ETD: 921 Retailers help hurricane victims; Fashion Trends;
Microsoft Develops System for Selling Internet Search Ads
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post at gapent.com
Tue Sep 27 13:28:08 GMT 2005
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0921 September 27, 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] Retailers help hurricane victims
[3] Fashion Trends
[4] Microsoft Develops System for Selling Internet Search Ads
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
My apologies for missing three issues. We moved
our home and office, in addition to some changes
(positive) in my personal life, for which we will
be renewing our wedding vows on Sunday.
Today I am using dialup for online work. You
remember that don't you? You plugged a telephone
line into your computer.... ;-) I realize some
folks do use dialup, but when you are used to a
fractional T1 line, it is a drag.
The recent hurricanes have been devastating to
the Gulf Coast areas. A city (New Orleans) was
virtually wiped out and 3 million people
evacuated regions of Texas. Never before in our
history have we seen such disasters, It is nice
to see that retailers are coming to the aid of
victims. Quinn Halford and Matthew Kalash report
on some of them and also alert us to the possible scams.
Jan Owens has an excellent resource for those who
are interested in the latest fashions (and who
may not be able to make the trip to New York, Paris and Milan ;-)).
Microsoft is being threatened by the success of
Google and Yahoo and is entering their world big
time. One thing for sure with MS, they are up on
their SWOT (Strengths. Weaknesses, Opportunities
and Threats) analysis and do react quickly.
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] Retailers help hurricane victims
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Our prayers go out to all who may have suffered
with the disasters with hurricane Katrina and the
mass evacuation with hurricane Rita. We have
some personal extended family members who
evacuated Houston to go to Dallas. They were on
the road for 16 hours and only went 70 miles. It
took them 20 hours to get to Dallas - a husband,
pregnant (8 months) and two little
children. They said the roads were backed up for
100 miles and folks ran out of gas and pulled off alongside the road.
There are some retail places that are offering
help to hurricane victims. However, you must be
careful, as there are also scams. Quinn Halford
and Matthew Kalash report in Gift & Dec Online (www.giftanddec.com):
1. Rules of Cause-Related Marketing
New York — A number of compassionate
manufacturers and vendors announced generous
offers dedicating proceeds from the sale of
certain products to benefit victims of Hurricane
Katrina (cause-related marketing). No doubt many
more will follow suit. To do so, however,
requires following certain legal mandates.
According to John Logan, general counsel of the
American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR),
New York, “Under the rules established by a
number of states and under the standards of the
Better Business Bureau, consumers must be told
precisely how much of a purchase price will
benefit the charity.” The vendor must say
something like, “Five cents (or 5 percent) of
every keychain sold goes to ABC charity.” It’s
not sufficient to use general terms like
“proceeds” or “profits.” Logan also recommends
stating how long the offer will run — one month,
or till the end of the year, for example. But not
all states have the same requirements; be sure to
check with your state attorney general’s office
before announcing your promotion.
2. Children, Animals, Red Cross Get Helping Hand
New York — Three industry vendors announced
fundraising efforts to help victims of Hurricane
Katrina. Clay, Metal & Stone, Ft. Lauderdale, FL,
contributed $10,000 to a fund to help
underprivileged children, and is encouraging
others to contribute. The company set up a
separate fund at the Foundation of Jewish
Philanthropies (4200 Biscayne Blvd., Miami, FL
33137); monies will be distributed to the
neediest children, regardless of religious
affiliation.
Martin’s Herend Imports, Sterling,
VA, partnered with its retailers nationwide to
assist animal victims of the hurricane by
offering to donate 5 percent of Herend animal
figurine sales to the Best Friends Animal
Society. The offer extends through October 31,
2005.
Sunrise Greetings, Bloomington, IN, and
its employees donated $10,000 to the American Red Cross.
3. DMC Offers Retailer Relief Effort
Dallas — Dallas Market Center (DMC) launched
Operation Re-Store, a retailer relief effort for
specialty stores directly impacted by Hurricane
Katrina. Beginning immediately, all retailers in
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama will be
offered a special travel relief package to attend
trade events at DMC. “All retailers in the region
were impacted by the hurricane — directly or
indirectly,” said Bill Winsor, DMC’s chief
executive. “Therefore our continuing message to
every single specialty store is that we care, and
we want to help rebuild your businesses when you
are ready.” For more details, retailers can
contact MarketTravel at (800) 325-6587.
George
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[3] Fashion Trends
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If any e-tailers are interested in fashion
trends, I recommend that they dial in the
www.style.com site. This site displays slides
from the various designer shows for spring 2006
season. As you know, this is New York Fashion
Week, so the previous day's line-up is added
every day. There is a brief commentary, but then
the slides show where designers are pointing
us. Of course, not every designer can be
included, but there is a very wide range. Of
course, each etailer/retailer needs to interpret
the relevancy of any particular design idea to
their own target customers. But, it's a good
indication of design trends, color ideas, etc. and etc.
Following New York in the next few weeks are the
Paris and Milan shows, and some London.
-- Jan Owens
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[4] Microsoft Develops System for Selling Internet Search Ads
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Microsoft has unveiled its own system for selling
Web advertising as it struggles to compete with
Google and Yahoo in the expanding Web search
business. The system, to be used by MSN, is meant
to improve on those of Microsoft's rivals by
allowing marketers to aim ads on Web search pages
to users based on their sex, age or location.
The move is part of Microsoft's broad response to
the threat from Google, which is using its
powerful advertising sales network to support an
expanding range of free software products and Internet services.
Last week, Microsoft announced a broad
reorganization that placed MSN in the same group
as its Windows operating system, indicating that
it saw software delivered over the Internet and
possibly paid for through advertising as central to its future.
But to offer such advertising-supported services,
Microsoft needs to control its own system for
selling targeted advertising. Until now, the ads
on MSN's search service have been sold by Yahoo.
Yusuf Mehdi, a Microsoft vice president, said the
new service would have greater appeal to
advertisers and ultimately would make more money
for Microsoft. "We know we have to compete hard
for our business," he said. "And we think we will
offer advertisers better value because of the
superior information we have about our audience."
Microsoft's entry is getting an unusually warm
reception from ad agencies that specialize in
search marketing. "They definitely have a market
because they have the traffic," Danny Sullivan,
editor of Search Engine Watch, an online site,
said of MSN's search business. "Search marketers
can't seem to get enough traffic. I don't know
anyone who is not going to try MSN."
Microsoft all but ignored Web search until Google
established its technology and brand.
Independent tests show that Microsoft's ability
to find Web pages that relate to search queries
lags behind those of Google and Yahoo, a gap
Mehdi said he was working to close.
The most significant advancement in the new
advertising system is its ability to direct ads
to viewers according to demographic
characteristics, as well as by the day and time
the ad is shown. Microsoft will start using the
system to sell ads on its Web sites in Singapore
and France. It will phase in the system in the
United States starting in October.
The article may be found here...
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/46328.html
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