Catalog Identity and First Impressions

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The dressing and accessories

The fourth element is the sealing tape that is applied to your boxes. Is it reinforced paper, water-activated tape or is it the ubiquitous transparent tape? Or, is it a quality paper tape that is also pre-printed with your logotype or a particularly attractive wording such as, "Thank You So Much For Being a Special Cork & Bottle Customer!" But, perhaps even more important is how that tape is applied. Is it just stuck on off-center and uneven, or is it carefully applied to cover the flap edges evenly and neatly? A shipper sealing a box should be no different than a surgeon closing an incision: neat, orderly, uniform and precise is the only way to work. Do you monitor that aspect of the shipping process? Is tape application a specific and important part of your warehouse training? Is it important to you personally? When it is, the tape will be put on straight and even.

The fifth element is the labels that are applied to your boxes. You can take a plain, unprinted box and make it look exciting and special by using a large, top quality, superbly designed adhesive, foil label. The very best custom designed labels we have ever seen come from the Stephen Fossler Company in Crystal Lake, Illinois (www.fossler.com; tel: 815 356 5500). These are deeply embossed, foil labels with an endless palette of color choices produced by the best label designers in existence. If they were located in London, they would hold the Queen's Royal Warrant for labels; that's how good they are. Nothing makes a box look more elegant and upscale for less cost than a beautifully designed foil label. You'll get over the cost; you'll never get over the effects of a sloppy presentation.

Labels don't have to be limited to identity of your company or shipping addresses. We have had rolls of "Thank You" labels hanging at the final inspection point on the shipping line. The last person to check an outgoing package places—perfectly—a Thank You label just above the address label so that it is the first thing a customer sees. And when it comes to the cost versus benefit analysis, remember that BIG labels make a far greater impression at relatively the same cost. If it's worth having a label, it's worth having a BIG label! Labels can also call attention to special offers inside: "Look Inside For a Great Deal on Replacement Parts for This Item!," or any of hundreds of offers.

Similarly, a label can be used to call attention to a particular benefit: "Your Order Qualified For FREE Shipping!" Here, I would use a lime-green fluorescent label to be sure the message was visually driven home; but, then, subtlety has never been one of my virtues. You might attempt to upsell or cross-sell with a label: "FREE shipping when you buy the companion piece to this item within the next 10 days!" The point: a label is a means and opportunity to do many beneficial things in communicating with the customer.

The story that says it all

In the early days of The Vermont Teddy Bear Company, there was the Legend of the Box. It seems children were concerned that their bear would be afraid of the dark when it was shipped to them from the factory by their doting grandparents. So, the company had a lamp printed on the inside of the box so the bear could "turn on the light" enroute. The children were concerned the bear wouldn't be able to breathe in the box. The company had air holes printed on the outside. The children were concerned the bear would be hurt in an accident while it was being shipped by UPS. The company had the bear seat-belted in a "car seat" inside the box. The children were worried the bear would be hungry during the trip. The company placed a package of "Bear Nuts" inside each box as a precautionary snack, a "little something" as it were. The children were afraid the bear would get lost. The company printed a "map to your house" on one of the interior flaps, right next to the lamp. The outside of the box was made to look like the Vermont home of the teddy; in short, the whole packaging concept became an event for the children. Actually, it became more of an event for the cash-heavy grandparents who visited the factory by the tour bus load. When they saw the box it became a reason to buy the bear because the box concept was, "Just so adorable, I couldn't resist." I don't know if Vermont Teddy Bear still does the Bear Box, but they once created the highest example of what can be done to turn an ordinary box into an extraordinary event.

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