service and Quality Products Meet”, which works. However, it would be stronger if it contained a claim like; first, best, number one in, etc. as well as Marco’s key competitive advantage; Selection, price, service, quality etc.

Changing the red tabs for the smaller product offerings would help. “Under Budget” would get more attention as “Save Money”. “Visibility” Doesn’t have as much sell as “Exclusive Items”. “Identification” could be changed to “Wide Selection”

Page 2/3
Visual Hierarchy is probably the single most important factor in creating a good quick read for the customer. In the case of this catalog, there are too any elements competing for the reader’s attention. The creative team and merchants need to determine what the most important elements are and rework the spread accordingly. The litmus test is ensuring that the first thing that draws the eye is indeed the most important.
On this spread, the Index is taking up the most valuable real estate. I would move it to the left and let the products have that space. The rays or tails on the orange and purple bursts are distracting and do nothing but confuse. I would get rid of them.
I like the “Request a FREE sample”. However, red type on blue is very hard to read in print. Better organization and a grid would help this spread a great deal.

Eye Flow
One of the biggest problems I had with this catalog is eye flow. The overuse of bars, bands and banners combined with products that are silhouetted and not substantial is that there is nothing to anchor the eye so it bounces rather than reads. The typical customer will start in the upper right corner and the elements on the page will determine where their eye goes from there. It is important to provide a good flow so that one element leads to the next and the eye moves easily around the page. Too many bright elements or pages without a visual hierarchy pull the eye in multiple directions creating bounce. This is tiring and reduces the amount of time customers will spend on a page. Making some of the product shots square ups would have helped create visual anchors.

Ease of Shopping
The biggest no-no I found was that some of the prices were floating in open areas rather than consistently appearing after the product copy. This lack of consistency makes shopping feel like a puzzle and many confused customers will simply turn the page.

The product names are very hard to read quickly because they are in bold capitals and the letters are tracked out so that there is extra space between them. Typography that pulls together rather than spreads out would help the reader navigate. Initial caps rather than all caps would be a better choice.
The swatches and insets have different and inconsistent treatments. This makes the catalog harder to read quickly. In several places item numbers are floating near several items and I had trouble figuring out which one they referred to. Every product number should always be clearly aligned to the product it identifies.
The catalog organization is good with colored headers at the top for navigation. I would prefer to have the phone, fax and web info at the bottom where people expect to see them and where they don’t add an additional element to the navigation which works best when it is a clean and quick read.

Copy
While pictures get attention, it is copy that sells the product and closes the sale. Marco makes good use of bullets but they are frequently the only copy for the product. Think of copy as the sales person. Copy should have a recognizable voice that promotes the brand, and explains the product benefits. Bullet copy is used to quickly promote key features—it should reduce rather than replace body copy.
There are no headlines in the catalog, and that’s a shame. Headlines are a great way to promote brand, differentiate product groups, create excitement, and pace the catalog. Section starting pages would also help provide pacing and add room for an editorial component that would support the Marco Brand by reinforcing key competitive advantages.

One of the things I liked was the product positioning sentence that appears under many of the headlines. “BadgeBoards organize and streamline registration!” “Versatile case holds vertical and horizontal ribbons!” Although I don’t think every sentence needs an exclamation point I really think they help get the key benefits across and should start every copy block.

Final thoughts
Good design can do a lot to increase sales and create a strong customer connection. Marco already has a great selection and strong pricing, so upgrading the design should give them a real boost.