TWO NEW CATALOGS have landed on our desk. Well, not new new. Both are established brands extending their markets-one to parents, the other to the United States itself. Both seem to be just missing their target audience.
Le Club des Createurs de Beaute Le Club des Createurs de Beaute was launched in the United States with some hoopla last January (DIRECT, December 1998). A companion Web site is scheduled to be starting up this month.
CCB-Paris, as it’s also known, is a global marketer of cosmetics and fragrances. It was launched 12 years ago in France as a joint venture between L’Oreal and DMers 3 Suisses International. The annual catalog is also distributed in Japan, Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom.
According to Mark O’Berski, general manager of the catalog’s American version, the initial drop of 800,000 catalogs pulled a better-than-expected response.
The products that have done best are those that were promoted with free samples-mostly cosmetics, and fragrances featured on scent strips in the catalog. Zen, a new scent, was included in 26% of recent orders and an apricot complexion enhancer was bought by more than half of CCB-Paris’ customers.
O’Berski says the company was concerned that American consumers would be unfamiliar with the brand names offered in the catalog (agnes b., Jean Cotte, Souleiado director Jean-Pierre Demery, Tan Giudicelli, Michel Klein and Jean-Marc Maniatis) and thus might be resistant to buying its more than 300 products.
That didn’t turn out to be a problem; the name of the catalog did. It seems Americans find Le Club des Createurs de Beaute hard to pronounce, spell and remember. That the catalog is French, however, is seen as being a plus with women, who purportedly associate Paris with fashion and feminine flair.
O’Berski speculates the catalog may emphasize its nickname, CCB-Paris, and play down its full name. Other possibilities include adding models and products to coming editions reflecting an “ethnically diverse” population.
The 92-page book-which the company calls “Le Grand Catalogue”-is very close to those sent out in the five other countries CCB targets. Periodic mailings for new products or special offers will use more American-style creative.
In French, “grand” means both big and great. As an adjective, it doesn’t quite hit and doesn’t quite miss describing this catalog. Rather like how the book approaches its target.
The catalog is organized by “createur” (creator) and product photos are more common than model shots (or atmospheric shots, which are used for fragrances). Neither the art nor the copy are particularly stylish. Product descriptions are almost clinical.
Interestingly, although little advice balloons about the use and selection of makeup appear throughout the book, there’s hardly any sustained information to help a consumer select which product or set of products may be best for her complexion or skin type. The cataloger seems to be assuming its audience has a better-than-average knowledge of makeup and skin care.
At the moment, CCB is in flux. It’s aware of the difficulty prospects and customers have with its proper name as well as how samples boost sales. Despite that, it seems to have done well.
Our opinion? CCB will resemble its European parent less and less as it competes in the American market more and more.
Pottery Barn Kids Pottery Barn Kids targets younger baby boomers and older Gen-Xers who have children ranging in age from newborns to about 10. Not unexpectedly, the catalog offers furniture and decorative accessories for children’s rooms. Supplementing the accessories are a few toys.
The proper decoration of children’s rooms is one of the hot topics in the worlds of architecture and interior design. The prevailing theory is that the child should be involved in the design of his or her own space.
Pottery Barn Kids plays off that premise. Its mission statement reads in part: “From pipsqueak to preteen, these furnishings will tickle your kids’ fancies while also satisfying your demands for great style, quality and value.”
What does the catalog offer? Well, to pipsqueak and preteen one can add pretentious and preposterous. A puppet theater has as a marquee “Le Theatre des Etoiles.” It is, of course, made in France. The copy pedantically translates the marquee as “Theater of the Stars” for parents whose language skills don’t match their ambitions for their children. Another offering-a scaled-down leather art deco club chair-continues the French theme.
To be fair, most of the items for sale are more in line with Pottery Barn’s adult offerings: American country style, formal and casual, mixed with reproductions of what’s supposed to be flea market finds. The catalog is just chock-full of things parents would like to think their precious darlings would like.
This appears to be a kind of “grandma shop”-that is, a retailer marketing extravagant items, too silly or too frilly for a youngster to really like or play with, that grandmothers can buy for their grandchildren. What’s missing are the items that create want and wonder in a child.
And despite the mission statement, let’s face it: Most kids won’t sit still long enough to select items to decorate his or her room.
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