ETD: 880 Advertising Faux Pas; Marks & Spencer Outsources to
Amazon; Luxury Candles Are Ideal Gift for Mother's Day 2005
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post at gapent.com
Thu Apr 21 17:02:05 GMT 2005
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0880 April 21, 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] Advertising Faux Pas
[3] Marks & Spencer Outsources to Amazon
[4] Luxury Candles Are Ideal Gift for Mother's Day 2005
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
One of our list members has some more advertising faux pas which are always
fun. Amazing how major companies can make silly mistakes just like the
rest of us.
Marks & Spencer, that major UK retailer is outsourcing their e-commerce to
Amazon. I hope that arrangement works better than the ToysRUs deal, which
is in litigation.
If you looking at products to carry for Mother's day (if it's not too late)
get candles. Mother's Day is the second best gift-giving holiday and the
luxury market shows signs if growth. Check out Pam Danziger's contribution.
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] Advertising Faux Pas
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Here's some more advertising faux pas...
Coors put its slogan, "Turn it loose," into Spanish, where it was read as
"Suffer from diarrhea."
Chicken magnate Frank Perdue's line, "It takes a tough man to make a tender
chicken," sounds much more interesting in Spanish: "It takes a sexually
stimulated man to make a chicken affectionate."
Bacardi concocted a fruity drink with the name "Pavian" to suggest French
chic...but "pavian" means "baboon" in German.
A hair products company, Clairol, introduced the "Mist Stick", a curling
iron, into Germany only to find out that mist is slang for manure. Not too
many people had use for the manure stick.
When Kentucky Fried Chicken entered the Chinese market, to their horror
they discovered that their slogan "finger lickin' good" came out as "eat
your fingers off"
When Vicks first introduce its cough drops on the German market, they were
chagrined to learn that the German pronunciation of "v" is f - which in
German is the guttural equivalent of "sexual penetration."
Parker Pens translated the slogan for its ink, "Avoid Embarrassment - Use
Quink" into Spanish as "Evite Embarazos - Use Quink"...which also means,
"Avoid Pregnancy - Use Quink."
When Pepsi started marketing its products in China a few years back, they
translated their slogan, "Pepsi Brings You Back to Life" pretty literally.
The slogan in Chinese really meant, "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from
the Grave."
In Italy, a campaign for "Schweppes Tonic Water" translated the name into
the much less thirst quenching "Schweppes Toilet Water."
Puffs tissues tried later to introduce its product, only to learn that
"Puff" in German is a colloquial term for a whorehouse. The English weren't
too fond of the name either, as it's a highly derogatory term for a
non-heterosexual.
Ford introduced the Pinto in Brazil. After watching sales go nowhere, the
company learned that "Pinto" is Brazilian slang for "tiny male genitals."
Ford pried the nameplates off all of the cars and substituted them with
"Corcel" which means horse.
In the French part of Canada, Hunt-Wesson introduced its "Big John"
products as "Gros Jos." It later found out that the phrase is slang for
"big breasts."
Ameet Padnani
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[3] Marks & Spencer Outsources to Amazon
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In a move to enter into the European enterprise retail services market,
Amazon.com and leading United Kingdom retailer Marks & Spencer today
released details of an e-commerce alliance.
The announcement also officially introduces Amazon Services Europe, the
dot-com's Luxembourg-based subsidiary.
Under the terms of the deal, Amazon Services Europe will host and provide
the technology behind the Marks & Spencer branded Web site and its in-store
and telephone ordering and customer services systems.
Marks & Spencer will remain responsible for the management of its Web site,
customer service operations, warehousing and distribution.
"Marks & Spencer already has a successful Web site with over 24 million
visits every year, but our e-commerce and customer ordering capabilities
have yet to reach their full potential. A partnership with Amazon will help
us achieve this, while allowing us to concentrate on our core business of
retailing," said Steven Sharp, Director, Marketing & E-commerce, Marks &
Spencer.
When the first phase of work is completed in early summer 2006, Marks &
Spencer customers will benefit from the development of an integrated
ordering service, whether they choose to buy products in-store, online or
by telephone.
In the U.S., Amazon Services powers the e-commerce channels for Target,
NBA.com, Toys 'R' Us, The Bombay Company, Diane von Furstenberg,
Borders.com, and CD Now.
Details at...
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/42423.html
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[4] Luxury Candles Are Ideal Gift for Mother's Day 2005
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Second only to Christmas, Mother’s Day is the most gifted holiday
throughout the year. This year it will be celebrated on Sunday May
8. About three-fourths of those who buy and give gifts throughout the
year, not just at Christmas, will purchase on average two Mother’s Day
remembrances and spend just under $100 making their gift purchases. These
statistics are from the latest study of gift giving and shopping behavior
from Unity Marketing.
The top three most popular gifts are also perfectly suited to Mother’s Day
gifting. Flowers, plants and garden accessories are number one, while
candles and home fragrances are the second most popular gifting
choice. The third most popular gift selections is jewelry and watches.
Candles and other home fragrance items including diffusers, electric
plug-ins, sprays and potpourris, are one of those gift items that are
appreciated by all. This also is a category where the product selection
options are exploding with perfect gifts to fit every budget, every mood,
every scenting preference.
Latest trend in candles — Go luxury!
This year the candle marketers have been introducing new lines of luxury
candles that offer superior fragrance along with more stylish
packaging. If you are looking for a Mother’s Day gift that is sure to be
appreciated, luxury candles from such marketers as Crabtree & Evelyn, sold
in their own stores as well in department stores; Laura Mercier, a luxury
cosmetics brand that has launched into candles and sold at Nordstroms and
Bergdorf Goodmans; or Diptyque offered by Neiman Marcus, are brands noted
for greatly enhanced fragrancing Even popularly-priced Yankee Candle is
moving into the luxury realm with a new line called YC that features more
stylish Asian designs and exotic fragrances.
The Home Fragrance and Candle Report 2005 was just published and based upon
research among recent home fragrance consumers. This report focuses on
market opportunities available to candle and home fragrance manufacturers
and retailers to help them deliver products and services that satisfy the
consumers’ craving to fragrance their homes. For more information on Unity
Marketing’s studies, visit www.unitymarketingonline.com
Pam Danziger, President
Unity Marketing and author of
Let Them Eat Cake: Marketing Luxury to the Masses — as well as the Classes.
717-336-1600
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