MCM Awards 2008

SILVER: Web Channel

	www.learningresources.com

Other Websites could learn a lot from Learning Resources. This Silver-Award winning site sells educational materials and learning toys.

WHY IT WON A SILVER: Learning Resources' Website caters to both teachers and parents, with alternate pages for both customer segments. Not only is the site fun and easy to navigate, the click-through pages meet customer expectations.

The site boasts good cross-sells on product pages, copy is easy to read and understand — it gets straight to the point. And the product guide PDFs are valuable to its audience, a panelist noted.

WHY IT DIDN'T WIN A GOLD: Learning Resources has some functionality and creative issues. For instance, the search function does not suggest alternatives for misspelled words. “Search returned products from the term ‘airplane’ but no returns for the word ‘airplanes,’” a panelist pointed out. And judges felt that while some product images are good, others are not. — TP

Creative director: Mike Peters

Marketing director: Michelle Bougie

Webmaster: Lana Gorelova

Website designer: Buster Creative

Merchandiser: Jennifer Jens

Copywriter: Allison Wolcott

Photographer/illustrator: Elevate/BlackBoxStudios

Consultants: MarketLive

Others: Lisa Guili, Eric Toriumi

	Computer and High-Tech Equipment

	SILVER: Web Channel

	www.l-com.com

When you're selling connectivity products, such as cable assemblies, fiber optics and network equipment, you have to educate your customers and guide them through the decision-making process. L-Com takes this a step further by offering resources to help customers tackle their projects.

WHY IT WON A SILVER AWARD: Right from its packed home page, L-Com “effectively showcases the merchandise, its applications, and the company's selling proposition,” said one judge. And the overall selection “is authoritative and complete.” The site “provides deep expertise on connectivity — the editorial and tutorials are unique and helpful,” a panelist noted. This gives the Website “the appearance of having helpful, smart people standing behind it.”

WHY IT DIDN'T WIN A GOLD AWARD: One judge felt that L-Com's home page “is cluttered and text heavy,” and suggested the site try using less text with fewer elements. Also, while many of the pages effectively use bulleted lists for easy Web scanning, “others crowd copy into tight, dense paragraphs and tiny scroll boxes.” — PB

Creative director: Jim Corcoran

Marketing director: Mary Ann Kleinfelter

Webmaster/Website designer: Jeff Smith

Merchandiser: Peter McNeil

Copywriter: Dave Fallon

Photographer/illustrator: Mark Antinoro

	Consumer Specialty Products

	GOLD: Print Channel

	Wilderness Travel, Journeys for the Year 2008

Offering “extraordinary cultural, wildlife and hiking adventures since 1978,” Wilderness Travel is walking on the wild side on vacation tours. The company's trips range from safaris in Africa and cruises in the Galapagos, to hikes in Europe, treks in Nepal and snorkeling and sea kayaking excursions worldwide.

WHY IT WON A GOLD AWARD: With its vivid, picturesque photography, Wilderness Travel is a “gorgeous book,” one judge said. “Beautiful and interesting cover photography makes a compelling case for looking inside,” one judge remarked. Another added: “Great photography in a travel catalog is a must — and they do it well.”

It's hard to beat this catalog's design and production, but the catalog is also functional. For instance, “copy is very thorough,” one panelist said.

IDEA TO STEAL: The goal is to give the customer assurances that the trip will be excellent, and Wilderness Travel does just that. As one judge said of the cataloger's institutional pages: “Here's how to promote your customer service team.” — JT

Marketing director: Barbara Banks

Designer/creative director: Krystie Bonzelet

Print/production director: Shannon Hastings

Copywriter: Pamela Shandrick

Printer: Overseas Printing Corp.

List management/broker: Inhouse