MCM Awards 2008

SILVER: Print Channel

	L.L. Bean, Direct to Business, Holiday 2007

L.L. Bean for business? You bet! The venerable outdoor apparel merchant has developed a distinctive title that takes its current product and personalizes it for companies seeking gifts or promotions for clients and employees.

WHY IT WON A SILVER AWARD: The front cover copy immediately communicates a purpose and a sense of “buy now,” a judge said. “L.L. Bean does a wonderful job of designing the catalog and introducing pacing throughout.”

Then there's the copy. Said one judge: “Every copy block extols the virtues of the product without going overboard.”

L.L. Bean boasts high scores in customer service and ordering, too. “They have done everything possible to make the customer ordering experience as comfortable as possible,” a panelist said.

WHY IT DIDN'T WIN A GOLD AWARD: Judges had a few creative quibbles: The front cover photo faces off the page instead of into the catalog, back-cover copy is difficult to read, and the point size could have been bumped up a bit. — MD

Designer: Leslie Wagner

Creative directors: Jim Hauptman, Marcia Minter

Print/production director: Jason Kendeigh

Merchandiser: Jennifer Foley

Copywriter: Debra Carr-Brox

Editorial manager: Chris Seid

Printer: Quebecor World

Color separator/prepress provider: Vertis

List broker/manager: MeritDirect

	Business Specialty Products

	GOLD: Web Channel

	www.epromos.com

Searching for promotional products can be daunting. You need merchandise that works with your company image, logo and budget, and there are a lot of products to choose from. Happily, ePromos makes it easy for you.

WHY IT WON A GOLD: EPromos.com has a tremendous range of products and excellent self-service checkout that customizes itself based upon the merchandise purchased. And having the trade show promotional items and the promotional business gifts as large elements on the home pages is useful, “because I suspect those are large categories for this business,” said one judge.

But one of the best things about ePromos is its solid use of filters. “You can reorganize your selection by price, color, brand, days shipped and so on,” a panelist said. “It's a great feature that a lot of their competitors do not offer.”

IDEA TO STEAL: The shopping cart that customizes the checkout for the products in the cart. “There's a lot to be learned from these folks on that front.” — TP

Creative director/ Web designer: Jason Robbins

Marketing director/Webmaster/merchandiser/copywriter: Mark Yokoyama

Photographer/illustrator: Daron Rosenberg

	SILVER: Web Channel

	www.waspbarcode.com

Wasp Barcode Technologies' Website is abuzz with barcode software and systems from scanners and printers to labels and accessories. The manufacturer/marketer's site is also a Silver Award winner.

WHY IT WON A SILVER: Waspbarcode.com won raves for using video in an effective manner. WASPTV, its online video player, is well executed, as is a lot of the free information that it provides. The site could even expand the videos and use them to help customers figure out how to solve their problems, a judge said.

“It's clear that they know who their customer is and have carved out a niche from both a merchandising perspective as well as from a copy/sales perspective,” a panelist noted.

WHY IT DIDN'T WIN A GOLD: Judges had some stinging comments about the site's navigation and usability. “They need to work a lot harder on their navigation, as well as on simplifying the buying process,” a panelist said. “It takes too long to get to what you want.” — TP

Creative director: Brian Sutter

Marketing director: Grant Wickes

Webmaster/Website designer: Alana Duma

Copywriter: Bob Griswold

Consultant: Chris Robertson