New Nabisco catalog exceeds expectations

Food brands giant Nabisco used to produce a gifts catalog in the mid-‘90s. But according to senior manager Michael J. Walker, its NabiscoGifts.com catalog, which it launched in May, is an offshoot of the company’s Website rather than a resurrection of the earlier title. The NabiscoGifts.com Website debuted last fall.

Nabisco mailed 250,000 copies of the 12-page catalog. Eighty percent of the books went to names from parent company Kraft Foods’ house file; the remainder were sent to prospects. Walker won’t give specific response rates, but he says response “exceeded our projections.”

Prices for the tins and baskets of Nabisco-brand foods, such as Oreo cookies and Ritz Crackers, range from $19.99 to $99.99. The expected average order size is $40-$50. Walker says the book will be produced two or three times a year, for the fourth-quarter holidays and Mother’s Day and/or Father’s Day.

The company used a free shipping offer on the cover to encourage the use of promotion codes. This, Walker says, allows NabiscoGifts.com to track the performance of various test cells and will ultimately lead to better-targeted mailings.