The Boden catalogue came through our letterbox this week. It reminded me about how Boden offers a useful lesson: the best strategy is understanding your audience, knowing what each channel does best and making them work together.
For the last few years, engaging customers has been framed as a race towards digital. Brands have cut print budgets, shifted investment online and chased efficiency through clicks, impressions and digital comms.
British clothing brand Boden’s recent turnaround suggests that approach can only take you so far.
The British fashion retailer returned to profitability in FY24 after a £12.2m loss the previous year. Revenue climbed to £362.8m, active customers grew to 1.8 million, and the recovery was credited in part to the return of its iconic catalogue.
It’s tempting to reduce the story to a headline: print is back. But that misses the point.
The real lesson is less about choosing print over digital and more about understanding your audience and using each channel for what it does best.
More than a catalogue
Boden’s recovery wasn’t driven by just printing more catalogues. The business refined its product range, reduced discounting and refocused on womenswear, reconnecting with the customers who had always been at the heart of the brand.
The catalogue supported that wider strategy. It wasn’t a nostalgic exercise or a rejection of digital. It was a carefully targeted marketing tool designed to reconnect with an audience that was already receptive.
Most purchases still happened online, but according to Boden, 67% of sales were influenced by the catalogue, while customers who received one spent between 1.5 and two times more per order than those reached only through digital channels.
Channels that build demand
Digital marketing is excellent at capturing intent. It’s fast, measurable and convenient. But not every channel is designed to close a sale. Some channels create awareness. Others build trust, inspire ideas or keep a brand front of mind until the customer is ready to act. Print has always excelled at that.
A well-designed catalogue, magazine or journal hangs around rather than disappearing from a social feed or lost in an inbox. It invites readers to spend time with the content, revisit it later and engage without the distractions that come with digital platforms.
For premium brands, membership organisations and businesses with a clearly defined audience, that slower, more immersive experience can be incredibly valuable.
Print works harder when it’s targeted
One of the most revealing details from Boden’s turnaround wasn’t simply that the catalogue returned. It was that around 85% of mailings were selected using customer data. This wasn’t a return to blanket direct mail. It was targeted print, informed by customer insight and integrated into a wider marketing strategy.
The same principle applies to membership publications. The strongest magazines strengthen relationships, reinforce shared values and keep organisations connected with the people who matter most. That’s why publications continue to play such an important role for many membership organisations.
They’re not standalone marketing pieces, but part of an ongoing conversation that builds loyalty, engagement and community.
Every channel has a different job
One of the biggest mistakes in modern marketing is expecting every channel to deliver the same outcome. Social media is designed for reach, search captures intent, email nurtures relationships and print creates depth. The most effective marketing strategies recognise those differences rather than forcing every activity into the same performance metrics.
Judging a magazine or catalogue purely on last-click attribution ignores much of the value it creates.
- Did it encourage someone to spend more time with the brand?
- Did it increase trust?
- Did it prompt them to visit the website later with greater intent?
- Did it strengthen loyalty over months rather than minutes?
Those outcomes are harder to measure, but they’re no less commercial.
The bigger lesson
Perhaps the most important takeaway from Boden’s recovery has nothing to do with print at all. The business succeeded because it remembered who it was serving. Its products, pricing and marketing all became more closely aligned with the audience that had made the brand successful in the first place. The catalogue supported that strategy; it didn’t replace it. That’s a lesson that extends well beyond retail.
Whether you’re publishing a customer magazine, creating content for a membership organisation or building a premium brand, success rarely comes from chasing the newest marketing channel. It comes from understanding your audience, communicating consistently and choosing the right medium for the right moment.
Print still has a place
We see print and digital as complementary, not competing. The strongest publications don’t end when they’re printed; they become the foundation for websites, email newsletters and social content, creating a joined-up communications strategy that keeps brands visible across every touchpoint.
Boden’s comeback is evidence that thoughtful, audience-led communication still wins. And sometimes, the most effective marketing isn’t about finding another channel. It’s about making better use of the ones you already have.
The key lesson is to start with the audience rather than the channel. A membership publication should have a clear role in communicating value, expertise and community, while digital channels extend the conversation between issues.
It would be misleading to attribute Boden’s recovery to the catalogue alone. Its turnaround also included changes to its product strategy, a renewed focus on womenswear and reduced discounting. The catalogue supported that broader effort to reconnect the brand with its customers.
Boden’s comeback suggests marketers should focus less on print versus digital and more on audience, purpose and channel roles. Its catalogue returned as part of a wider strategy to reconnect with core customers. The lesson is to use print and digital together, giving each a clear job within the customer journey.
Of course, Boden’s experience doesn’t suggest that brands should replace digital marketing with print. But it demonstrates that print still has a valuable role when it suits the audience, has a clearly defined purpose and is integrated with other channels.
The two formats can perform different jobs. Digital channels make information easy to discover, distribute and act upon, while a publication can offer more space for storytelling, explanation and sustained attention. The strategic opportunity is to make the channels complementary.
Measurement should reflect the job the publication has been designed to do. That can mean looking beyond immediate conversion to subsequent website activity, reader engagement, retention, enquiries and other behaviours relevant to the organisation’s objectives.
