Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 8

YOUR ASSOCIATION, YOUR BOTTOM LINE

BY JULIE COONS

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8

Coming Face2Face with the Movers and Shakers
Once again, the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) successfully brought together direct-toconsumer marketing professionals from throughout the U.S. and across the globe. This time it was for the 2011 ERA D2C Convention, Sept. 13-15, where nearly 3,700 attendees converged at the Wynn Las Vegas for education, exhibits and networking. Most important, this highly anticipated three-day event allowed ERA members and non-members to come face to face with the movers and shakers of our industry. One of the conference’s many highlights included ERA’s education program. On Tuesday, Sept. 13, we launched Education Day with three tracks comprising 12 different sessions, plus a bonus Direct Response 101 session. This year’s sessions were selected via a crowd-sourcing strategy. Thank you to the Education Committee for supporting this initiative. The topics ranged from using DRTV to increase retail sales to understanding the new social media marketing opportunities for 2012. Attendees walked away with valuable takeaways for enriching their marketing efforts. The education continued right on the show floor with the premiere of the D2C Learning Lounge, which welcomed a steady flow of traffic to the area. ERA offered 12 different 15-minute sessions, making it fast and convenient for our busy attendees to acquire valuable best practices while on the go. We received positive feedback on the education content, which is a testament to the quality of speakers who participated in this year’s conference. Their expertise and thought leadership helped us to assemble a stellar line-up of sessions. The Premier General Session also brought together four leading experts in media, technology and directto-consumer marketing to discuss the future of television. Panelists John Barnes of Mercury Media, Kevin Svenningsen of The Nielsen Company, Mike Fitzsimmons of Delivery Agent and Aaron McNally of Google TV Ads offered great insight into this much-debated topic that no doubt continued well beyond our hour-long format. One particular question posed during the discussion was: What emerging technologies will have the greatest impact on TV in the next five to 10 years? According to Barnes, web-enabled television is accelerating at a very rapid pace – thereby directly affecting how TV content is viewed. Fitzsimmons pointed out that m-commerce integrated with television will enable consumers to use their mobile device to identify on TV an infomercial product based on its audio fingerprint and then purchase that item from a mobile storefront. The clear takeaway from this year’s Premier General Session was that while technology is clearly changing the television landscape, it also offers new opportunities for marketers to evolve their marketing strategies. Another highlight of the D2C Convention was the CEO Summit. This invitation-only event welcomed nearly 40 chief executives – primarily representing large-sized marketing companies – who gathered for substantive dialogue about today’s most pressing issues. Counterfeit dominated the list of topics among our group. This is a global-wide problem that continues to plague our entire industry – resulting in billions of dollars in lost sales revenue annually. The ERA member companies that attended the meeting concurred that it was imperative for CEOs to come together to exchange ideas and make a commitment to take action. As a result, the group agreed to form a coalition to address the counterfeit problem head-on and plan follow-up meetings. The executives also pledged their financial support to the cause. If you would like to know more about the coalition, please contact me directly at jcoons@ retailing.org. As a collective group, we’re confident that we can make a difference for our entire membership and the industry at large. Your continued support and participation in ERA’s conferences, events and advocacy efforts allow us to bring people face to face to affect change, protect and promote growth for your respective businesses.

electronicRETAILER | October 2011



Electronic Retailer - October 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Electronic Retailer - October 2011

Calendar of Events
Your Association, Your Bottom Line
Industry Reports
FTC Forum
eMarketer Research
IMS Retail Rankings
Jordan Whitney’s Top Categories
Lockard & Wechsler’s Clearance & Price Index
Ask the Expert
The Perfect Hybrid?
Radio: The Wave of the Future
How to End Upsell Cynicism
Guest Viewpoint
DRTV
Legal
Creative
Member Spotlight
Advertiser Spotlight
Bulletin Board
Advertiser Index
Classifieds
Rick Petry
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - cover1
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - cover2
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 3
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 4
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 5
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 6
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - Calendar of Events
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - Your Association, Your Bottom Line
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - Industry Reports
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 10
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 11
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 12
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 13
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - FTC Forum
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - eMarketer Research
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 16
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - IMS Retail Rankings
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 18
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - Jordan Whitney’s Top Categories
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 20
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - Lockard & Wechsler’s Clearance & Price Index
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 22
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 23
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - Ask the Expert
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 25
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - The Perfect Hybrid?
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 27
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 28
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 29
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - Radio: The Wave of the Future
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 31
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 32
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 33
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - How to End Upsell Cynicism
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 35
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 36
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - Guest Viewpoint
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 38
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - DRTV
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - Legal
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 41
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - Creative
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - Member Spotlight
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 44
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 45
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - Advertiser Spotlight
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - Advertiser Index
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - Classifieds
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 49
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - Rick Petry
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - cover3
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - cover4
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - outsert1
Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - outsert2
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