The Panasonic Design Museum Wins Webby Award

Voted best Corporate Communications site in People’s Voice awards

13th July 2009 – The global Web community has voted the Panasonic Online Design Museum the best Corporate Communications site of the year in the Webby People’s Voice Awards. Panasonic Marketing Europe’s Online Communications group, in cooperation with Panasonic Japan, created the concept for the award-winning site, which is an online museum dedicated to Panasonic’s product design innovations and corporate history over the last century.

Amy Davis, Panasonic’s Manager for Online Communications said, “We created the website to showcase our rich heritage as one of the oldest and most trusted consumer electronics brands in the world. It serves as a great tool to clearly demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Research and Development (R&D) that contributes to our product innovation and design as well as competitive differentiation.”

Launched in September last year, the website allows visitors to take a virtual tour through the decades of Panasonic products – from the very first product attachment plug, manufactured by Matsushita Electric (the name of the company at that time) in 1918, right through to the latest VIERA Plasma future-ready television. It also discusses Panasonic’s design ethos and the importance of R&D.

Panasonic was honoured at a star-studded ceremony hosted by Saturday Night Live’s Seth Meyers in June in New York City.

“The Webby Awards honours the very best of the Internet,” said David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards. “Panasonic’s Design Museum win is a testament to the skill, ingenuity, and vision of its creators.”

Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by The New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honouring excellence on the Internet, including websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile websites.

This year, over 500,000 votes were cast by people around the world for their favourite sites, videos, and ads in The Webby People’s Voice Awards. The Webby Awards is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 650-person judging academy whose members include Internet co-inventor Vint Cerf, R/GA’s Chief Bob Greenberg, “Simpson’s” creator Matt Groening, Arianna Huffington and Harvey Weinstein.

About Panasonic

Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronic products for a wide range of consumer, business, and industrial needs. Based in Osaka, Japan, the company recorded consolidated net sales of 7.77 trillion yen (US$78.4 billion) for the year ended March 31, 2009. The company’s shares are listed on the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and New York (NYSE: PC) stock exchanges. For more information on the company and the Panasonic brand, visit the company’s website at http://panasonic.net/.

About The Webby Awards

Established in 1996, the 13th Annual Webby Awards received over 10,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide. The Webby Awards is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include: YouTube; Microsoft Silverlight; The Creative Group; .ORG; Getty Images; The Barbarian Group; Digital Kitchen; Variety; Wired; IDG; PricewaterhouseCoopers; 2advanced.Net; KobeMail and Museum of the Moving Image.

For further information please contact:

Owen Waters / Cristina Whittington

Colombus Communications

Email: panasonic {at} colombus-comms(.)com