GOLD: Catalog Channel
New Pig, The Big Pigalog, 2011
New Pig’s award shelf must be getting heavy: The industrial cleanup supplies merchant is a perennial Gold winner in the MCM Awards. “They do everything right,” observed one judge. Does that mean the judging panel is running out of nice things to say about New Pig? Hardly.
WHY IT WON A GOLD AWARD: Its outstanding merchandising, with both breadth and depth in its key categories, is one reason. “Much of the product is developed or invented by the company, so it is differentiated from what otherwise might be commodity product,” said a panelist.
Clearly, absorbents — such as the cataloger’s signature “pig” sock — are the core products, “but there is a remarkable selection of merchandise that would appeal to any manufacturing company,” said another judge. “The company does a great job showing their innovation and ingenuity with an array of new products.”
Copy is also a winner. “New Pig does a great job of conveying important information in a way that is both fun and easy to follow,” said another judge. “I am always impressed by the innovative ways that the pig shows up with key messaging,” the judge said, referring to the cataloger’s cartoon pig mascot (or “faithful swinekick”) named Sparky.
IDEA TO STEAL: Gatefolds can be effective. The one New Pig uses enables the cataloger to use five pages of editorial that strongly establishes the brand. — MD
SILVER: Catalog Channel
WESCO Sustainable Energy Guide 2010
Bravo on making energy savings solutions easy to understand and interesting to read,” exclaimed one judge about WESCO’s Sustainable Energy Guide. This book is a lesson on how to introduce a new product line to industrial customers, namely with extensive editorial about the company and the product.
WHY IT WON A SILVER AWARD: Editorial copy is particularly strong at the beginning of the catalog and at each of the three major sections. “As the first edition of this energy product offering, the explanations are helpful and even necessary,” said one judge.
The bullet points were appropriate in lieu of copy, said another panelist. “I found myself reading it like a magazine at times, which means it will be held onto longer.”
WESCO’s merchandise is well organized and introduced via a detailed table of contents, and the informative copy followed up by summary charts is helpful. The design includes an “effective integration of lifestyle and product shots,” said one judge.
In all, noted a panelist, “I was impressed by the sustainability summits and the sheer depth of knowledgeable information presented.”
WHY IT DIDN’T WIN A GOLD AWARD: While the catalog’s design was clean and crisp, “there could have been more use of graphic elements and color to add interest,” said one judge. Another wanted to see page reference information for the product insets on the left side. “Just adding small type like ‘45 dimmers to choose from see page xx,’ or ‘power generation at wind speeds of only 2 mph see page x,’ would make the images more interesting.” — MD