ETD: 865 Viral Marketing; Top 25 Innovations; Luxury Tracking
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post at gapent.com
Thu Mar 3 13:06:49 GMT 2005
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0865 March 3, 2005
George Matyjewicz, Moderator mailto:georgem at gapent.com
Published by: GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.etailersdigest.com
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CONTENTS
[1] Greetings
[2] Viral Marketing
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[3] Top 25 Innovations
[4] Luxury Tracking
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
In keeping with our thread on what works with marketing, I thought about
Viral Marketing - does it exist any more and, more importantly, does it
generate business? Does anybody use it?
CNN published the top 25 innovations for the past 25 years. Of course, the
Internet was number 1. Some of the others are interesting. Let's see how
they pan out.
If you aren't selling in the luxury market, you should. Pam Danziger has a
great report on this high-end market and what works. All of Pam's reports
are very well done. Check it out.
Tell us about your business which will remain for posterity at
our "Members: Who Are You?" site. This is a courtesy to our members who
contribute to our forum, and not merely a way to advertise for
free. Anything to do with the retail world, i.e., supplier, retailer,
consulting, etc. http://etailersdigest.com/resources/members/index.htm And
we have a form there for you to tell us about you. As I said when I first
proposed this idea, we have "known" each other for a long time, yet we
often don't know anything about each other. So, tell us who you are and
what you do.
Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.
Sincerely
George Matyjewicz, PhD
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, Ltd.
mailto:georgem at gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
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[2] Viral Marketing
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A couple of years ago the big buzz was viral marketing. Is it used any
more and does it work?
Viral marketing describes any strategy that encourages individuals to pass
on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential
growth in the message's exposure and influence. Like viruses, such
strategies take advantage of rapid multiplication to explode the message to
thousands, to millions.
Off the Internet, viral marketing has been referred to as "word-of-mouth,"
"creating a buzz," "leveraging the media," "network marketing." But on the
Internet, for better or worse, it's called "viral marketing."
Viral marketing usually works with a giveaway, i.e., offer a free product
or service and have them tell their friends. For example, free e-mail
accounts like yahoo gets people to sign up and gives them an opportunity to
reach millions with an ad at the end of each message. The issue that I
see, is does anybody ever read those messages?
So, does viral marketing still exist? More importantly does it bring in
business?
George
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[3] Top 25 Innovations
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CNN has published the Top 25 non-medically related technological
innovations that changed the world in the past 25 years according to a
panel of technology leaders assembled by the Lemelson-MIT Program, which
promotes inventiveness in teens.. Obviously, the Internet was number
1. It changed the world and how we work, shop, educate and live. The
Internet made a world of information accessible to millions of people.
In creating the list, the group hoped to single out "25 non-medically
related technological innovations that have become widely used since 1980,
are readily recognizable by most Americans, have had a direct and
perceptible impact on our everyday lives, and/or could dramatically affect
our lives in the future."
TOP INNOVATIONS
1. The Internet
2. Cell phone
3. Personal computers
4. Fiber optics
5. E-mail
6. Commercialized GPS
7. Portable computers
8. Memory storage discs
9. Consumer level digital camera
10. Radio frequency ID tags
11. MEMS
12. DNA fingerprinting
13. Air bags
14. ATM
15. Advanced batteries
16. Hybrid car
17. OLEDs
18. Display panels
19. HDTV
20. Space shuttle
21. Nanotechnology
22. Flash memory
23. Voice mail
24. Modern hearing aids
25. Short Range, High Frequency Radio
Details at...
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/01/03/cnn25.top25.innovations/index.html
What I find interesting is number 10 - RFID. I keep saying that will be
the next major innovation, especially when somebody ties it into satellite
tracking of individual shipments.
We all know about Wal-Mart's quest for RFID. Many other major
organizations are coming on board including the military and more recently
the U.S. Post Office, Tesco stores in UK and Metro Group in Germany. In a
couple of years, RFID will be as common as bar coding and EDI.
George
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[4] Luxury Tracking
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Marketers can see shifts in luxury consumer behavior before they are
evident in the results of less frequent surveys and long before those
shifts and changes are felt directly in their business. Luxury tracking
puts marketers out in front of the target market so they can anticipate and
plan for inevitable market shifts.
During 2004, luxury tracking picked up these key trends in the luxury market:
Internet and other non-store channels of distribution have grown in
importance as a shopping source for luxury consumers.
In the fourth quarter 2004, the Internet is the number two choice for
luxury shoppers in five of eight home luxury categories and ranks among the
top three shopping choices in all personal luxury categories, including
fashion, cosmetics, fashion accessories and jewelry. As recently as the
first quarter of 2004, the Internet was far less prominent.
Spending on home luxuries and experiential luxuries are directly
related: When luxury consumers spend more on home, they spend less on
experiential luxuries and vice versa.
Through four quarters of tracking, an inverse relationship between spending
on home luxuries and experiential luxuries is apparent. It means, in
effect, that home luxury marketers and retailers compete directly against
experiential marketers — hotels, airlines, cruises, resorts, spas,
restaurants and others — when it comes to share of the luxury consumers’
wallet and pocketbook. Interestingly, personal luxury spending is not
impacted by the ups and downs in spending on home versus experiential luxuries.
At different levels of affluence, luxury consumers demonstrate predictable
patterns of spending.
Throughout the year, super-affluents (income $150,000 and above) spend
about two times more than affluents ($100,000 to $149,999) on home and
personal luxuries and about three-to-four times more than near-affluents
($75,000-$99,999) on all categories of luxury. Affluents, on the other
hand spend just slightly more than near-affluents on home and personal
luxuries, while they spend about two-times more on experiential. It is in
spending on experiential luxuries where the real differences in affluence
are measured.
About Unity Marketing’s Luxury Tracking Service. Every quarter Unity
Marketing measures the pulse of the affluent consumers in a longitudinal
survey of 600-to-750 affluent consumer households, including the three
income segments in the affluent market. Every three months subscribers
receive an analysis report about purchases, spending and shopping choices,
including luxury brand awareness and usage, in these categories of
luxury. The luxury tracking survey provides the basic structure that is
customized to meet the specific needs of each subscriber.
For the 2005 sales year, subscribers will set the agenda for the special
topics for research. Planned for the first wave of 2005 is research on the
role of customer service and service providers in motivating luxury
consumers to buy.
For more information, call Pam Danziger, 717-336-1600 or use this link
http://www.unitymarketingonline.com/reports2/luxury/luxury3.html
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