Brookstone Q2 2008 Results. Oh Oh.

Recently, we were told about strategic changes at Brookstone, a brand that was outsourcing strategic circulation functions to co-op business partners.

• Brookstone Signs With Abacus For Direct Marketing Needs: This August 2006 article lauds the combination of Bookstone merchandise and co-op database products.
  
• Brookstone Counts on Abacus. The June 2007 article talks about increasing circ & response at the same time and all that good stuff.
• Merchandise Mix Aids Brookstone, While Sharper Image Suffers. The February 2008 article praises Brookstone for increasing circulation, increasing response, and lowering costs by working with co-op database products.
  

Now, an industry blogger shares with us recent results (read the company press release here).

• Direct-to-Consumer sales were down 3.8% on a 23% increase in circulation in the past three months. Oh my goodness.
  
• Same store sales were down 4% in the past three months.
  
• Direct-to-Consumer sales were up 9% on a 37% increase in circulation in the past six months. Imagine what the p&l looks like for this relationship?
  
• Circulation will be scaled back in the 2nd half of 2008. Density will be increased to increase productivity as a response to rising paper costs --- contradicting what was written last year.
• The company lost an additional $5,000,000 of profit in the first half of 2008, compared with the first half of 2007.

Folks, this is not an critique of using co-op databases, there's nothing wrong with working with the co-ops on a database and circulation strategy solution as long as you have control over the database and circulation strategy. This is not a critique of Brookstone either --- many folks are struggling in this economy.

This is a direct criticism of how "solutions" are marketed to us. We need to demand better from our business partners.

People Matter

Two things struck me this afternoon, two things from different realms.

• If you're addicted to motor racing like I am, then you were saddened today by the loss of former NASCAR leader Bill France Jr.
• An article from Bookstone about the merits of their relationship with Abacus.

What do these two completely unrelated topics have to do with each other?

The first article illustrates the importance of people, in this case, how one leader shaped thousands of lives and influenced millions of people.

The second article ignores the importance of people. Quotes attributed to a Brookstone executive suggest that a revolutionary product is responsible for unfettered business success.

Catalogers have always known that the creativity of people (and an steely-eyed focus on every detail of efficiently running the operations of a business) drive success.

All too often, multichannel marketing and online marketing focus on technology, on algorithms. We brand our technology, creating demand for a product or service.

But behind the scenes, people invent technology. People create algorithms.

What would happen if a vendor marketed the people responsible for a product? Instead of branding a product as being wonderful, what if the vendor publicly praised the people who created the product? Would we view a vendor differently if we knew that reputable multichannel expert "Bill Smith" is responsible for a product, and puts his reputation behind the product or service?

People matter. If we want multichannel marketing to succeed, we need to reward people for their efforts.

Answer me this: Name three individuals who are well known and respected for their expertise in multichannel marketing? Go ahead and write their names in the comments section of this post.

People matter. Let's start cultivating tomorrow's leaders.