Fairytale Expecting Storybook Holiday Jul 23, 2008 5:12 PM
, By Jim Tierney
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Food gifts cataloger Fairytale Brownies is caught in the perfect storm of rising prices of raw goods such as flour, cocoa, and nuts—among other industry cost increases such as postage and paper.
So why is cofounder/ catalog and Web team leader David Kravetz so excited about the upcoming holiday season?
“We’ve made some significant changes to our product offering,” Kravetz says. “We have just completed a major rebranding effort that started last fall with the introduction of a new, updated logo. This fall, we’ll complete the effort with all new packaging across the entire product line.”
Fairytale Brownies began the rebranding about two years ago, when the economy was much stronger, Kravetz notes. “So the timing is pretty good for us, since we’ll be introducing this new look at a time when we’ll be battling for all the sales we can get.”
In addition to the rebranding, Fairytale has added many gifts at a lower price point. “Our feeling is that customers will be looking for lower priced gifts this season,” Kravetz says. The fall catalogs will include a cover callout promoting “Over 30 Gifts Under $30.”
Fairytale Brownies will continue to prospect heavily, Kravetz says, increasing total circulation 23% to 1.75 million this year. It’s also mailing more of its catalogs in the last of its five drops, which has an in-home date of Dec. 1.
For instance, the first drop is 50,000, the same as last year. The second drop is 50,000, compared to 100,000 last year; the third drop is 500,000, compared to 370,000 last year; the fourth drop is 650,000, compared to 750,000 last year; and the fifth drop is 500,000, compared to 150,000 last year.
Why is the mailer pushing more books into the final drop? “We’re finding that customers keep waiting longer and longer each holiday before making their purchases,” Kravetz says.
