22nd ANNUAL MULTICHANNEL MERCHANT AWARDS

Consumer Specialty Products

GOLD: PRINT CHANNEL

Country Walkers | 2007
Country Walkers has walked away with the Gold Award in the Consumer Specialty Products category. With its tagline, this marketer of walking vacations invites customers to “explore the world one step at a time.” Country Walkers has for 28 years provided adventure travel to just about any place you could think to visit, and judging by its past achievements, its future road looks smooth.

Why it won a Gold Award
Whatever Country Walkers attempts, its catalog delivers. Ranging from vivid, picturesque photography to interesting copy to informative maps, it all adds up to quality. “It's a beautiful book,” said one judge. “I love the little maps that look like water colors. It's almost like a reference guide. It makes this book so friendly.”

For example, a photograph of three people walking up a slight hill in Wales, surrounded by lush green scenery, makes the setting appear to be the most peaceful spot on earth. Incredible photography mixes shots of scenery with tour travelers and locals. “Beautiful production, photography, paper, and size,” one judge said, while another added: “A fantastic job of clean, uncluttered design. This book stood out among several in the travel/touring genre, partly because it was tasteful and unfussy.”

Copy earned accolades as well. “Copy is just right,” one panelist said. “It uses the first person plural — we — to describe just how much fun and enlightenment participants can expect. Sidebars and charts add clarity.” Another judge said the copy perfectly complements the stunning photography. “Romance copy makes you want to be there. Details of each tour answer all questions clearly.” The copy is “very descriptive, but never to the point of getting boring,” added a third panel member.

The vacations are wide ranging, “but never exotic or dangerous,” one judge said. “Each one seems to build on the last. If you are a walker or considering taking a vacation, there is something for everyone, either by part of the world or skill level. I specifically like the variations of their product on the same theme — for women, for family, and for special occasions.”

Let's not forget the cover, which shows a hiker descending a small mountain into a Medieval-looking, European town, punctuated by a church steeple and scenic hillsides. “The cover set the tone for the entire book and it doesn't let you down,” one judge said. “Gorgeous photos of places you can visit, great shots of food, sites, and people. The cover creates a desire for those who aspire to go to different parts of the world and experience the sites. You can feel it on the cover and it is carried through every page.”

Idea to steal
Country Walkers uses real clients and employees to help create a “picture yourself there” theme. For example, a photo of two women posing for a picture during a hike in bucolic Vermont makes you want to sign up for a tour immediately.— JT

Director/marketing director: Carolyn Walters Fox
Designer/creative director/print and production director: Tina Christensen (Christensen Design)
Copywriter: Erik Esckilsen
Printer/color separator: Sells Printing
List manager: Bob Elsasser
Cover paper: 9 pt. Sterling Gloss r
Text paper: 80 lb. Sterling
Trim size: 8-1/5" × 11-1/8;"
Number of pages: 112

SILVER: PRINT CHANNEL

Patagonia | 2006-07 Fall/Winter
When you hear Patagonia, you think of excellence and quality. The company's 2006-07 Fall/Winter catalog grips the outdoors fan from the cover and doesn't let go until the last page. A black-and-white cover photo, shot in a hazy fog, shows a male hiker triumphantly reaching the summit of a mountain. “This is one of the best examples of how to engage the enthusiast in a catalog that I've seen,” one judge said. “The action shots using their product were wonderful. I couldn't wait to get to the next stunning picture. The statement made here is that product works — look at it in use.”

Why it won a Silver Award
Patagonia opens with a “great use of both covers to tell the Patagonia story,” a judge said. “Stunning photography, unique page size, and 40%-100% post-consumer waste paper. Patagonia knows its audience and markets directly to them.”

From a merchandising standpoint, this catalog sells “gear designed by climbers for climbers,” said another panelist. Sale items include men's and women's Capilene bottoms, premium down vests and parkas, travel packs, polo shirts, and jackets. Presumably, said another judge, “most products are worn by people who've never set foot on a mountain, but the brand is powerful and the clothing is right.”

Another panelist described the copy as “story telling. You want to read the book.” Other judges felt the copy was “educational and inspirational, with compelling sidebars”; “great blend of story-telling emotion, product romance copy, and technical detail makes you want to read every word.”

Indeed, a panelist praised, the book's copy “hit a home run. The articles or stories throughout the book are wonderful, not overdone at all. Even for me, someone who isn't an enthusiast, I thought that they were interesting and easy to read and certainly got me into and through the book.”

Why it didn't win a Gold Award
As much as most of the panel loved the creative, some thought it was too dark in places. Said one panelist: “I think that the product pictures, especially when it comes to any dark color, are not good. I can't really see much detail of the products.” What's more, the judge said, “pricing is almost hidden and in a very small font.”— JT

Designer: Annette Scheid
Photo editor: Jane Sievert
Product photography: Jim Arneson
Photography art director: Billie Jan Houston
Managing copy editor: Alyssa Firmin
Production managers: Angela Weidmann, Sarah Sweeny
Creative director: Rob BonDurant
Merchandisers: Kevin Churchill, Carrie Randolph
Director of direct mail: Morlee Griswold
Circulation manager: Ken Storey
Database provider: Abacus
Printer: Arandell Corp.
Separator: Schawk
Paper broker: Strategic Paper Group
Cover paper: 70 lb., Mohawk 50/10 matte, grade #1, 50% post-consumer waste, FSC-certified and produced with wind power
Text paper: 45 lb., Stora Enso Polaris Press arbor silk, grade #4, 40% post-consumer waste
Trim size: 10" × 10-1/2"
Number of pages: 96

GOLD: WEB CHANNEL

eBags | www.ebags.com
With a stellar site selling thousands of handbags, luggage items, backpacks, laptop cases, sports duffles, wallets, and much more, it's no wonder that eBags has bagged yet another Gold Award. The site provides “a very resourceful shopping experience — competitively priced, ships fast, top brands, plus customer engagement with the site and the brand,” marveled one judge.

EBags “displays a broad array of products and services remarkably well,” added another panelist.

Why it won a Gold Award
EBags demontrates its excellence from the start with its home page. One judge remarked that the home page design “offers a lot of functions without seeming too cluttered, with strong branding and customer service functionality.” Another member of the panel has the description down to a science: “The home page effectively hooks the left-brained shopper with its logical and intuitive product navigation expanded to just the right level to help the shopper start tracking the shopping scent. The right-brained shopper is apt to respond to string-hero merchandising in the body of the page.”

Whether you're left- or right-brain oriented, if you need any kind of bag, eBags has it. “The site offers an authoritative selection in nearly every subcategory. It provides good winnowing tools on all its product lists. It cross-sells intelligently, while cultivating and protecting the order for the primary items with well-placed reviews and reassurances,” a judge said.

Customer service functionality “is definitely a strength of this site,” a panelist pointed out. “Feedback mechanisms, customer reviews, product comparisons, and detailed polices on returns and privacy create an impression of effective customer service.”

Navigation and usability are also impressive. “The site is a textbook example of how to help users find and track the shopping scent: throughout the drill-down, choices become more relevant and specific,” said one judge. “As a result, the site seems even faster than it is.”

Idea to steal
Use sidebars and additional editorial content to help sell and highlight other purchasing options. EBag's subtle functions such as “help me choose the right bag” appeal to the newer customers, pointed out one of the panelists. “And the customer reviews and ‘worry-free' branding create a strong feeling of trust when purchasing,” the same judge said.— MD

Creative director: Nancy Behrendt
Marketing director: Chris Seahorn
Webmaster: Dan Werling
Website designer: Jason Carncross
Merchandiser: Karen Centner
Photographer/illustrator: Casey Brown

GOLD: WEB CHANNEL
also SILVER: Computer, High-Tech Equipment and Software

Musician's Friend | www.musiciansfriend.com
Singer/songwriter James Taylor penned the lyric, “Ain't it good to know you've got a friend?” To musicians and budding rock stars in need of guitars, amps, keybords, and more, the Musician's Friend Website is a friend indeed. In addition to buying gear, musicians can get online lessons from Berklee School faculty, learn about artists, and read the latest industry news on this Silver-winning site.

Why it won a Silver Award
For starters, “Given their brand and what they are trying to do online, the home page is very appropriate for their customers,” a judge said. “There is solid merchandising strategy throughout the Website, and the customer reviews section is excellent.”

Musiciansfriend.com also does a great job of engaging the consumer. More than one judge loved the “Stupid Deal of the Day” on the front page, a promotion in which users click for a mystery product that has been discounted. Others liked that Musician's Friend took advantage of video to add value and interest — without sacrificing page load speed.

Judges liked that the Website's resources help Musician's Friend become an online community instead of just an e-commerce portal. A “quick find” tab next to the search bar allows the user to read articles, read hands-on reviews of products sold on the site, and subscribe to a newsletter.

“There's a lot going on, but it's still clean,” a judge said. “The site is a bit much, but it never stops selling.”

For example, subscribing to the newsletter also enters the consumer into a sweepstakes for whatever prize Musician's Friend may be giving away. And clicking on “articles” brings up a plethora of resources, like a Q&A from the “Ask the Teacher” section of Rockhousemethod.com, buyer's guides, and a media center that contains hundreds of product videos.

But judges say Musician's Friend's Website sets itself apart from the others by keeping musiciansfriend.com organized and orderly and, as a result, user-friendly.

Why it didn't win a Gold Award
Judges had some issues with the site's left navigation bar. It disappears in the shopping cart, making it more difficult than necessary to navigate back to products. Also, there is no “continue shopping” link in the cart, which discourages add-ons.

Another pet peeve of one judge: “Shipping charges and policies should not be buried, and navigation within the customer service section is difficult.”— TP

Webmaster/director of e-commerce systems: Christopher James
Website designers: Jason Cave, Don Guy
Merchandisers: Shane Halstead, Chris Tso, Dave Pelletier
Lead Internet copywriter: Marty Paule
Online marketing manager: Shanti Shunn
Associate brand manager: Steven Gillen
Managers, e-commerce systems: Andrew Dubry, Tony Fleisher
Web programmers: Christopher Maujean, Jason Sikes, John Fox, Lane Van Hout, Michael Eastman, Chris Boyer, Erik Arneson, Jeremy Echols, Jesse Williamson
Senior program analysts: Craig Peterson, Ty Cook