Using "real women" as models and asking inbound callers to carol for trinkets are among the ways women's sporting apparel cataloger and retailer Title 9 gets consumers to "join their brand."
Missy Park, founder and president of the California-based company, told attendees of the New England Mail Order Association fall conference yesterday that "competence, confidence and fun" are the themes Title 9 strives to accomplish with its catalog. Towards that end, all of the models used are friends and teammates. The copy supports the real world approach, by including biographical snippets about the models, such as favorite food (M&Ms, said one) or dream car (“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” offered another).
"The copy lets consumers know the models are real women with real jobs and real families," she said. "They're not Madison Avenue's idea of perfection."
Consumers do pick up on this, and see the models as people they might consider as a potential friend. One customer called to inquire about whether a pregnant model's baby was a boy or a girl, while another wanted the address of an innkeeper who modeled, so she could stay at the inn.
Title 9 is a "company of individuals," says Park. To get that impression across, Park's own southern accented recorded voice greets callers to the customer service center, asking for their patience until a rep is available.
"It's not important that it’s me but [it is important] that its not that 'voicemail lady,'" she said.
Of course, sometimes this does backfire. Occasionally, Parks will answer calls live if it's a busy period. One time when she answered, the exasperated caller said 'thank god it's not that annoying voice on your message.' "That's the price of being an individual," laughed Park, noting the caller never connected that it was her voice on the tape.
Service-wise, Park wants to do what is best for the customer, something that can annoy her operations staff. She insists that when a caller contacts the service center, they are first asked for their item numbers, rather than their credit card and address information. The other way may be good for name capture "but it's not in the customer's best interest," especially if they go through all that trouble and their requested item is out of stock.
Not everyone is perfect though. Park recently checked to see if this practice was being carried out by calling in anonymously. She was immediately asked for her key code by two different reps she called. When she said she didn't have a catalog, they asked for her name as it appeared on our credit card. "We're in the process of re-centering people now" to get the process back to where it should be, she said. Another thing that drives the operations team crazy are promotions like the one that asked people to sing their favorite holiday tune when they called in exchange for a little gift, like a Wonder Woman Pez dispenser. "It's bad for call times but its very entertaining to be in our call center around the holidays."
Title 9 was founded in 1989, with Park's home/garage serving as the "international corporate headquarters." At age 26, Park had wanted to create a business targeting post-collegiate female athletes, a great idea, she told her dad, because no one else was doing it.
Her dad was quiet for a minute. Then he said "Well, there might be a good reason for that."
Undaunted, Park created and mailed 15,000 copies of a 16-page, digest-size catalog. She received only four orders--only one of them from someone she didn't know.
"Smarter people would have quit," she said.
Still, Park saw a common thread in the four orders: all purchased sports bras, which is an item where many women have trouble finding their proper size. She then mailed a one-page flyer, upping the number of bras offered, and gradually grew the company, hiring her first employee in 1991 and "bumbling along" to profitability in 1993. The company now mails 26 million catalogs annually, reaching prospects and customers, including 70,000 three-month buyers.
Today, Title 9 has 115 employees, including 23 former collegiate athletes, six of whom have won national championships. Interestingly, zero MBAs are among those numbers.
Using "real women" as models and asking inbound callers to carol for trinkets are among the ways women's sporting apparel cataloger and retailer Title 9 gets consumers to "join their brand."
Missy Park, founder and president of the California-based company, told attendees of the New England Mail Order Association fall conference yesterday that "competence, confidence and fun" are the themes Title 9 strives to accomplish with its catalog. Towards that end, all of the models used are friends and teammates. The copy supports the real world approach, by including biographical snippets about the models, such as favorite food (M&Ms, said one) or dream car (“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” offered another).
"The copy lets consumers know the models are real women with real jobs and real families," she said. "They're not Madison Avenue's idea of perfection."
Consumers do pick up on this, and see the models as people they might consider as a potential friend. One customer called to inquire about whether a pregnant model's baby was a boy or a girl, while another wanted the address of an innkeeper who modeled, so she could stay at the inn.
Title 9 is a "company of individuals," says Park. To get that impression across, Park's own southern accented recorded voice greets callers to the customer service center, asking for their patience until a rep is available.
"It's not important that it’s me but [it is important] that its not that 'voicemail lady,'" she said.
Of course, sometimes this does backfire. Occasionally, Parks will answer calls live if it's a busy period. One time when she answered, the exasperated caller said 'thank god it's not that annoying voice on your message.' "That's the price of being an individual," laughed Park, noting the caller never connected that it was her voice on the tape.
Service-wise, Park wants to do what is best for the customer, something that can annoy her operations staff. She insists that when a caller contacts the service center, they are first asked for their item numbers, rather than their credit card and address information. The other way may be good for name capture "but it's not in the customer's best interest," especially if they go through all that trouble and their requested item is out of stock.
Not everyone is perfect though. Park recently checked to see if this practice was being carried out by calling in anonymously. She was immediately asked for her key code by two different reps she called. When she said she didn't have a catalog, they asked for her name as it appeared on our credit card. "We're in the process of re-centering people now" to get the process back to where it should be, she said.
Another thing that drives the operations team crazy are promotions like the one that asked people to sing their favorite holiday tune when they called in exchange for a little gift, like a Wonder Woman Pez dispenser. "It's bad for call times but its very entertaining to be in our call center around the holidays."
Title 9 was founded in 1989, with Park's home/garage serving as the "international corporate headquarters." At age 26, Park had wanted to create a business targeting post-collegiate female athletes, a great idea, she told her dad, because no one else was doing it.
Her dad was quiet for a minute. Then he said "Well, there might be a good reason for that."
Undaunted, Park created and mailed 15,000 copies of a 16-page, digest-size catalog. She received only four orders--only one of them from someone she didn't know.
"Smarter people would have quit," she said.
Still, Park saw a common thread in the four orders: all purchased sports bras, which is an item where many women have trouble finding their proper size. She then mailed a one-page flyer, upping the number of bras offered, and gradually grew the company, hiring her first employee in 1991 and "bumbling along" to profitability in 1993. The company now mails 26 million catalogs annually, reaching prospects and customers, including 70,000 three-month buyers.
Today, Title 9 has 115 employees, including 23 former collegiate athletes, six of whom have won national championships. Interestingly, zero MBAs are among those numbers.Using "real women" as models and asking inbound callers to carol for trinkets are among the ways women's sporting apparel cataloger and retailer Title 9 gets consumers to "join their brand."
Missy Park, founder and president of the California-based company, told attendees of the New England Mail Order Association fall conference yesterday that "competence, confidence and fun" are the themes Title 9 strives to accomplish with its catalog. Towards that end, all of the models used are friends and teammates. The copy supports the real world approach, by including biographical snippets about the models, such as favorite food (M&Ms, said one) or dream car (“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” offered another).
"The copy lets consumers know the models are real women with real jobs and real families," she said. "They're not Madison Avenue's idea of perfection."
Consumers do pick up on this, and see the models as people they might consider as a potential friend. One customer called to inquire about whether a pregnant model's baby was a boy or a girl, while another wanted the address of an innkeeper who modeled, so she could stay at the inn.
Title 9 is a "company of individuals," says Park. To get that impression across, Park's own southern accented recorded voice greets callers to the customer service center, asking for their patience until a rep is available.
"It's not important that it’s me but [it is important] that its not that 'voicemail lady,'" she said.
Of course, sometimes this does backfire. Occasionally, Parks will answer calls live if it's a busy period. One time when she answered, the exasperated caller said 'thank god it's not that annoying voice on your message.' "That's the price of being an individual," laughed Park, noting the caller never connected that it was her voice on the tape.
Service-wise, Park wants to do what is best for the customer, something that can annoy her operations staff. She insists that when a caller contacts the service center, they are first asked for their item numbers, rather than their credit card and address information. The other way may be good for name capture "but it's not in the customer's best interest," especially if they go through all that trouble and their requested item is out of stock.
Not everyone is perfect though. Park recently checked to see if this practice was being carried out by calling in anonymously. She was immediately asked for her key code by two different reps she called. When she said she didn't have a catalog, they asked for her name as it appeared on our credit card. "We're in the process of re-centering people now" to get the process back to where it should be, she said.
Another thing that drives the operations team crazy are promotions like the one that asked people to sing their favorite holiday tune when they called in exchange for a little gift, like a Wonder Woman Pez dispenser. "It's bad for call times but its very entertaining to be in our call center around the holidays."
Title 9 was founded in 1989, with Park's home/garage serving as the "international corporate headquarters." At age 26, Park had wanted to create a business targeting post-collegiate female athletes, a great idea, she told her dad, because no one else was doing it.
Her dad was quiet for a minute. Then he said "Well, there might be a good reason for that."
Undaunted, Park created and mailed 15,000 copies of a 16-page, digest-size catalog. She received only four orders--only one of them from someone she didn't know.
"Smarter people would have quit," she said.
Still, Park saw a common thread in the four orders: all purchased sports bras, which is an item where many women have trouble finding their proper size. She then mailed a one-page flyer, upping the number of bras offered, and gradually grew the company, hiring her first employee in 1991 and "bumbling along" to profitability in 1993.
The company now mails 26 million catalogs annually, reaching prospects and customers, including 70,000 three-month buyers. Today, Title 9 has 115 employees, including 23 former collegiate athletes, six of whom have won national championships. Interestingly, zero MBAs are among those numbers.
