Atlas Makes Digital History with First Interactive CatalogClick your mouse, and enter the next phase in model railroading. It’s here! The hobby’s first truly interactive online catalog, launched in early July 2006. Accompanying it is a completely re-designed Atlas website, updated and streamlined to help visitors navigate the e-catalog and ease their visits to the main Atlas site. Atlas’ Marketing team has created the colorful, user-friendly 75-page online catalog, featuring turning and post-it pages, zoom-in capability, high resolution text and images, search features, and links to a printable Wish List, the Atlas A-Z Ship Schedules, Online Store, and Dealer Locator. Pages are printable and can be emailed to a friend. Easy-to-follow How-to Instructions appear immediately at the left of the cover page. The catalog comes in two different versions depending on on bandwidth, allowing users to browse whether they are using dialup or broadband connections. “A truly interactive catalog has been our goal for some
time,” said Thomas W. Haedrich, Chairman of the Board, who
pointed out that Atlas was the first model railroad company to appear
on World Wide Web in the 1990’s. “We wanted to create
a new means of communicating that is contemporary, useful and fun
for the thousands of Atlas fans who visit our website every day.
Atlas is extremely fortunate to have such a talented marketing staff
that allowed us to understand and use the latest digital technology
to better inform and communicate with our public.” E-Catalog Print Guide Available Consequently, the next new issue of the Atlas Model Railroad HO & N Scale product catalog has undergone changes as well. To coincide with the new e-catalog, a smaller, full-color printed guide, “Excellence in Model Railroading” (Item #0103-5B), has been produced. This 5” x 7”, 60-page guide can be used in conjunction with the e-catalog, or alone. While eight pages of color product photos are included, detailed narrative information such as prototypical data, Introductions to Sound Locomotives and the Trainman™ lines, and “Selecting the Right Scale For You” will now appear only online. The e-catalog can be used with or without the E-Catalog Print Guide, which is a product listing that can be used independently. “The content and look of both the e-catalog and the printed guide are compatible, and have been specifically designed to carry out the theme, ‘Excellence in Model Railroading’,” said Kira Mansueto, Atlas’ Division Manager of Publications, who worked with Graphic Designer Michele Mosher on the project. The pair have created Atlas catalogs together for over two years. Atlas HO & N Scale track products and most accessories can still be found in the 2005-06 “Atlas Model Track, Layouts and Accessories Catalog”, as well as on the Atlas website. Website Redesign Streamlines the Right Track™ to Model Railroad Fun! The primary goal of the website revisions was to make everything easier to find, providing a more fluid navigation experience. No matter what page you are viewing, you can find all of the main pages while browsing. Now, viewers can access everything from the main page, instead of clicking on a tab and waiting for a new page to load. It will be easier to bookmark a page, or send it to a friend. The A-Z Shipping Schedule, Dealer Locator and Online Store still carry the most up-to-date information, making them one of the most valuable resources to finding Atlas products on the web. A link to the new e-catalog appears on the Atlas website homepage. To recap: 1. Atlas HO & N Scale locomotives, freight cars and accessories
come to life and can be seen online via our new “Excellence
in Model Railroading” e-catalog, www.atlasrr.com/catalog.htm.
For those without computers, the “Excellence in Model Railroading” printed guide can be obtained via mail, or by calling 908-687-0880, for $2. Those with Internet equipped computers can go directly to www.atlasrr.com/catalog.htm and see what it’s all about! The Model Railroading Digital Revolution has arrived! Log on and
enjoy the ride! |
|