Under the Prairie Moon's cover

PETER LARNISH

Prairie Moon Nursery's 72-page catalog grabbed my attention immediately with its beautiful, close-up photo of a native plant and butterfly on the front cover. The design is clean, simple and nicely targeted to its market.

The tagline, “Native Plants and Seeds for Wetland, Prairie, Savanna and Woodland,” reinforces the company's unique positioning, specifying exactly what you'll find inside. But I would identify the plant, along with a page reference, in small type near the bottom.

The back cover could benefit from some sales copy, perhaps listed bullet-style with page references and set within a small ghosted-back portion of the photo. These bullets should flag any new products and call out a few popular offerings — for instance, Regional Blends, Customized Mixes, Butterfly Favorites.

This would help prospects appreciate the product range and lead regular customers inside. I'd also suggest that Prairie Moon Nursery add a page reference to the Sunflower identification.

This catalog contains a wealth of information, but there is no focal point. The table of contents, crucial in a book of this size, is lost among all the elements. I would trim the New Horizons institutional copy to half a column, max. The cataloger can refer readers to the Web for the full story of Prairie Moon's legacy and growth.

It should consider color-coding the table listings to the catalog sections to ease customer navigation. I'd also delete the photo of the dogs to focus on the people, and add a subhead, “Greetings from our staff,” before listing names under the staff photo.

On page 3 in the tour banner, I'd suggest an involvement head: “Join Our 2008 Tours,” along with a page cross-reference. And I'd move the Prairie Conference ad from the bottom right to the bottom left corner to open space and give the table of contents the impact it deserves.

Overall, use of headlines, subheads and carefully placed bursts would reinforce the reasons why customers should buy from Prairie Moon. Let people know what differentiates this nursery from the competition.

Prairie Moon generally could use more white space, with fewer multicolored tint boxes, type and bars. It needs to make sure that all reverse type is readable — especially when set within colorful photos.

And if possible, it should try to simplify its Cultural Guide charts. Color is important to large chart details, but I'd stick to a softer palette of nature colors. The dark border colors now tend to compete with the lovely flower photos. I would also create a more consistent brand identity between the catalog and the Website. Same typefaces, palette, logo usage.

The back four to six pages of any catalog are valuable real estate. I'd move the order form, ordering information and site directions to a less important sales space near the center. Reserve the back pages for high-performing offerings that will pay off.

Presentation is a key component of success. While valuable to hard-core experts, the many pages of detailed instructions and choices may intimidate a prospect who just wants to plant a small flower garden. A beginners' Q&A page or strategically placed tip blurbs could reassure newcomers with simple, basic information.

I'd definitely take a close look at the catalog's layout and try to cut four to eight pages. This would save money and ease navigation. About 20% of Prairie Moon's catalog is now devoted to non-revenue producing pages. This is risky in today's market of tighter budgets and cost-effective mailing necessities.

I'd cut the Website information to a quarter-page and put it on the opening spread to encourage Web ordering up front. Move fillers such as gift certificates onto the ordering information page. Full-page photos can still have visual impact at half their current size.

The Establishing a Native Plant Community section contains seven pages of dense information. I'd trim it by half, keeping just the most basic facts. Then use a box or blurb to send people to the Web for the more details, or provide a toll-free number to call.

Another idea might be to turn the full seven pages into a free guide that could be printed inexpensively and included as a package insert with all orders.

In fact, this type of information actually may be more suited to a newsletter format. Creating a small newsletter that people can sign up for would build customer loyalty and allow Prairie Moon to reach its target market more frequently with a less expensive vehicle. It would also keep customers current on what's new and give them something to look forward to between catalogs.

The Prairie Moon Nursery catalog is a unique presence with a loyal following in the crowded gardening niche. Yet some careful fine-tuning and reallocation of space could increase the catalog's overall appeal, make it easier to navigate, and drive more sales.