12 August 2005
A New Catalog Concept for BAUR

MetaDesign provides a full range of services for the mail-order company BAUR, from strategic repositioning to the development of a new catalog concept.

The upcoming BAUR catalog breaks new ground both creatively and conceptually. Its structure and design reflect the BAUR Group’s new brand strategy. MetaDesign AG, a Berlin-based corporate identity agency, has provided a full range of services for BAUR, from strategy development to the formulation of a new catalog concept. The fall/winter 2005 catalog is due out on 16 August 2005.

BAUR Versand GmbH wants to establish a clear positioning in the competitive market for mail-order companies and shop providers: "BAUR stands for excellent service. We offer our customers precisely those products that enhance the quality of their lives," says Richard Krekeler, chief executive officer of BAUR. BAUR wants its new brand strategy to convey this promise to both customers and employees, and it has taken the first steps toward achieving this goal together with MetaDesign.

"The new catalog design is just one aspect of the extensive work we’ve done for BAUR," says Stefanie Kurz, head of brand consulting at MetaDesign, describing the project’s dimensions. The first task was to develop brand strategy. In a joint brand workshop that marked a milestone for both BAUR and MetaDesign, workshop participants clarified what the BAUR brand stood for from the perspective of the company and its employees. They also defined what distinguished it from the competition. On the basis of additional analyses, MetaDesign compared external perceptions of the company with the self-image distilled and visualized at the workshop. The agency ultimately derived a complete brand strategy that builds on the “brand core”: "The phrase ‘high-quality everyday life’ represents the genetic code of the BAUR brand. It succinctly expresses the aspirations that drive us onward at BAUR," says Richard Krekeler, explaining the significance of the brand core for brand strategy.

When developing brand strategy, MetaDesign and BAUR determined what target groups BAUR would attempt to reach with its future product range. MetaDesign described the main consumer “cluster” right down to precise lifestyle details. The agency also organized a special workshops to give BAUR purchasers a better understanding of the different social environments associated with these consumer clusters. Together with MetaDesign, the purchasers developed parameters for designing future product ranges. Richard Krekeler of BAUR and Stephanie Kurz of MetaDesign are convinced that this more precise understanding of both the BAUR brand and its brand strategy is crucial to the company’s success in the marketplace.

For MetaDesign, the new catalog concept exemplifies how the new brand strategy is reflected in visual design. MetaDesign developed an overarching concept for the design and structure of the new catalog, and the BAUR design team closely followed the agency’s guidelines in their production work. They were able to use documentation compiled by MetaDesign, which even covered the tone of product texts. "From the selection of models to product presentation to the concrete design of individual pages, we’ve created clear guidelines for all aspects of catalog design in keeping with the new corporate design system," says Stephanie Kurz, describing the practical tools developed for BAUR. There are now plans to optimize documentation and design implementation on the basis of the new main catalog.

Richard Krekeler is convinced that, thanks to this intensive preliminary work, the new brand strategy will prove a valuable investment in BAUR’s future: "Our new visual identity succinctly expresses our brand promise. We will now make sure that the new corporate design program is implemented across all media, above and beyond the catalog."