New Off the Page Campaign for Suave Shoes

Suave Shoes launched their direct brand in 2017 and have been investing in off the page advertising in the national press and magazines to recruit new customers cost effectively. Off the Page adverts have been created for a series of shoes and sandals for Autumn, Spring and Summer.

The target market is older and up market. Titles like Yours, People’s Friend and Garden Answers have been used to generate off the page sales and new customers.

Suave have had an e-commerce site since 2017 and have developed a catalogue for Spring and Summer 2018.

Media Targets the Over 65s

Top National Press & Magazines to Target the over 65s

The Over 65s is a key audience for many direct response and off the page advertisers. With over 11 million Adults it is a sizeable sector too. And a significant demographic in terms of wealth.

There are a number of magazines directly targeting the elderly like Saga, People’s Friend and Choice. And the national press can reach a broader audience that includes this older demographic.

The Express has a reader profile with over 60% over 65 and the Telegraph likewise.

The trick for response advertisers is to get the rate right and find the right environment, especially in the press.

See the readership data here.

Telegraph Redesigns Weekend

As of January 14th and 15th the Telegraph’s weekend supplements have been renamed and redesigned. Weekend will now be Saturday and Living is renamed Sunday.

Both titles are well established for response advertising, carrying a high percentage of off the page advertising week in, week out. The changes should benefit advertisers in particular the change in editorial within the Sunday supplement.

Saturday will remain a broadsheet with content being included from the previous Car supplement and Gardening. Established columns like Graham Norton’s Agony Uncle and award-winning food and drink writers Stephen Harris and Victoria Moore are retained. New columns include Rob Temple’s “Very British Problems” and Dr Phil Hammond’s “How Not to Die (Yet)”

Sunday (which replaces Living) will have more pronounced changes. It will become a broadsheet, affecting ad size and production. The TV guide is being separated out. New feature pieces that “better reflect the mood of a typical British Sunday” are coming in: food, family, property, hobbies and rural life. It is intended to have a more luxurious look and feel.

The Telegraph has a high AB readership – on Saturday 58% and Sunday 57% – and an older profile 75% over 55 on a Saturday and 65% Sunday. See here for latest circulation figures.

Get a copy at the weekend and call if you need a quote on rates.

How Branding Can Drive Your Response

Branding is often mistaken for a good logo that appears on every page of a catalogue, every piece of print and website. Don’t be fooled, it isn’t that simple… But it is much more powerful.

A Brand adds value to a company. It increases customer loyalty. It acts as a defence mechanism against competition. And branding invites customers in. Branding builds response.

A brand is deeper than design. It is about the tone of voice of the company. It builds empathy with a customer and with prospects.

For mail order companies branding was previously seen as a little bit namby pamby. A bit too much of a gismo for London’s marketing elite. Big brands with big bucks, who didn’t know how to generate real response if they got biten on the hand by it.

But branding is finding a foot hold within mail order and response brands. Mail order is beginning to grasp the branding nettle and is starting to utilise the concepts.

And one thing to take on board is that you can do it, you don’t have to be a multi-national and you don’t have to be a mail order mega spender.

Branding Adds Personality

Branding is about making the visual identity work with the personality and tone of voice, copy, type, employees, packaging et al. Adding greater depth than a nice logo. It should all fit with the central message that differentiates you. It is about your photography, the models and the little details that your audience will empathise with. It is even about how you and your employees answer your phones.

So how can a SME best approach making the most of their brand. Well you can break down the process and look at it as a number of elements. And then the pieces all have to fit to make the jigsaw complete.

Take this as the key elements to research, consider and brain storm.

Competitor Analysis
Positioning against your competitors
Differentiation – what makes you stand out against competitors
Brand Image
Brand Personality
Communication and Integration
Media choice

As an example take our Award winning work for Fife Country. It is centred around the catalogue. But to think it is just a catalogue design would be far from true. We have taken the heritage of the brand, Scotland’s Finest Since 1888, and made this appeal come to life. So the imagery used in advertising and online, in the catalogue and even on compliment slips adds to and builds the image in every piece produced.

The tone is conversational, personable. It is inviting you to enquire. It brings the consumer in.

Fife is an Authentic Brand

Fife Country are known for their outdoor clothing. So the idea of aligning this with the beautiful rugged countryside that is their backdoor (Yes they are actually based in Fife), makes the brand come to life. It is real, authentic. And consumers buy into the authenticity – the brand.

Direct Advertisers can Benefit From Branding

But none of this hides the fact that we are seeking a response. Fife Country is a direct brand so we aren’t afraid to put out offers and to encourage response. Our customers expect this as part of the brand proposition.

Sholley trolleys roll out new response campaign

DJH have been appointed by direct commerce brand, Sholley trolleys, to run their advertising and media campaign. The advertising will initially target an older female audience for Sholley’s original shopping trolley.

Sholley was set up 35 years ago. It is “the original shopping trolley”, part shopper, part walking aid. Over 500,000 have sold worldwide.

New ideas are in the pipeline for 2017. DJH will handle the creative and the media planning and buying. The campaign will target the grey audience through the national press and magazines.

Newspapers Can’t Maintain Brexit Boost

Total national press circulations were boosted during June by a news hungry public searching out the latest on the Brexit vote. June’s total figure increased to over 8.1 million copies a day. The Brexit debate, the vote and the political manouevres that followed generated genuine interest and sales. But the early summer boost has faltered and the most recent September figures have seen circulations fall back again. The gains have been wiped out.

Total newspaper circulations still stand at an impressive 7.9 million copies on a weekday and over 6 million on a Sunday for September though. So for response advertisers and mail order brands they offer a cost effective and responsive option.

In June the quality nationals saw major gains. The Guardian added an extra 6,000 copies to its circulation, The Times was up 2.5% month on month and an impressive 15.3% year on year to almost 450,000 copies.

In the popular sector the Brexit leaning Sun was up almost 40,000 copies and the Star 5,000. Surprisingly The Mirror readers didn’t show so much interest, with a drop of 8,000.

All the mid-market titles showed marginal gains – Mail up 4,000, Express 6,000 and Metro 2,500.

The most recent September circulations have just been published and have unfortunately wiped out the June gains with circulations down for all titles against the June figures.

The nationals still have substantial reach of course – almost 8 million copies a day. They remain a key channel for off the page and direct advertisers. They generate response, reach a broad audience and are of course, quick and cost efficient. For mail order and increasingly, e-commerce brands, they are an ideal medium for generating response and building a buyers database. And response positions in the nationals can be surprisingly affordable too.

See the data:

New Magazine for Modern Gardens

Bauer Media launched their new gardening title, Modern Gardens, in March 2016. It is monthly, priced at £3.99. It is set to appeal to consumers who want ideas to create a stylish outdoor space to enjoy, rather than spend hours gardening.

It is looking to create a new niche. Grow your own and organic gardening magazines have grown over recent years, now Modern Gardens is appealing to people with smaller spaces who appreciate more informal modern gardens.

First issue readership was 38,688 copies. Readers are affluent with an average personal income of £43,000 and have an average age of 50.

Bauer’s research amongst homeowners and renters, has shown that:

Outside space is utilized for an average of 4-5 hours per week
Two-thirds want to integrate their outdoor space with the rest of the house
50% want a garden that they can relax in
And at retail, sales of high quality garden furniture, barbecues and outdoor lighting are increasing rapidly

Bauer also publish Garden News and Garden Answers in the gardening sector. See our full review of the garden press.

Top National Press & Magazines to Target the over 65s

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