Posts Tagged ‘ERA’

The DR Industry Helps Affected Members in Chile

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

terremoto-oficina-009So far members of the DR industry, including many from ERA’s Latin America Council have donated over $18,900 to help aid in relief efforts in Chile. Two ERA member companies, A3D and Falabella, have offices in affected areas. To the left is a picture from the A3D offices after the earthquake hit.

It appears that nearly 2 million people were affected by this disaster. It is estimated that rebuilding will take at least 3 or 4 years and may cost tens of billions of dollars.

Please take a moment to consider helping our DR industry colleagues and all of the Chilean people affected by this disaster.

Online Strategies February Issue Now Available!

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

os0210_250Online Strategies’ February 2010 issue is now available.

ERA Networking Reception in the Windy City!

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

“Chicago, Chicago
That toddlin’ town
Chicago, Chicago
I’ll show you around, I love it
Bet your bottom dollar
You’ll lose the blues
In Chicago, Chicago”

Lose YOUR blues and join your direct response industry colleagues on Monday, March 15 at the first ERA Networking Reception of 2010. Conveniently taking place during the International Housewares Show in Chicago, this ERA Networking Reception is one that you won’t want to miss. ERA Networking Receptions draw large, but social and manageable crowds, allowing you to easily make new contacts away from the busy show floor of the Housewares Show.

Come to Flatwater Restaurant (just over two miles away from the convention center) from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. and eat, drink and chat the evening away. There is also a networking dinner taking place after the reception at Flatwater should you wish to continue the networking after the reception ends.

For more information and to register, visit www.retailing.org/Chicago. See you there!!

February 2010 Issue Now Available Online!

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

er0210_250Electronic Retailer’s February 2010 issue featuring the 2009 Direct to Consumer Marketer of the Year, Jenny Craig is available online now!

January 2010 Issue Now Available Online!

Friday, January 15th, 2010

January 2010 ERElectronic Retailer’s January 2010 issue featuring Jeff Taylor (founder of Monster.com and CEO of Eons.com) is now available online. For more information on Jeff’s upcoming keynote address at the ERA Great Ideas Summit, click here.

ERA’s Tomi Turner on the FTC’s Revised Guides

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

picture-150x150Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission released its revised Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. The Guides are more than 80 pages long, so we’re still analyzing the changes. However, there is no question that our extensive advocacy efforts have had an effect on the final iteration of the Guides. The commentary included with the changes explains that advertisements using consumer testimonials should be evaluated by the net impression of the advertisement. A footnote in the revised Guides also suggests that in some cases a disclaimer could be sufficient. A more comprehensive legal document will be circulated shortly, but it is clear from a preliminary review that our efforts have not been made in vain. The 35 advocacy meetings on the Hill, 40 constituent meetings at the Fly-In, the testimony before the Senate, two sets of detailed comments and our suggested language were all helpful in presenting our case to the FTC.

However, the new Guides certainly do present some challenges, both to traditional TV marketers and those in social media. ERA is already planning educational opportunities that will provide suggestions for compliance with these changes. We hope the FTC will seize the opportunity to improve the marketplace by presenting to these changes to ERA members at one of our conferences.

Members who attended the Fly-In, supported the Leadership Reception, participated in the Government Affairs Committee, helped to author and review our comments to the FTC, and of course, testified before the Senate, were all instrumental in mitigating some of the more harmful changes. We thank you.

Tomi Turner is ERA’s legislative manager.

To read ERA’s official statement, click here.

To read more about ERA’s government affairs efforts and what you can do to help, click here.

To read Electronic Retailer magazine’s June cover story on Endorsements & Testimonials, click here.

Net Neutrality Gains Momentum

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

pictureIt has been an exciting week in the world of net neutrality. This week, Julius Genachowski, the Chairman of the FCC, announced the Commission’s intention to enter into a formal rulemaking process to codify the four principles of net neutrality currently in use and to add two more principles. The additional principles include a statement that consumers must be able to access the lawful content of their choice, subject to reasonable network management. Essentially, ISPs cannot block traffic to say, NBC Video, just because they have a partnership with Hulu. However, they still may prioritize all video content over all file sharing in order to manage the use of the network. In addition, networks must be transparent about what they are doing to manage traffic. This would give small business and direct response marketers more information about how consumers are experiencing online offerings like video advertising. Specifically, if you are providing an application for wireless devices or making videos available on sites like YouTube, you will know if some of the network providers are slowing certain services during peak hours. You will then be able to adjust your content delivery accordingly.

This plan still faces major hurdles. Although President Obama and several influential members of Congress have come out with statements supporting the open Internet, it is early in the process and various obstacles remain. Several influential Senate Republicans have sponsored an amendment that would prevent the FCC from using its funding to create rules on net neutrality or to take enforcement actions relating to net neutrality. There is also major opposition from wireless service providers who are concerned that they will have to allow any device on to their network by ending exclusive deals that only allow some phones to connect to any given network.

For more information on ERA’s government affairs efforts, click here.

Tomi Turner is ERA’s legislative manager.

September ‘09 Issue Now Available Online!

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

er09091 Electronic Retailer’s September ‘09 issue featuring Montel Williams is now available online! For more information about Motel’s upcoming keynote presentation at the ERA D2C Convention on Monday, Sept. 14, click here.

Online Strategies August Issue Now Available!

Monday, August 31st, 2009

os0809Click here to read Online Strategies magazine’s August issue!

YouTube: Your New Partner in Sales?

Friday, August 28th, 2009

pic3When utilized correctly, YouTube is quite the sales force to be reckoned with. On a recent conference call with ERA’s Internet & Emerging Media Council, certain members discussed how some direct response products have found success simply from videos being uploaded to YouTube.

Creative YouTube videos are a great way to drive incremental sales, if even on accident. If you’re Chris Brown, a singer recently convicted for felony assault against ex-girlfriend Rihanna, how do you get a year-old single onto the top 10 most purchased songs on iTunes? Oh, by being an integral part of a wild fire-spread YouTube video. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably seen this “Forever” wedding video.

While perusing iTunes when this video hit viral fame a few weeks back, I noticed that Chris Brown’s “Forever” was listed in the top 10 purchased singles. A web hit featuring one of his songs couldn’t have come at a better time for this artist whose image is tarnished in the press. I too, drank the Kool-Aid. I watched the video and loved it, logged onto iTunes and purchased.

Consequently, aside from user-generated content, YouTube also plays host to professional content, sometimes to the chagrin of the content creators. Monty Python’s producers found their content all over the web illegally, however they decided to be proactive and take control of their content in these channels, which turned out to be a very good idea. According to a recent release:

The Pythons created a YouTube channel in November 2008 just to stop their content from being released illegally on the Internet. “We felt the time had come to deal with the ‘YouTube problem.’ On the one hand, we were surprised at the number of clips that had been uploaded to YouTube in clear infringement of our copyright, and while we didn’t want to be spoilsports, it was getting pretty much out of control and we could see no real benefit. So I arranged a trip to meet the YouTube guys on the Google campus in San Jose and discovered that they had a program that would enable us to have our own Monty Python channel on YouTube where we could put up clips from the movies and TV shows of far greater quality and order that might also encourage viewers to want to see whole movies or TV episodes via links to Amazon and iTunes and expand our Monty Python fan base,” says Monty Python producer John Goldstone.

When Goldstone launched Monty Python’s Channel on November 14, 2008, he took advantage of YouTube’s click-to-buy program. The Python’s DVDs quickly climbed to No. 2 on Amazon’s Movies & TV bestsellers list and DVD sales increased 23,000 percent. “The click-to-buy ability was exactly what we were looking for to make the link from video to the right Amazon page much more effective than the URL by the side of the video description. We are only now beginning to address premium advertising, which is only possible when you can show the size, composition, and consistency of your viewers,” he says.

I guess the moral of the story would be that while YouTube may be struggling to support itself with a successful advertising platform, it currently sits as a lucrative marketing channel for the opportunistic, inventive marketer.

Pat Cauley is Electronic Retailer magazine’s eMedia editor.

All Aboard! Your Upcoming ERA Travel Itinerary

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

pic2In addition to its upcoming D2C Convention in Las Vegas Sept. 13-15, ERA has also announced an October 19th networking reception in San Diego!

Before booking your travel to Las Vegas or San Diego, you may first want to get a few tips from “Saturday Night Live” travel expert Judy Grimes.

Did you miss out on the recent networking receptions in NYC and L.A.? Click here to view pictures from various events at Electronic Retailer’s Buzz page!

Pat Cauley is Electronic Retailer magazine’s eMedia Editor.

Net Neutrality Bill Introduced in the House

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

picture1Late last week Representatives Markey (D-MA) and Eshoo (D-CA) introduced a bill that would keep the Internet open by preventing Internet service providers (ISPs) from imposing “a charge on any Internet content, service, or application provider to enable any lawful Internet content, application, or service to be offered, provided, or used. In other words, they cannot charge you (as a content provider) more than the cost of service for your lawful content and any lawful applications you make available.

The bill also prevents ISPs from providing or selling any content, application, or service provider any offering that prioritizes traffic over that of other such providers. This addresses concerns that ISPs will sell premium access to some companies, which would have the end result of degrading everyone’s content. This is important to any company that is using video online, but is not interested in paying more than they currently do to ensure the quality of the video is not reduced. It’s not easy to be moved by advertising when the video is pixilated or freezes every three seconds.

Similar bills were introduced in the last two Congresses. However, the larger Democratic majority and President Obama’s stated priority of keeping the Internet open may mean there will be some movement on this bill. However, the House will be in a District Work Period (aka recess) until after Labor Day.

In the meantime, you can watch this video. 

For more information on ERA’s government affairs efforts, click here.

Tomi Turner is ERA’s legislative manager. 

ERA Minute: Bosley’s George Fettig

Friday, July 31st, 2009

Interested in contributing an ERA Minute? Contact Dave Martin at dmartin@retailing.org or (703) 908-1033.Â