Print catalogs making a comeback in this digital age

You frequently hear people reminiscing about the days of the Sears Wishbook and all the wonder it brought to our lives.

When I was growing by this time of year half the pages would have a corner turned over and our favorite toys carefully circled. I’m not sure Santa Claus paid any attention to those subtle hints but it was a great trip for the imagination to see yourself on that Stingray bicycle or catching the neighborhood pitchers with that great looking catcher’s mitt.

It seems like the stuff that was ordered from those catalogs were few and far between, but the real value was in seeing all that stuff and imagining it as being in your possession. I probably turned out a lot better because I didn’t get most of the things I circled.

My late wife was a catalog addict. Her idea of a good evening with a book was a stack of Woman’s World and Lane Bryant catalogs. Unlike when I circled things growing up, this time of year if she circled a sweater and left the catalog open to that page on the dining table I knew I had best make sure I ordered it for Christmas before her size and color was out of stock.

She never switched from ordering out of catalogs to ordering online. As dementia crept in late in her life it was entertaining to listen as she ordered from an operator overseas that spoke in a heavy accent with a script crafted to up-sell her. She had spent 20 years in retail and it didn’t work — but there were some interesting conversations.

I felt sorry for our mail carrier around holidays, because my wife received 2-3 of every catalog printed each season. She browsed swimsuits and shorts in January and coats and boots around the 4th of July. Finally, nearly two years after her passing the catalogs have slowed to a trickle.

However, even in the online age we’re living in I was stunned the other day when I heard a news story telling how catalogs are making a comeback. Just as the last printing plants are closing down, print catalogs are back in vogue in the marketing world.

Part of the trend is playing off the nostalgia of those old wish books. The other strategy is that companies have found out that some customers feel a closer connection with their brand and products when they have something tangible on their desk, nightstand or coffee table. I think that was what this crusty old print ad salesman was muttering under his breath as they gradually left print.

Some people don’t make snap buying decisions. I’m one of them. I need to be romanced a little by going back and looking at the product a few times and studying all the features and benefits before I pull the trigger.

Some of these new-age print catalogs have decided the best way to sell is to tell the story of the product, and I do like that approach, but don’t leave me hanging without a price.

It probably won’t catch on like crazy, but I don’t think the wish book toy catalog Amazon is releasing is a bad thing. If nothing else it’ll give generations to come something to reminisce about.

Karl Terry writes for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at:

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