TAKE NOTE
ARE STORES THE NEW MEDIA?
It’s no secret how important it is to reach consumers at the
time and place they make their buying decisions, but which media reaches
your highest targeted market at just that time? It’s your store.
Busy consumers are spending more retail dollars each year; almost
$4 trillion in 2003. Every person who walks into your store is a self-qualified
customer and your displays can make dozens—even hundreds—of
advertising impressions.
“This trend has left brands, retailers and their agencies hungry
for retail channel solutions,” says Doug Hope, group vice president
of VNU Expositions and show director of GlobalShop. VNU Expositions
will produce At-Retail Media Expo, September 22 and 23, 2005.
WHO'S CALLING, PLEASE?
Just when you thought it might be safe to answer your telephone, along
comes a computerized service enabling callers to get around caller
ID and call blockers with a click of a mouse.
According to a report in The New York Times, for a fee well within
reason for most telemarketers, companies can go to a Web site, log
in and then type the number they want to call and the number they
want to appear on the phone’s caller ID screen at the other end.
For an additional fee, they also can specify names to appear along
with the phone numbers.
The service is seen as a boon to bill collectors, private investigators
and law enforcement officials, but many consumer groups see it as
an invasion of privacy.
PLUG AND PLAY
High-speed Internet access through your electrical outlets?
It may be more than a year away yet, but the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) in October adopted rules to enable utility companies
to offer an alternative to broadband communications services.
It’s known as broadband over power lines (BPL), and it has
achieved communications speeds of about the same as broadband service
offered through cable modems or conventional telephone lines.
The technology, so far, has been mostly experimental, but the FCC’s
ruling is certainly expected to increase the level of interest—and
investment—by utility companies, which reach more houses across
the United States than either telephone or cable TV companies.
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