In an effort to drive traffic to its stores and showcase its product line, apparel marketer J. Crew mailed a book that is a stylistic departure from its usual catalogs.
The 76-page Some Things: An Exclusive Edition for Spring 2001 measures roughly 10-1/2″ × 10-1/2″ and is printed on thick matte stock. The book’s lifestyle photography is more artsy than usual and in some spreads shows more skin than product — a design tactic reminiscent of competitor Abercrombie & Fitch. The copy that accompanies the lifestyle photography is briefer than usual, lending the catalog the appearance of a coffee-table book, but all the products are indexed in greater detail at the back of the book.
In addition to displaying its men’s and women’s apparel lines, J. Crew used the book to preview its J. Crew Kids line. The catalog also showcases select items from its bath and body line, which has been available on its Website since last year.
“It’s a marketing mailer with very limited circulation,” says a J. Crew spokesperson, who declined to give circulation numbers. “It features key design statements, lifestyle photography, and a buying guide. It’s a great way to communicate the breadth of the brand to our customer.” The catalog features an incentive for catalog shoppers to visit their local J. Crew stores and receive a free gift worth $15 if they spend $100 or more in the store.