In your opinion, should your business send catalogues?

On occasion, I buy stock photography. I get photo catalogues all the time. Usually they wind up in the same place… the trash. I glance at most of them, but I’ve learned they’re pretty much all the same, except for Stockbyte. Each year they send what they call a resource kit. Last year was in a hardback book format. It cried out, “Don’t throw me away.” so I still have it on my bookshelf.

Last week I got two stock photo catalogues. This year’s “Resource Kit” from Stockbyte, and a traditional catalogue from PictureQuest.

So, some people at PictureQuest were familiar with the idea of a traditional catalogue. In their opinion, it was a good idea. So, they concluded to make one and send it out to prospects. They executed it well. They selected nice photos, produced attractive layouts, and printed it on high quality glossy paper.

The folks at Stockbyte are also familiar with the idea of a traditional catalogue. Instead of just forming an opinion of whether or not they should send one, they decided to come up with a better idea of what a catalogue should be. So, they created cards with a large image on one side, four on the opposite, and all of these convey something related to the title of the card. The cards are alphabetized and stuffed into a cute, little box that you can’t help but open. Their idea was to not just create an ad, but to create a gift. And who can stomach throwing away a gift?

Sure, the Stockbyte idea was more difficult and more expensive to create than the PictureQuest opinion. What if you measure the longevity? I throw away traditional catalogues within a few days of receiving them. Over a year later, I still have Stockbyte’s resource kit. Their idea is a resource to help me create new ideas.

In my mind, they’ve set themselves apart… because of their IDEA.