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Vol 2, #31, August 3, 2010 |
Goodbuzz expands social media service Goodbuzz Inc., (www.goodbuzz.ca) a Toronto-based interactive agency, announced it is extending client services to include advanced social moderation, as well as optimizing and integrating multiple social activities with a single point of update. "With a proven track record and in-depth knowledge of our industry, Goodbuzz, is a valuable asset and a welcome addition to our team. Goodbuzz brings expert resources and strategic thinking to our business. We needed a partner who knows digital inside and out and Goodbuzz’s expertise is evident in our daily interactions with them. We’ve already begun working together on several campaigns and the partnership is certainly meeting our expectations.” Atria Networks has launched a new corporate website ( www.atrianetworks.com), designed to provide more information, improve navigability and develop more customer communication. The new site has been enhanced with several new features. These include the following:
“Our new website delivers faster and easier, access to all information about our company,” said Michael Stephens, VP - Marketing and Product Development. “Adding social media connections improves communications with our customers, thereby increasing our already excellent customer service,” he added. Further corporate information includes notes about the Atria Networks executive team, ownership, and company history. The new web site was designed by Atria's advertising agency, Copp Communications of Kitchener-Waterloo. The Communications Group Inc. of Toronto handles public relations. Top of Page CRE Secure now integrated into electronic merchant systems gateway CRE Secure, the industry’s first cloud-based, elegantly designed, secure payment solution for online merchants, announced today the successful integration of its PCI-compliant payment acceptance service into Electronic Merchant Systems’ (EMS) product offering. “We selected CRE for our eCommerce offering as they understood the issues around protecting cardholder data, developed a secure solution, and are seamless to the customer” said Dan Neistadt, President/CEO of EMS. “Further, we are developing a suite of industry leading products for select vertical markets with CRE Secure to process internet payments for select, high value vertical markets such as state and local government payments.” Online customers of CRE Secure-enabled merchants are redirected to CRE Secure’s hosted payment platform (based on patented HTML clone design) through a window that seamlessly mirrors the merchant’s web site. Visually, consumers feel secure within their merchant’s site, which enables merchants to better ensure branding continuity and protect the investment that they have made in their online commerce sites. Additionally, merchants utilizing CRE Secure’s service achieve full PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards) compliance relative to their processing of card payments online. These standards were enacted by the world's major credit card companies in response to the growing number of expensive data breaches. Beginning Oct. 1, 2010, new online retailers will no longer be allowed to host credit card transactions in non PCI-approved environments, and those that are not compliant can be fined, have their transaction fees raised, or have their merchant accounts frozen. “Customer protection against theft at the point of payment is a significant industry issue, especially among merchants that rely on card not present transactions,” said Greg McGraw , CEO of CRE Secure Payments, LLC. “Our patented technology gives retailers the ability to comply with PCI DSS without having to incur the costs and burdens traditionally associated with obtaining PCI certification. This partnership affords EMS’ users an efficient and elegant means of protecting their customers at the point of payment through a fully compliant service.” Top of Page Clearly Contacts named largest independant retail site in Canada Clearly Contacts, a subsidiary of Coastal Contacts Inc., has taken the traditional industry of retailing eyeglasses and contact lenses in an optical store, and put it on the Internet for discounted prices. This innovative move has proven to be good business, surpassing all other Canadian Internet stores in sales for 2009. The 2010 edition of Internet Retailer's Top 500 Guide announced the top 500 web retailers in America based on annual sales. While the top spot in America this year went to Amazon.com, the top ranking Canadian company on the list is Coastal Contacts Inc. at the 110th spot. With sales of $140 million last year Coastal Contacts Inc. lands directly ahead of Tiffany & Co, and Sephora USA Inc, and Crocs Inc as the 111, 112, and 151st spots respectively. The rapid growth of the Vancouver based company has been spurred on in recent years by the addition of eyeglasses to their contact lens offering. Over 300,000 pairs of eyeglasses have now been delivered by the online retail giant, paving the way for consumers to try new more affordable methods of purchasing eyewear. "People ask us all the time, can you really buy glasses over the web, the response is resounding and overwhelmingly - Yes!" stated Roger Hardy, Coastal Contacts Founder and CEO. Retail web sales for the top 500 companies on the list increased by 8.7% on average in 2009, while Coastal Contacts Inc.'s sales increased by 18% in the same year. "The vision care products industry has been in need of a change for some time. High prices and inconsistent service levels have lead consumers to demand options. Clearly Contacts meteoric growth is a direct result of serving customers with better prices, faster service and top brand name quality that our customers love," adds Hardy. Top of Page Shopatron announces 15 per cent growth Shopatron announced today that second quarter same-stores sales have increased by an average of 15% across all client stores compared to the same period last year. Shopatron provides eCommerce for branded manufacturers in over 35 industries, representing more than 800 brands. The comparison was based on all client stores active for at least one year on Shopatron. Shopatron also announced that several industries outperformed the average. Not surprisingly, as the weather warmed up so did sales in many “summer” industries. Led by Louis Garneau, Cane Creek and Cycling Sporting Group, online stores in the cycling industry experienced an incredible 49% growth over last year. And outdoor sporting goods sales increased by an average of 27%, led by brands such as Johnson Outdoors, Thule and PSE. The pet and equine stores on Shopatron, which saw strong growth in Q1, saw that growth continue in Q2 with a 27% increase in sales across the industry. Music also had a very strong showing with a 27% increase, led by Mel Bay, JL Audio and Ernie Ball. Other strong industries included apparel, with a 29% increase, the juvenile industry at 20% and home furnishings showing a 19% increase. Although Shopatron attributes some of the growth to a general increase in consumer spending, many of the most successful industries have not traditionally sold products online. By integrating dealers as fulfillment partners, a core component of the Shopatron eCommerce platform, branded manufacturers in all industries are able to sell online and provide in-store pickup of those orders. “We use Shopatron to not only sell our standard products, like guitar strings, online but to sell and deliver custom guitars to our customers through our authorized dealers,” said Scott Ball, Sales Manager at Music Man (Ernie Ball). “The recent growth of our eCommerce sales, along with the positive comments from happy dealer-partners confirms that we are doing eCommerce the right way.” “Manufacturers in industries such as cycling and home furnishings have been slower to sell online for a variety of reasons,” said Ed Stevens, Founder and CEO of Shopatron. “Some of their products may have been too expensive to ship, needed installation or assembly, or required lots of technical support. With the Shopatron model, using authorized dealers to fulfill these orders, any product can be sold online. Unpacking, installation or customization can be performed at the store, before the order is picked up. With the local dealer involved, you really can sell anything online, and our Q2 numbers demonstrate this well.” Top of Page JangoMail offers new way to track recipientsJangoMail (www.jangomail.com), an industry leader in permission-based email marketing, announced a major new feature to its email marketing platform: marketers can now further personalize their email campaigns by seeing which platform recipients are using to open their emails. This new feature supports the use of most browsers and mobile devices, including iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, Outlook, Chrome, and Thunderbird. “This new service feature will give email marketers greater insight into who their recipients are as suggested by the types of browsers or mobile devices they use,” said Ajay Goel, founder and CEO of JangoMail. “Now marketers can match not only the right look and feel for each email platform, but also the message.” Much about a user can be determined by a user’s mobile device of choice. BlackBerry users are generally believed to be executives with a strong loyalty to the BlackBerry brand while iPhone lovers tend to be young, affluent and tech-savvy. Various research suggests there are also unique demographics tied to browser use. For instance, most Firefox users are 18 to 24 years old and often students logging in from universities to visit educational, bookstore, and tech-related sites (comScore). With this data, marketers can better segment and customize their campaigns and drive more success in their overall email marketing efforts. With JangoMail’s new email client tracking feature, marketers can track:
Stuck on Band-Aid Brand? Sing about it online "I am stuck on BAND-AID Brand..." Know that famous jingle? Nearly 70 per cent of Canadian moms do, according to a recent Angus Reid Public Opinion poll. Now, moms and their families will have the chance to record their best rendition of the tune for a great cause at the BAND-AID Brand mobile recording studio, back by popular demand this summer at community events across the country. BAND-AID Brand promotes healthy and active kids. That's why one dollar from every jingle video recorded to support Safe Kids Canada, a charity committed to inspiring a culture of safety across the country. "Last year's tour was such a great success that we wanted to challenge Canadians to show off their talents for another year," said Aaron Young, one of the BAND-AID Brand Jingle Ambassadors. "This is a great fun family activity that directly benefits Safe Kids Canada's commitment to reduce preventable injuries." Each jingle recorded at the BAND-AID Brand mobile recording studio will be uploaded to www.stuckonme.ca where Canadians will be able to vote for their favourite rendition - so everyone can join in the fun! Ten lucky voters will win a Johnson & Johnson Inc. product prize pack and the jingle with the most votes will win $10,000 in travel, courtesy of the makers of BAND-AID Brand Adhesive Bandages. The "Stuck on BAND-AID Brand" jingle was developed almost 40 years ago by the legendary Barry Manilow and has been passed down to generations of Canadian moms. In fact, the survey found that the BAND-AID Brand jingle remains one of the most well-known jingles among Canadian moms, with nearly 90 per cent of those who know it able to hum or sing the famous tune. Top of Page Dashboard named AOR for ING Direct Canada Dashboard, a Toronto-based interactive agency, today announced its appointment by ING DIRECT Canada as interactive agency of record. Dashboard will provide strategic and creative interactive services to ING DIRECT. Dashboard will work to support the overall business, strategy, marketing and advertising objectives. Teletoon Canada taps into Tribal DDB Canada for social media help TELETOON Canada Inc. has named Tribal DDB Canada's Toronto office as its digital and social media agency of record (AOR). Starting immediately, Tribal DDB Toronto will build a social media strategy with an integrated approach to extend consumer awareness and engagement of TELETOON's three key brands - TELETOON, TELETOON at Night and TELETOON Retro - through digital and social media vehicles. New campaign work is expected to launch later this fall. "TELETOON has been successfully fostering engagement through various social networking initiatives, however we're looking to collaborate with Tribal DDB to build on and further optimize our efforts," says Russell Ward, VP Marketing, TELETOON Canada inc. "We're impressed by Tribal DDB's social creativity, strategic thinking and track record of creating ideas that have generated wide appeal and buzz." Tribal DDB Toronto was named TELETOON's digital and social media marketing AOR after a thorough selection process that took place earlier this summer. "With TELETOON, we are developing a digital and social media platform to build awareness of their unique brands amongst two distinct audiences - children and adults - with the ultimate goal to drive viewership," says Andrew McCartney, managing director, Tribal DDB Toronto. "The new team at Tribal DDB Toronto has impressive global experience working with leading brands and will bring this experience as well as digital best practices to the table." |
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