Following its acquisition by Spark Etail in 2011, Spirit of
Nature, an eco-friendly seller of nappies, clothing and household
goods, has reintroduced a catalogue to the marketing mix. On
hiatus since 2010, Spark Etail decided it was time to bring back
a catalogue for Spirit of Nature, targeting a carefully selected
segment of its database. Because the business was so new to Spark
Etail, the company had no historical catalogue data to work with,
explains head of buying and catalogue production Twanna Doherty.
“We know the Spirit of Nature customer is a parent, usually
the mother, buying products for baby. Nappies are a best seller,
for example. We’re testing response to other products for mum
such as fashion, as well as some homewares.”
At the same time, Spark Etail is also testing a new approach for
another of its brands, Natural Collection. Having previously
mailed eight catalogue editions a year, Spark Etail scaled back
catalogue activity for Natural Collection to a more sustainable
two editions: spring/summer and autumn/winter. Produced in-house
and featuring some of the same products as Spirit of Nature, the
new Natural Collection catalogue was mailed to a completely
different segment of the database.
The latest catalogue is a lot more “fashion-led” than
its predecessors, says Doherty, commenting that the decision to
go deeper into clothing ranges was a “gutsy” move.
Committing to so much apparel takes Natural Collection outside of
its comfort zone, which previously saw it include a lot more
eco-friendly gadgets.
In total, approximately 100,000 catalogues were distributed to
selections of the company’s total database of 450,000 names in
March. The next move will be to analyse the results, upon which
the company will carry out a strategic review. The review will
look at how to further integrate all its businesses:
EthicalSuperstore.com, Natural Collection, Spirit of Nature and
the newly acquired Frank & Faith label. Among the considerations,
says Doherty, are reactivation of lapsed customers and testing
new customer acquisition techniques as well as whether to merge
some of the brands. More acquisitions are also not out of the
question.
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