May 7, 2008
Amazon Fights New York State Tax Law
New York recently passed tax legislation requiring online retailers to collect a sales tax on items shipped to the state, this applies specifically to any online retailers with affiliates in New York. Estimates of how much revenue will be generated as a result of the new law are as much as $50 million.
In response to the new law, Amazon.com has sued the state of New York making two claims. First, that the law violates the Commerce Clause U.S. Constitution by collecting taxes from out-of-state entities. And second, that it is in violation of the Equal Protection clause since it directly targets Amazon and has even been referred to by some state officials as the "Amazon tax". Amazon has also made the argument that it's affiliates in New York function completely independently of Amazon and do not generate sales for them.
In response to the new law, Amazon.com has sued the state of New York making two claims. First, that the law violates the Commerce Clause U.S. Constitution by collecting taxes from out-of-state entities. And second, that it is in violation of the Equal Protection clause since it directly targets Amazon and has even been referred to by some state officials as the "Amazon tax". Amazon has also made the argument that it's affiliates in New York function completely independently of Amazon and do not generate sales for them.
May 2, 2008
Aqua Globes
Introducing Aqua Globes, the ingenious solution to the daily hassle of watering your household plants. With Aqua Globes you no longer have to worry about the chore of plant watering or what do with your plants when on vacation.
Simply fill the hand blown glass bulb with water and place in the potted plant's soil. When the soil is dry it releases oxygen into the Aqua Globe which then allows for water to flow from the globe into the soil. It's so easy and the decorative globe adds a an attractive sparkle to your household plants.
Features:
*Automatically waters your plants for up to two weeks
*Great for indoor and outdoor potted plants
*Set of four Aqua Globes deliver the right amount of water every time!
Apr 30, 2008
"But Wait There's More!"
Ron Popeil is a famous inventor and marketing personality who also founded the Ronco Corporation, a direct response marketing company. Popeil appeared in numerous infomercials for products such as the "Showtime Rotisserie", and is know for using such infamous lines as: "But wait, there's more!" and "Now, how much would you pay?" - followed by a series of prices all markedly higher than the offer price.
In 1993 Popeil was awarded an Ig Nobel Prize (a parody Nobel)in Consumer Engineering for recognizing him for "redefining the industrial revolution" with his products and infomercials.
Popeil may be most well-known for the Chop-O-Matic and Veg-O-Matic that signaled his introduction into television. The product was so great at chopping vegetables that it was inefficient for salesmen to carry around the vegetables with them on demonstrations. Popeil saw that the solution was to tape the demonstration and broadcast it as a commercial.
Some other great-selling Popeil products are:
-The Solid Flavor Injector
-Inside the Shell Egg-Scrambler
-Popeil Pasta Maker
In 1993 Popeil was awarded an Ig Nobel Prize (a parody Nobel)in Consumer Engineering for recognizing him for "redefining the industrial revolution" with his products and infomercials.
Popeil may be most well-known for the Chop-O-Matic and Veg-O-Matic that signaled his introduction into television. The product was so great at chopping vegetables that it was inefficient for salesmen to carry around the vegetables with them on demonstrations. Popeil saw that the solution was to tape the demonstration and broadcast it as a commercial.
Some other great-selling Popeil products are:
-The Solid Flavor Injector
-Inside the Shell Egg-Scrambler
-Popeil Pasta Maker
Apr 24, 2008
"DRTV Management Boot Camp"
June 9-11th the CEO of the Direct Response Academy, Greg Sarnow, will be leading a DRTV Management class in New York that will focus on nutraceutical and cosmeceutical products. Greg Sarnow is well-known in the industry for his success in launching and managing many nutraceutical and cosmeceutical products.
Products in this industry are often able to do very well in infomercials, however there are many complex rules and legal issues that have a significant impact on the products. The class aims to analyze the effects of these rules on advertising for these products and the direct response television campaign in general.
The class will be over the course of three days. A few main topics to be discussed are as follows:
-Creating persuasive offers
-Effective Lead Generation
-Solutions for campaign roll-outs
-An in-depth look at details of a DRTV advertising campaign
-Vendor Accountability
-Telemarketing Strategies
-Customer Service
-Financial models
..and many more
For more information on how to participate in the course you may visit the Direct Response Academy website.
Products in this industry are often able to do very well in infomercials, however there are many complex rules and legal issues that have a significant impact on the products. The class aims to analyze the effects of these rules on advertising for these products and the direct response television campaign in general.
The class will be over the course of three days. A few main topics to be discussed are as follows:
-Creating persuasive offers
-Effective Lead Generation
-Solutions for campaign roll-outs
-An in-depth look at details of a DRTV advertising campaign
-Vendor Accountability
-Telemarketing Strategies
-Customer Service
-Financial models
..and many more
For more information on how to participate in the course you may visit the Direct Response Academy website.
Apr 16, 2008
FCC Fines Analog TV Retailers $3.9 million
Seven major retailers were fined a total of $3.9 million by the FCC for not alerting consumers that some analog television sets they sell are not equipped to deal with the transition to digital-only broadcasting, which Federal law calls for to occur next February.
Current law requires retailers to inform consumers if the analog television sets they are selling do not have the digital converters, which means owners of those TVs will have to purchase a separate converter or pay a service fee (such as cable) to be able to use the sets starting next February.
The FCC stated in its charges that some stores, such as Circuit City had been warned as many as 32 times to comply with the law. After the warnings, follow-up inspections revealed that 25 of their stores were still not properly disclosing that their analog TVs were not equipped with digital converters. The store was then fined $8,000 per set that was not marked.
Sears Holding Corp. received the largest of the seven fines totaling $1 million. Other major retailers fined were: Target Corp., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Fry's Electronics, Comp USA, and Best Buy Co. All the retailers have 30 days to pay or appeal the decisions.
So, beware if planning to purchase a television and check to see if it comes with a digital converter to avoid having to purchase one later.
Current law requires retailers to inform consumers if the analog television sets they are selling do not have the digital converters, which means owners of those TVs will have to purchase a separate converter or pay a service fee (such as cable) to be able to use the sets starting next February.
The FCC stated in its charges that some stores, such as Circuit City had been warned as many as 32 times to comply with the law. After the warnings, follow-up inspections revealed that 25 of their stores were still not properly disclosing that their analog TVs were not equipped with digital converters. The store was then fined $8,000 per set that was not marked.
Sears Holding Corp. received the largest of the seven fines totaling $1 million. Other major retailers fined were: Target Corp., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Fry's Electronics, Comp USA, and Best Buy Co. All the retailers have 30 days to pay or appeal the decisions.
So, beware if planning to purchase a television and check to see if it comes with a digital converter to avoid having to purchase one later.
Apr 9, 2008
PoundSky: Interactive Radio and TV Broadcasting
The company SkyClix announced today the launch of it's newest service PoundSky in southern California. PoundSky turns regular broadcasting into an interactive platform where broadcasters and advertisers can directly connect to consumers at no cost. The service allows consumers to immediately receive information through their mobile phones about advertisements and on-air content from the radio and/or television. It is the first service of its kind in the world. It's also free and carrier agnostic, meaning it works on nearly any kind of mobile telephone service.
Here's how it works: while listening to the radio or watching TV a consumer simply dials #SKY (#759) on their mobile phone and holds it up to the sound of the radio or TV for 15 seconds. Within a minute the consumer receives information about what they are listening to and they can choose what they would like to do, for example they can download coupons, enter a contest, call the radio station and more.
The service is great because it allows consumers to receive the information they want as soon as they want it. Broadcasters and advertisers benefit from being able to instantly reach consumers instead of just trying to make a lasting impression on them through advertisements and hope they remember them later.
Here's how it works: while listening to the radio or watching TV a consumer simply dials #SKY (#759) on their mobile phone and holds it up to the sound of the radio or TV for 15 seconds. Within a minute the consumer receives information about what they are listening to and they can choose what they would like to do, for example they can download coupons, enter a contest, call the radio station and more.
The service is great because it allows consumers to receive the information they want as soon as they want it. Broadcasters and advertisers benefit from being able to instantly reach consumers instead of just trying to make a lasting impression on them through advertisements and hope they remember them later.
Apr 2, 2008
Jack LaLanne Power Juicer
Jack LaLanne, also known as the "godfather of fitness" has created the LaLanne Power Jucier, a high-powered, pulp-catching juicer. It's innovative design creates up to 30% more juice, vitamins and nutrients per glass! And the best part is you don't have to waste time slicing up your fruits and vegetables, you can simply drop in whole fruits and the juicer does all the work, it even catches all the pulp so you're left with the pure delicious juice.
The LaLanne Power Juicer features:
* Dishwasher safe.
* 16" tall. 6' cord. UL listed.
* Includes two FREE bonuses, Accessory Pack and Recipe Guide ($20 value) with purchase.
Mar 27, 2008
23% of US Cell Phone Users View Ads On Their Phones
According to a report by the Nielsen Company, 58 million Americans have reported viewing advertisements on their mobile phone in the past 30 days. About half of them (28 million people) explained that they responded to the ad in some way.
The study focused on consumers' attitudes and responses to a variety of advertisements in the form of non-voice mobile data services. These included: banner ads on mobile web pages, SMS text message ads, video ads and more.
Some findings of the study:
-An increase of 38% in the number of people who recalled having seen an advertisement over their phone
-Of those, teens were the most likely age group to remember; and African-Americans and Asians were overall more likely to remember
-The most common type of response to an ad was to send an SMS message (26% of the 58 million did so)
-32% of those studied explained they would be open to receiving the ads if it meant a decrease in their overall monthly mobile bill
Consumers' reactions to mobile ads are important for marketers and advertising researchers to understand so that they can identify which types of mobile ads consumers' are willing to engage in and which ones they are not. What is apparent from the study is that there is an increase in of ability and willingness of consumers' to recall and interact with the mobile ads.
SOURCE: Nielsen Mobile Advertising Report, The Nielsen Company
The study focused on consumers' attitudes and responses to a variety of advertisements in the form of non-voice mobile data services. These included: banner ads on mobile web pages, SMS text message ads, video ads and more.
Some findings of the study:
-An increase of 38% in the number of people who recalled having seen an advertisement over their phone
-Of those, teens were the most likely age group to remember; and African-Americans and Asians were overall more likely to remember
-The most common type of response to an ad was to send an SMS message (26% of the 58 million did so)
-32% of those studied explained they would be open to receiving the ads if it meant a decrease in their overall monthly mobile bill
Consumers' reactions to mobile ads are important for marketers and advertising researchers to understand so that they can identify which types of mobile ads consumers' are willing to engage in and which ones they are not. What is apparent from the study is that there is an increase in of ability and willingness of consumers' to recall and interact with the mobile ads.
SOURCE: Nielsen Mobile Advertising Report, The Nielsen Company
Mar 19, 2008
Free Bonus with FoodSaver purchase
Now you customers can receive a FREE multi-purpose FoodSaver® Canister with the purchase of any FoodSaver® product!
Simply enter coupon code: B8FEAAA at checkout.
Visit the FoodSaver page for more details and purchasing information.
Simply enter coupon code: B8FEAAA at checkout.
Visit the FoodSaver page for more details and purchasing information.
Mar 12, 2008
Branded Entertainment on the Web
In today's world where viewers are equipped with the ability to fast-forward through commercials with DVR, companies are trying to find new ways to target a niche audience in the most cost-efficient way. In an effort to do so, "branded entertainment" which has typically included event sponsorships and paid product placements in movies and on television by large companies has developed a new marketing technique. Companies such as Reebok International have developed 30 minute TV show format "webisodes" starring famous athletes in a new effort to reach young consumers.
Reebok launched "Framed" in November 2007 which is actually a series shown on the Independent Film Channel. Each 30 minute show stars an athlete who choses a person to be their interviewer for the duration of the program. The chosen interviewer is then in charge of "directing" a short film featuring the athlete. For example, one episode starred Allen Iverson and rapper Nelly as his interviewer just chatting while riding on a private bus. The shows have a sort of reality show feel as they provide the viewer with a behind the scenes look into the life of the athlete. And of course, all of the stars of the show wearing Reebok.
While the total effectiveness of this type of advertising is still not known, branded entertainment is expected to demonstrate double-digit growth through 2012. Just this past year spending on this type of advertising has risen 15% to 22.3 billion, a whopping 8% of all advertising spending.
Reebok launched "Framed" in November 2007 which is actually a series shown on the Independent Film Channel. Each 30 minute show stars an athlete who choses a person to be their interviewer for the duration of the program. The chosen interviewer is then in charge of "directing" a short film featuring the athlete. For example, one episode starred Allen Iverson and rapper Nelly as his interviewer just chatting while riding on a private bus. The shows have a sort of reality show feel as they provide the viewer with a behind the scenes look into the life of the athlete. And of course, all of the stars of the show wearing Reebok.
While the total effectiveness of this type of advertising is still not known, branded entertainment is expected to demonstrate double-digit growth through 2012. Just this past year spending on this type of advertising has risen 15% to 22.3 billion, a whopping 8% of all advertising spending.
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