J. Peterman and How to Keep Your Brand Relevant

For a generation or two, J. Peterman was a catalog. Or a character on Seinfeld. But for many people, probably neither.

As a very infrequent customer and more often a Seinfeld fan, I had mixed feelings when I heard about the closing of the iconic catalog company a couple weeks ago. J. Peterman built a distinctive brand around unusual merchandise, evocative illustrations, and exquisite descriptions that made a pair of pants or a jacket seem like something you might discover on an adventure somewhere exotic. You know, like the dashing character with the same name on the TV show. By the way, the actor who played him helped bring the company back from the dead a few years ago.

Well, anyway, it worked. For a long time. But brands, customers, and markets don’t stand still. Eventually the math catches up with you.

So I reached out to Paul Miller, Executive VP & Managing Director of ACMA (American Commerce Marketing Association). I asked him about one of the biggest challenges facing established catalog brands: Can you change the merchandise mix without changing the identity of the brand?

His answer: “Brands can change their product mix and still have the same identity though it varies by brand, changing customer mores, tastes, trends in a particular product category, competitors’ offerings, etc.”

This made a lot of sense to me.

Change doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning the brand. As Miller said, “Some brands have made drastic changes to their merchandise and sales have plunged; others have made tweaks here and there [and] have benefited.”

The trick is knowing which changes your customers will embrace, and which ones will make them wonder what happened.

This is where you have to do some “astute number-crunching,” as Miller put it.

What are they buying? What are they ignoring? Which products are attracting new customers? Which ones are losing steam? What categories are growing? What are competitors offering that you aren't?

The answers you find can point you toward where your brand needs to go next.

Here are a few ideas:

Don’t make nostalgia the strategy
Nostalgia can be powerful, but it should lead somewhere. Re-creating what worked 20 or 30 years ago may make existing customers happy, but it doesn't necessarily give a prospect a reason to pay attention, never mind take action.

Plan for tomorrow’s audience
If your customer base is aging, you need to understand who will replace those customers. Will you have to target younger consumers? Maybe, maybe not, you just have to figure out what your desired audience wants and how your brand can remain relevant to them.

Keep testing the merchandise mix
Product mix shouldn't be something you revisit once every few years. Test new products, categories, price points, and variations. Let the results inform your next round of decisions.

Don't assume your storytelling has to remain the same
J. Peterman's elaborate copy was part of its identity. In 2026, 2027, and beyond, that doesn’t mean you have to get rid of all long copy. It’s more important that the presentation of your merchandise is distinctive and memorable, not boring. The real J. Peterman said that was his key to success.

Today's customers may respond to the story behind a brand or piece of clothing differently. Or want it delivered through different formats and channels. Whichever you may believe to be the case, even the best-loved brand identity needs a plan for the next generation of customers.

The preceding content was provided by a contributor unaffiliated with Printing Impressions. The views expressed within may not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of the staff of Printing Impressions. Artificial Intelligence may have been used in part to create or edit this content.