Behind the Scenes - 12/13/24
Dear Friends,
For those who are new to our emails, I try to do an email once a week where I go into the details of what is happening behind the scenes of our small business. If you want to catch up on prior messages, check out the blog here or just jump right into the story below.
It's the most wonderful time of the year! Usually I am saying that to Meryle in a bit of a sarcastic way, but this year its actually true. A part of that joy is seeing the production team work at this high level of capacity but still keep up. They are really doing an incredible job and I'm proud of their work. I truly believe that some of the most rewarding work someone can do is take raw material and craft it into something beautiful.
Yesterday's limited edition drop was a big hit, and a part of me wonders if it was because of the leather color or the product we went with. I've spent a long time trying to get a handle on what makes our best selling products sell. The Classic Cut journal has always been a good seller, and when I launched the Stationery Cut there was a great deal of discussion as to if it would pull sales from the Classic Cut. I argued that they wouldn't compete because the have very different features.
The Classic Cut Journal is designed around hardcover inserts, comes with a pen and a place to hold the pen, and the insert is secured in a way that requires a Phillips head screwdriver to remove. My main argument was that the Stationery Cut was totally different on virtually every aspect mentioned above. The softcover inserts, lack of pen or pen holder, and new rod binding method made for a distinct product.
The counterpoint, which was well pointed out, is that they can serve similar functions in a persons life. For example, I used a Classic Cut Journal for my personal writings, until I switched to a Stationery Cut with Leuchtturm1917 journal insert in the beginning of November. I've carried it with me everywhere since.
Where this has really become a major topic (beyond new product development) is in the realm of marketing. I've got some new ideas for commercials to film and run in the new year that I'm excited about, but for years now the question has been:
"Is it the ad, or the product in the ad that makes it work?"
In fairness, its both, and many other factors like the Meta algorithm's ability to put the right ad in front of the right potential customer. A good ad with a good product that no one see's is a bad advertisement as the fundamental goal of an ad is to sell. I have very limited control over that algorithm unfortunately so its better to focus on the primary question.
The answer is hard to derive from the numbers alone.
Our Classic Cut Journal has always been a good seller across time and across ads so that's one where I can be somewhat confident that the product is a driver of sales. However, it's also one of the products that has gotten the most ad spend, so there is a reasonable argument to be made that its story has been told more thoroughly over time and that makes each subsequent ad more effective.
Furthermore, how much of a factor does the order in which products are bought change the experience? If someone starts with a Classic Cut, are they likely to get a Stationery Cut and use it in a different context like work? Are they more likely to go with the smaller Pocket Cut leather cover as a supporting product to their first one?
All of these factors have been on my mind lately as we come to the end of our Christmas season. Next week is our last week of production before we close for the holidays. I've always closed up shop from Dec. 22-Dec. 26 to allow people to go visit their families over Christmas. Even if we did make things those days, we wouldn't be able to guarantee their delivery before Christmas. With the end of the Christmas season approaching, I need to be sure we get our marketing plans all ready to go for the new year.
I would love to hear from you guys if you have feedback on your experience seeing our ads, and what your thought process has been when buying the product. Do you think certain of our products are better to advertise, or is the product not as important as the way its promoted?
Stay tuned for more letters on Thursdays or Fridays in the coming weeks and be sure to go subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you like and watch the videos it helps us get promoted more by the algorithm to people who may never have heard of us.
Ever your servant,
Colin Murdy CEO/Owner
Murdy Creative Co.
Cell: 414-434-9001
MurdyCreative.Co
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