22nd ANNUAL MULTICHANNEL MERCHANT AWARDS

Print Catalog of the Year

GOLD WINNER: COMPUTER, HIGH-TECH EQUIPMENT, AND SOFTWARE | Print Channel Black Box Corp., Network Services 2006

Black Box Corp.
Black Box Corp. is the authority in “DVH” networking products, according to its tagline cover. What's DVH, you ask? It stands for data, voice, and hotline, and not only is Black Box the king of DVH, it's also our Catalog of the Year.

Why it won Catalog of the Year
When selling highly technical products such as network cabling and routers and switches, copy is essential. Black Box has it down, with benefit-oriented copy that provides all the necessary specs as well. “Black Box Explains” boxes go into more detail on product uses and direct readers to the Website. Headlines support the benefit-oriented copy.

“This is a resource that will stay on the buyer's desk all year long,” said a judge. Black Box's 900 pages of product “are made to be interesting and informative.”

“It's got terrific tools and a beautiful index,” exclaimed another blown-away panelist. “Oh my goodness.”

One judge praised the balance of selling copy vs. editorial copy, such as the educational sidebars designed to assist novice users. The ability to offer advice and demonstrate the benefits of buying and using a particular product distinguishes Black Box from its peers, the panel agreed. “In a technical market, the merchandising and copy are helpful resources,” one judge said.

It would be easy to have uninspired layouts considering that Black Box sells such unsexy merchandise as testers and switches. But that's not the case here. There is good pacing, and the larger images broken up with smaller ones, all with text boxes that provide excellent information. “It is actually a fun book to flip through even for non-technical types,” said one judge.

And considering the lightweight paper required for a directory-size catalog, the printing quality and readability is “excellent,” the judging panel agreed.

Customer service has always been a hallmark at Black Box, and this catalog doesn't disappoint on that front. Beginning with the table of contents, its guarantee is firm and easy to grasp: ‘We'll beat any price.” Its free tech-support hotline is another big plus, said a judge, and is in line with the company's branding message.

It seems like Black Box has thought of nearly everything, even in cases of water damage and accidents. To wit, Black Box offers “Fido” protection, covering accidental damage such as water. Your dog chewed through cables? Black Box has it covered. No doubt that's where Fido protection originated.

Despite its extensive product, Black Box takes great pains to sell the product, giving each the appropriate space. Just reading about the protective qualities of Black Box's server cabinet almost erases your own fears. “Fully welded construction, made of 16-guage steel.” And “gasketed doors and a filtered air-intake system provide the best resistance to circulating dust and dripping waters.” There's such a variety here that more than one judge remarked about the book's “mind numbing product assortment.”

Idea to steal
Granted, not every cataloger has the luxury of having a single product on every page, but marketers can learn from what Black Box does well: taking such commodity products as computer cables and networking devices, and making them heroes. On one page, Black Box pictures a single product — a switch for CPUs with multiple video ports — with nothing else but supporting copy.— Mark Del Franco

Manager publication services: Julia Leigh
Catalog supervisor: Deborah Baran
Designers: Dallene Davis, Roy Geer, Bill Hannen, Shari Scott, Joe Slebonick, Megan Vaites, David Wheaton
Writers: Caren Bachman, Rob Baran, Jonathan Decker, Jean Massaro, Andrew Phillips, Roberta Szyper
Traffic/production: Jennifer Galbraith, Missy Brytus
Photographer: Rich Angeloff
Editorial: Julie Daubner, Beth Frederick
Printer, color separator, prepress: Perry Judd's
Cover paper: 138 lb., Sterling ultra gloss, #2 grade
Text paper: 60 lb., Orion, Satin, grade 3 (corporate section); 32 lb., Sno Cote, Frasier, grade 4 (folio); 32 lb., Ocean Cote, E.B. Eddy, grade 4 (folio)
Trim size: 8-3/8" × 10-1/8"
Number of pages: 872