Panda Communications – We Make It Happen!

[Milwaukee , WI – April 2004] Panda Communications, Inc., a leading and innovative provider of safety and industrial content development, catalog production and E-commerce, marketing and advertising solutions, has been making it happen for almost nine years. Since its start in 1996, Panda has created key programs and services that help safety manufacturers and distributors to grow their business while strategically placing them in the market.

How We Make It Happen!

Since the beginning of Panda’s history, Panda has been developing content and implementing that content into Panda’s own proprietary content database. Panda’s exclusive toolbox has offered distributors tremendous savings in content, catalog and e-commerce production. From database design to automated production tools, Panda Makes It Happen!

Panda Catalog Programs

• Panda Syndicated Catalog Program

Focusing on small to mid-level distributors and the demand for a low-cost, high-quality safety products catalog, Panda created the Panda Syndicated Catalog Program. This allows hundreds of safety distributors to share the expenses and economies of a very large print run, yet pay only a fraction of the cost it takes to create a customized catalog. This program, in conjunction with the Panda Preferred Network Program, allows participating distributors to purchase a four-color safety catalog, imprint company name and logo on the cover, receive co-op, special rebates and pricing from the manufacturers, and purchase copies in quantities of 500, 1000, 2500 or more.

In December 2003, Panda released its first quarterly sales Safety Basics Catalog, a new addition to the Panda Syndicated Catalog Program. This 112-page, four-color catalog is the first complete comprehensive catalog that features only the top-selling safety products from the leading manufacturers in the industry. Designed for the maximum postage discount, this lightweight (11 ounces) catalog is inexpensive to mail and is a great tool for prospecting new customers.

Panda offers several versions of its Syndicated Catalogs, printing 7 to 10 times a year, varying in page count and product selection. Panda invented the Syndicated Catalog Program and made it happen.

• Panda Custom or Semi-Custom Catalog Programs

Producing a customized catalog can be a time-consuming and difficult process for a distributor to undertake. Creating catalog content alone can take months, which is why distributors contract with Panda to design a customized version of a Panda catalog. Panda can take care of the entire project from designing the look of the catalog, to content creation, to receiving vendor approvals and even applying for co-op dollars. Panda has created custom catalogs for many well-known safety companies.

For those distributors looking to personalize a Panda Syndicated Catalog, but don’t want a fully customized catalog, Panda can also make that happen. Such personalized services include: customer specific pricing, more controlled product mix, catalog inserts, and personalized headers and footers.

• Panda’s Recent Catalog Accomplishments

In August 2003, Panda completed a Safety/MRO catalog of approximately 1,650 pages for a large Industrial/MRO/Safety distributor nationally headquartered in South Carolina . In less than nine months, Panda was able to make this catalog happen. In the process, Panda analyzed and cleansed an enormous amount of data, created 24,000 image renditions, wrote copy for over 8000 product groups, sent and received manufacturer approvals and solicited co-op dollars.

In September of 2002, Panda Publishing, in alliance with Panda International, teamed up with Fisher Scientific of Canada to design a custom safety catalog. This 584-page catalog was produced in two versions – English and French. The project, spanning only 8 months, was the first translated catalog produced by Panda. The two versions were created simultaneously and were designed to allow a black type change on press. This black type change provided Fisher with huge monetary savings.

Panda E-commerce Solutions

E-commerce web sites have become the newest commerce and marketing phenomenon across the world, and Panda has not been shy in joining this movement. Panda created an affordable software program that allows end users to search and purchase safety products online, while also featuring a “back-end” program that allows distributors to manage the site. Panda has also packaged this E-commerce solution so that distributors of all sizes can host a site that best fits them and their budget. Once again, Panda made E-commerce happen.

 Panda Preferred Network Program

The Panda Preferred Program, a cooperative incentive program which helps offset the costs of the Panda Marketing Programs, was built using the relationships with manufacturers that Panda has maintained over the years. Working closely with these manufacturers to help ensure that maximum co-op dollars are allocated to each catalog, Panda negotiates Rebates, Special Pricing, and Terms on behalf of all current Panda customers. Of Panda’s 500 manufacturers, 80 have already joined the Panda Preferred Network Program.

 Panda Marketing and Advertising Solutions

Currently, Panda has several marketing and advertising programs in place to help increase the exposure of Panda Preferred manufacturers and distributors. Panda offers advertising opportunities for Panda Preferred manufacturers to buy advertising space in Panda Syndicated Catalogs by purchasing section dividers, inside and/or outside back cover ad space, or even by sponsoring a front cover design.

Panda Content Services

For those distributors who have their own in-house graphics department, but find it difficult to complete a catalog in a timely fashion, Panda offers several content services. Through its Catalog Partnership Program, Panda will make available its safety resources, coordinators, copywriters, and its vast library of full-color, high-resolution safety products images. Distributors can also contract with Panda to develop content according to the specific distributor’s content guidelines. Partnering with Panda Systems, Panda Content Services will maintain the content in Panda’s proprietary database system and upload files to the distributor’s specific content system.

“Panda has developed a library of safety content that we allow distributors of all sizes to tap into,” says President Kellie Hoffmeister. “Often the larger safety distributors utilize our content in a custom catalog. Production time is cut in half, getting their product into the market faster. The savings are significant to the company.”

Over the years Panda has continued to set the bar increasingly higher for itself and for the competition. In the end, Panda has always been able to “Make It Happen”, no matter what “It” might be.

For more information about the catalog, E-commerce, advertising/marketing and content solutions offered by Panda Communications, Inc., contact Kellie Hoffmeister at 262-754-8934 x101; kellie@pandacommunications.com.