BURLINGTON, NC (July 9, 2012) – Pro Feet, Inc., is putting its best foot forward thanks to a complete catalog redesign by local Burlington, N.C., creative services firm North Star Marketing.
The high-performance, 26-page print piece is a central component of Pro Feet’s sales model and is distributed regularly to dealers and buyers.
“It’s impossible to put a figure on the value of our catalog,” said Pro Feet President Taylor Wilson. “It is Pro Feet’s number one marketing tool and is carried by every sales representative throughout the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. We also ship it to more than 2,000 team dealers who use it extensively every day. It is the face of Pro Feet, and it has to be right.”
Designed to Go the Distance
North Star Senior Graphic Designer Rob McDorman’s project history with Pro Feet – including branding, sock package design, advertising, print collateral and more – helped shape the look and feel of the catalog.
Because of its size and significance, however, the catalog project introduced the need for new graphic elements to correspond with and strengthen Pro Feet’s established logo and brand standards.
“Pro Feet’s product images are excellent, but they don’t have much photography to market or distinguish categories of products,” said McDorman. “Pro Feet has three separate categories of socks – sport, military/service and postal – but no existing photography to show the product in action. I added these elements to introduce each category and to warm up the piece. It helps the buyer see the product as more than just a line item.”
Another new element North Star introduced to the 2012 catalog was the use of performance rating graphics as a way to differentiate the three tiers of Pro Feet’s product structure – good, better, best.
“The rating system helps consumers and vendors identify the best socks for their needs,” said Andy Lynch, North Star Principal Marketing Consultant. “The system also educates the market on the higher end socks and avoids confusion – the last thing Pro Feet wants is a high-quality but economical, everyday sock confused with a high-performance, specialty sock designed for demanding conditions.”
Designed for Success
Although the design elements clarified Pro Feet’s product lines and sharpened their market position, the final success of such a large project depended on precision and painstaking attention to detail in both the design and content.
“The primary challenge of the project involved taking such a huge amount of information, maintaining accuracy and keeping it all true to their brand standards,” said McDorman. “We ended up reorganizing Pro Feet’s current information into a more intuitive and attractive structure. To check accuracy, we went through the catalog line by line with the client – not to mention the multiple in-house proofs we did before sending it to press.”
Nine proofs later, McDorman credits the ultimate success of the project process to the support and enthusiasm of those at Pro Feet who worked on the catalog, including Taylor Wilson and Zula Hinshaw.
“The Pro Feet team’s excitement about energizing and using their new brand made the process enjoyable for me as the designer,” said McDorman. “They were supportive of our work and contributed many of their own helpful design ideas. It was fun to work together on a piece that would communicate the quality of the company to such a broad audience.”
Wilson is thrilled with the result and recognizes the value of a coherent market presence: “The finished catalog is neat, clean and organized, with fresh graphics that speak to the buyers. From the new Pro Feet logo on the front cover to the Pro Feet brand promise on the back cover, the new catalog summarizes our brand story and unifies our three distinct market channels into one book with a defined brand.”
About Pro Feet
Pro Feet, Inc., is a sock manufacturer, seller and distributor headquartered in Burlington, North Carolina. For more than 30 years, Pro Feet has provided high-quality socks to the athletic, military/uniform and postal markets. For more information, visit www.profeet.com.
About North Star Marketing
Based in Burlington, North Carolina, North Star Marketing is a full-service marketing strategy and creative services firm, providing branding, website development, print collateral design, advertising, public relations and online marketing to businesses, non-profits and schools. For more information about our integrated-communications services, please contact us at 336-229-6610.