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From its name, you may think Revgear.com specializes in accessories for sportscars, but the cataloger actually sells products for boxing, kickboxing, and martial arts. The Burbank, CA-based mailer got into the critiquing ring with four creative experts: senior copywriter Lee Mullally and senior vice president, creative services Julie Hatlem—both with La Crosse, WI-based agency Ovation Marketing—and Sam Allen, creative director, and Mark Rockwood, president, of Portland, ME-based Icon Creative Associates. Does Revgear.com warrant a black belt in creative, or is it a design disqualification? Here's the blow by blow account.
Julie Hatlem and Lee Mullally
Given the product line and target audience of the Revgear.com catalog, we felt we were in store for a highly energetic and intense experience. After all, gear for the martial arts, boxing and kickboxing — it doesn't get any more energetic than that.
Well, maybe a little too energetic.
That was our first impression of the cover. There are so many elements and treatments competing on the cover that it's almost impossible to focus. With five big, bold headlines along with three photos of intense athletes beckoning you to discover their secrets, it just seems to be too much.
Despite its cluttered feel, there are some positive elements on the cover. The copy promising “How to defeat any opponent no matter the [okay, it should have been their] size or strength,” is a great benefit headline.
But Revgear.com fell short on the follow-through. Tell or show the customer how he can do that by pointing him to specific products in the catalog. Can the training bands product shown on the cover do that? If so, great, but the product isn't referenced. What's more, most of the product photography is covered by the headline itself.
While the use of professional athletes on the cover as endorsements can work, the cover includes four references where one would be adequate. Freeing up this space would allow more room for the products to shine and lead to more sales opportunities.
Revgear.com categorizes its product line in a table of contents that tries to make it easier for the customer to find merchandise. A suggestion here may be to simplify the listings. On its Website, Revgear.com's products are arranged by sport/category or by general product categories (such as uniforms/apparel and training aids). Using one of these approaches would serve the catalog well, eliminating the need for 28 different categories in a 50-page book.
Overall, the catalog uses some effective branding elements. The profiles and Q&As of professional fighters scattered throughout the book appeal to the target audience and go a long way in reinforcing the Revgear.com brand.
Page 2 shows one such profile with the fighter wearing the Revgear.com product, and the cataloger even sells it right next to his profile. Perfect! More opportunities like this could be capitalized on throughout the catalog.
The use of customer testimonials throughout the catalog is also effective. But the graphic treatments are inconsistent and nondescript and, as such, tend to get lost on the pages.
Speaking of inconsistency, the copy leaves us baffled. First, the catalog includes some excellent copy with concise, problem-solving and benefit-laden blocks.
For example, the product copy for the Counter Punch Mitts delivers a host of reasons you would want these. “Teach your boxers defensive skills while working on their offensive techniques”; “the thumbless design helps prevent accidental thumbing”; and “hook and loop fasteners for easy on and off.” Excellent — Revgear.com has given the customer several reasons to buy!
But a few pages earlier, on page 29, those resistance-training bands shown on the cover are back again, and just as on the cover, there is no copy describing them. What benefits will the customer get from using them? What are they made of? Why are some of the colors within the same SKU lines priced more than others? We can only assume it's because some bands provide greater resistance, but where is the copy reassuring us that this is the reason?
Another area that could stand improvement is the photography. This assignment would be a photographer's dream: Capture hard-hitting excitement and dynamic movement, show the product in action and deliver on its promise to make you a better boxer/kickboxer/martial artist.
But the lifestyle/demonstrative photography in Revgear.com looks staged and stiff. In a photo on page 7, the free-standing kicking bag shows little or no motion, and the user little excitement. If you were contemplating purchasing this bag, wouldn't you want to see yourself in the picture with a look of determination and the simulated motion as you land a powerful kick?
During our visit to Revgear.com, we noticed online product demonstration videos. A suggestion to more actively engage the customer would be to call out these demonstration videos in the catalog. And while the very title of the catalog suggests the online link, perhaps more direct calls to visit the Website would be appropriate given the active nature of the product line.
