The best catalogs sell like the best salespeople. Since 1980, Sun & Ski has built its business on quality merchandise, exceptional service, and outstanding values. Rooted in a snow sports heritage, the Houston-born specialty retailer grew to more than 30 stores nationwide, with sunbelt locations merchandised to meet the needs of the local consumer and stocked year-round for cyclists, runners, and anyone chasing an active lifestyle. Starting in late 2018, WWC brought branding, design, and creative direction to Sun & Ski's retail marketing, designing a product catalog that translates the retailer's in-store expertise to the printed page. The work gives a multi-category retailer one coherent voice in print, and gives customers a reason to walk back into the store.
Range is hard to put on a page. Sun & Ski earned its reputation in snow sports, then grew into a year-round specialty retailer serving cyclists, runners, and consumers looking for leading brands for an active lifestyle, with each sunbelt store merchandised to meet the needs of its local market. A product catalog for that kind of retailer has to do more than list gear. It has to hold skiing, cycling, and running together in one brand story while still sending shoppers to a local store. In late 2018, Sun & Ski asked WWC to bring that discipline to its print marketing.
WWC designed Sun & Ski's product catalog as an extension of the store, not a list of inventory. Design and creative work gave the retailer's range a clear structure on the page, so a shopper can move from snow to cycling to running the way they would move through the sales floor. Branding carried through every spread, keeping Sun & Ski's voice consistent and making leading outdoor brands read as one curated offering. The catalog anchors the direct marketing work WWC has produced for the retailer since 2018, a print piece built to earn attention in the mailbox and send customers back to the store.
The catalog did not stand alone, and neither did the returns. What began as special direct marketing projects in late 2018 grew into a multi-campaign creative relationship spanning a back-to-school digital campaign and an augmented reality experience, work that has delivered a 25.7:1 return on investment and $5.1 million in matched sales for the retailer. More importantly, it gives a retailer built on service a creative partner that treats the catalog with the same care as the sales floor.
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