Face to Facebook

In my March editor's letter, I referred to a few catalogue-related Facebook groups I stumbled across. In an effort to find something, anything, to distract me from writing an article on warehouse picking methods for the April issue, I went back to Facebook for a second stumble.

Among my finds:

* Argos Catalogue Throwers ("Men only, it's a guy thing. We like dangerous sports...")
* The Argos Catalogue Appreciation Society
* I Hate Argos Catalogue Launch
* 101 Uses for an Argos Catalogue
* The International Association for Argos Catalogue Game Players
* I'd Rather Read the Argos Catalogue Than a Harry Potter Book (an impressive 169 members)
* When I Was Your Age, the Argos Catalogue Was Only an Inch Thick!
* The Catalogue Appreciation Society ("The society for people who love nothing more than spending some quality time with a good catalogue. Whether Argos, Innovations or Snow & Rock; surely this is one of Britain's most popular pastimes?")
* Dont [sic] Order from Littlewoods Catalogue
* My First Wank Was to a Littlewoods Catalogue
* Bring Back the Innovations Catalogue ("This informative, idea-packed gadget-fest could always be counted on to brighten up the wettest Sunday afternoon. Countless hours could be spent dreaming of a world where Wasps are rendered harmless, and seized Jar Lids no longer make Peanut Butter inaccessible to elderly relatives.")
* The Jack Wills Catalogue IS My Bible (43 adherents)
* The Ikea Catalogue Is Like Furniture Pornography
* I Love Lush (a group led by the toiletries cataloguer/retailer itself, with 1,397 members)
* The Handpicked Collection (another "official" group, with 642 members)
* Howies Appreciation Society (courtesy of the fashion cataloguer itself, with 525 members, 14 of whom participated in the discussion "What is your favourite Howies T-shirt (and why)?")

What can we learn from this? One, that your best customers will affiliate themselves with your brand, which helps spread the word. And two, that the Argos catalogue makes a fabulous wheel block and door holder, among other uses.--SC