Patagonia, Holiday 1999

If your idea of winter sports is running from your heated car to your heated house, any old jacket will do. But if you prefer, say, skiing Alaska's Chugach Mountains or climbing the ice-coated K2 in Pakistan, then you need to be sure that your apparel is up to the task. With its Gold Award-winning holiday book, apparel cataloger/retailer Patagonia ensures readers that its products are as tough as they are.

The copywriters don't stint when it comes to explaining the benefits of the gear featured in the catalog. Take the beginning of the copy block for the Torre Jacket and Pants: "The Torre suit is lighter, easier to move in and more compressible than the heavy armor touted as `expedition' gear by most suppliers. Details: visibility hood, Y-joint sleeves for freedom of movement, storm flaps over zippers, gusseted cuffs and drawcords at waist and hem to seal out moisture...." As if that's not enough, the copy further elaborates on the fabric, and a sidebar on the same page gives layering tips for "extreme cold," along with the combined weight of the suggested apparel. Such depth of product knowledge, said one judge, is what positions Patagonia as "the ultimate authority in this specific product category."

The action photos - showing "real people" hiking, skiing, and tubing while clad in Patagonia apparel - help too. Not only do they beautifully set off the product shots, but as another judge noted, "photos of items in use definitely entice you to buy." And in case readers still aren't convinced, scattered throughout the pages are reminders about the company's "iron clad guarantee."

Patagonia further distinguishes itself with its environmental stance. Icons indicate products made of post-consumer recycled plastic and those made of organic cotton. A note on the bottom of the inside front cover reads "Patagonia pledges 1% of sales to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment." And one spread is given over to an essay about the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement among more than 160 nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while another discusses the cleanup of the Kennebec River in Maine. Four whole pages dedicated not to selling product but to educating readers about a topic - conservation - that Patagonia deems important. The result, the judges agreed, is a catalog that's both exceptionally effective and just plain exceptional.