Here’s a few photo highlights from parties held during ERA’s recent eRetailer Summit in Miami. Check back often, your mug shot may be up next!
Click here for more information about upcoming events!
ERA’s eRetailer Summit is off to a great start. We’ve already exceeded last year’s total registrations before the tradeshow floor even opened! Whenever I attend conferences, I always seem to find myself drawn to the education sessions, rather than the tradeshow floor. My instincts proved correct today when I learned more about blogs within an hour than I had learned in the past three months. I’ll begin implementing what I’ve learned moving forward. I hope you check back often as our blog continues to grow and expand in quality and quantity.
Earlier today, I also had the pleasure of eating lunch while listening to a keynote presentation from YouTube’s Brian Cusack. Among many interesting statistics, he addressed the rapidly shifting media consumption habits. It turns out people are spending as much time engaging with online content and videos now as they do watching TV. Don’t believe it? If you’re reading this blog post, you’re part of that statistic.
Since you’re clearly not watching your TV right now, enjoy the following video I came across while checking my email today. It’s definitely not something I want to think about when I board that plane on Wednesday!
How do you think marketers and advertisers will adapt if these viewing habits continue?
Pat Cauley, eMedia editor, Electronic Retailer Magazine
Earlier today while “Facebooking,” I saw that my friend Savannah had posted a YouTube video on my friend Emily’s wall. The video was a teaser/preview for an upcoming string of new episodes for MTV’s widely popular “The Hills.” Although the show is completely ridiculous, it is a mindless, guilty pleasure nonetheless. I quickly copied the link and placed it into e-mail to shoot out to a few friends, jokingly telling them to mark their calendars for March 24th when the show returns. Although I’m slightly embarrassed, executives at MTV should be thrilled that this viral transgression of its content happened. Moreover, it was my friend’s response to my e-mail that I found most interesting.
“Sorry bro, I can’t tube at work,” Boris said. It was at that moment that I realized ERA’s keynote speaker at the upcoming eRetailer Summit in Miami on Monday had truly made the map. Like its parent Google before it, YouTube has become an action verb! Join me in Miami on Monday to hear YouTube’s Brian Cusack discuss the promises and challenges of video in advertising.
Click on the video if you’d like a peak at the senseless L.A. drama.
Hopefully, I’ll see you in Miami where we can discuss issues that actually matter, involving not only your bottom line, but also your company’s future.
Pat Cauley, eMedia editor, Electronic Retailer Magazine
This past week, I attended a conference for retailers. Most of them were from the traditional brick-and-mortar world—unlike the virtual retailers I’m used to working with. Maybe everyone was just having a bad week, but I sensed a great deal of fear from this group. I shared my observation with an advertising agency and a media buying company —separately. Surprisingly, they gave me the same explanation. They pointed out that many of these retailers had multiple jobs within a few short years and it wasn’t by choice. In other words, with decreased sales comes pink slips. With our economy in the toilet, it’s no wonder that fear permeated the conference. And with fear comes caution.
Armed with this knowledge, I approached a few of the retailers to ask them what new marketing techniques they were using to combat slow sales. Much to my surprise, I learned that most were adopting a “hunker down mentality.” Although they were interested in nontraditional advertising methods, they cited a lack of time, knowledge and most importantly, the lack of confidence as barriers.
Part of me had to laugh because as an industry, we have made great strides in building consumer confidence in electronic retailing, but apparently we missed a step. We overlooked the importance of helping traditional retailers understand how e-retailing can increase their sales. E-retailers have been using affiliate marketing, social networking and multiple channels to not only reach new customers, but also actively engage and retain them.
Think about the chicken and the egg—if you’re a retailer reading this—do you try new things in a sluggish economy or is this the time to hunker down? I think we would all agree with a major advertiser who said, “When times are good you should advertise. When times are bad, you must advertise.” Perhaps the better question is not if should you advertise, but how should you advertise?
I invite all retailers to join me and my direct response friends in Miami at ERA’s eRetailer Summit, where we will continue this discussion and help you learn not only which risks are worth taking, but also how to take them.
Barbara Tulipane is ERA’s president and CEO
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