22nd ANNUAL MULTICHANNEL MERCHANT AWARDS

Hardware, Tools, and Automotive Supplies

SILVER: WEB CHANNEL

J.C. Whitney | www.jcwhitney.com
If you're a car enthusiast heading down the information highway, looking for adventure, J.C. Whitney is the destination for you. The automotive supplies merchant has had a presence on the Web since 1997, and has used it to drive truck, car, and motorcycle sales ever since.

Why it won a Silver Award
The Website has what you'd expect from a catalog company: a well laid out site with plenty of links for assistance. Easy-to-read copy and understandable features, and an option to read or write product reviews make it an inviting place for consumers.

J.C. Whitney “has everything automotive for all different makes and models,” a judge said. “The Website has good coverage of products and brands.” For example, clicking on the “Jeep” tab at the top of the page allows customers to purchase everything from carpet padding to an air horn that plays “La Cucaracha.”

The Website also got a thumbs-up for its interactive components. By soliciting feedback from users, it not only helps consumers make a better product decision, but improves the copy, said a judge.

Why it didn't win a Gold Award
In trying to offer everything to everyone, the Website gets too busy. Functions on the site “made it confusing to get through, which hurts the overall merchandising strategy,” a judge said. It's nice to have options, but J.C. Whitney offers too many hard-to-follow navigation options. As a result, users may need a good map or GPS system to get around the site. And too much content slowed it down — you can't stuff a Porsche engine into a Renault Fuego and expect it to run full speed.— TP

Vice president e-commerce: Geoffrey Robertson
Creative manager e-commerce: Michael Hill
Senior marketing manager e-commerce: Roger Murray
Director of IT: Gary Johnson
Website designers: Michael Hill, Geoffrey Robertson
Vice president merchandising: Joe Risch
Creative manager, catalog: Kerry Gingrich

Home and Gardening Products

GOLD: PRINT CHANNEL

Jackson & Perkins | New Roses 2007
Thanks to the glorious roses pictured on the front and back covers, and on nearly all of the pages in between, there's no mistaking what this catalog is selling. This 36-page Gold Award winning book is replete with a plethora of exclusive roses. “This is focused,” said one judge. “This is what they're good at. It's a fabulous example of how to photograph flowers.”

Why it won a Gold Award
The attractive cover features a simple yet effective closeup photograph of three color-blushed roses. “Covers shout reasons to look inside front — 50 roses exclusive to Jackson & Perkins, and 2007 Rose of the Year on the back cover,” said one judge. “It's all unique and exclusive roses.”

Indeed, agreed another judge, the front cover “has a great product on it and very strong callouts. Very compelling to make you look inside.”

Inside the book, the array of merchandise includes numerous types of exclusive roses, gardening tools, and decorative pieces like a Cathedral Garden Arch, a Cathedral Bench, an Arch Arbor, a Windsor Arch, and English Pillar Frames. Another panelist noted: “Product selection is definitely a strength here.”

Copy is another of Jackson & Perkins' strong points, according to the judging panel. “Nice blend of romance copy, background information, and product detail,” one judge said.

Another panelist added that the copy “works very hard. The detail provided for each flower or planting is important to the product selection. Very effective use of headlines to introduce each new product category in the book.” And another panelist summarized: “Enthusiastic copy is obviously written by flower lovers.”

For example, the catalog's description of a Mother's Rose reads: “Chosen for its striking coloration, lovely form, and remarkable keeping quality; it's a gorgeous, flowering tribute to motherhood. This extraordinary rose bestows the season-long gift of unusual coral buds that graciously open to large, thick-petaled blossoms in unique tones of deep coral and pink…”

Jackson & Perkins “delivers a unique twist to the commodity of roses as exclusive merchandise,” one judge said. “From page two to the order form, everything needed to buy easily and with complete confidence.” Another bonus, said the panelist: “Beautiful photography that fits the products being sold.”

To be distinctive, one member of the judging panel said this book “focuses on one type of flower, differentiating roses into dozens of varieties. Catalog conveys a sense of quality service.”

Idea to steal
“You can slice and dice a category into really fine segments,” one panelist said. How does Jackson & Perkins do this? Through custom varieties of its roses, plus “very interesting tie-ins with celebrities like Pope John Paul II, Lady Bird Johnson, Laura Bush, and Princess Diana,” a judge said.
— JT

Director: Estin B. Kiger
Designer: Steven Burns
Creative director: Neal Schuler
Marketing director: Bill Michel
Print/production director: Jack Kobinsky
Merchandiser: Diane Reeder
Copywriter: Jill Thacker
Photographer/illustrators: Ron Anderson, Rob Rebman
Printer: R.R. Donnelley
Color separator/prepress: Schawk
List manager/broker: American List Counsel
Cover paper: 60 lb. Verso Influence recycled
Text paper: 40 lb., Verso Gloss
Trim size: 7-5/8" × 10-1/2"
Number of pages: 36