| | | Voices of doom | Why is it that so many company CEOs insist on doing the voice-overs for their advertising campaigns, many of them reading off the idiot notes in a tone that sounds about as enthusiastic as someone describing their up-coming pile operation?
I have no doubt that these CEOs are very capable business managers - and I am equally sure that they employ accountants to look after the books, and marketers to get their company's products or services into the market.
So why do they not leave the voice-overs to people with the natural enthusiasm and exuberance that makes the listener sit up and say “Wow! Now that sounds good!” instead of drive at high speed into the next tree?
Instead, in too many cases we end up with a message delivered more in the manner of a funeral oration than an irresistible call to buy what the company is selling.
Let's face it – you won't find a burly and somewhat hirsute CEO in a thong, reclining on a car's bonnet and with bedroom eyes inviting you to try his sparkplug.
So why the voice-overs?
Rod Baker, Content Manager: Send your news to: retailnews@bizcommunity.com; or visit www.bizcommunity.com. Subscribe now!
| | Headlines | All about Africa retail
Where are my balls?
Zimbabwe business grab on the way
Assisting eBay's big-ticket
User postings and the law: a question of structure
Corporate SA reaches out to women in need
Corruption dragging down Zim: WB report
South African consumer confidence still positive
Managing SMS contact lists just got easier
Actionable intelligence is meaningful intelligence
Your favourite brand: good enough to recommend?
Playing the piracy 'blame game'
Co-branding – Innovating through committed partnerships
| |
Retail | | Zimbabwe business grab on the way
The Zimbabwe government's proposed Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment (NIEE) Bill will become law in September, a senior government official has said. The law has implications for any and every foreign-owned company operating in Zimbabwe.
A single global currency
Of course, no one can predict if or when a worldwide currency consolidation will happen. Presently, we are seeing gathering strength in currency zones such as the dollar, euro and yen. There certainly is consolidation going on because it makes international trade a lot more efficient and seamless.
All about Africa retail
When Bizcommunity.com launched daily news for the FMCG retail industry at the Africa Big Seven retail trade expo this week, we took along a video crew to find out about the new products on show. Here, Bizcommunity.com sales director, Dries Badenhorst and retail sales manager, Cheryl Harper, talk to several exhibitors, including one of the international delegations (from Egypt).
Corporate SA reaches out to women in need
Thousands of women and children in need will benefit from a joint fundraising initiative on National Women's Day on 9 August involving the Vodacom Foundation, Nedbank, MNet and Pick ‘n Pay.
Northern suburbs residential pull spurs commercial interest
The residential ‘pull' of Cape Town's Northern Suburbs is one of the factors bringing commercial occupancy rates in these areas way above those in Cape Town's CBD as employers wise-up to the fact that ‘commuting time' is money.
Tightly targeted drive promotes new store in Alex
 The Ellerines Group contracted South Africa's leading direct distribution company, Primedia @ Home, to create localised awareness of the Ellerines store, recently opened in Alexandra.
Targeted content vs keyword density
The mistake that many people make when writing content is adhering too closely to a particular keyword density. When you are too attached to hitting a percentage, you may be focusing more on the search engines than you are on your site's human audience. Doing this can detract from the original goal of the page, which is to convert visitors into paying clients. The key concept to remember is "targeted content."
eBucks wins in two categories
eBucks has been recognised as South Africa's most valuable rewards program in two categories, according to the findings of the 2007 Value in Rewards Programs survey.
Report: Mobile search to ring in ad billions
Search has already proven itself in the PC world not only as a way to meet users' needs, but as an effective way to turn those needs into money so that thinking is being carried over into the mobile world, explained John du Pre Gauntt, author of the eMarketer report and the company's senior analyst for wireless.
Bookings open for Flux Trends Review
The 2007 Flux Trend Review, in association with Bizcommunity.com is a two-day trends conference aimed at both business and consumers. It will take place in Johannesburg on 7-8 September 2007.
Co-branding – Innovating through committed partnerships
 [Roman Cylkowski] Developing successful co-branding relationships requires commitment and investment from both parties. Philips and Sara Lee provide us with a great example of how companies can effectively develop such partnerships to drive innovation and create new markets, enhancing their brand equity.
Playing the piracy 'blame game'
The top excuses for unlicensed software use reveals business owners and senior management are still unaware that responsibility for software licensing rests with them.
Growth - sure, but Africa's competitiveness lags the world
After prolonged economic stagnation, and at times even decline, Africa is experiencing an economic resurgence.
Web shoppers and info security: A question of credibility
Web shoppers have a need for speed. They've gobbled up broadband connections, and they're less patient in poking around sites that they perceive as wasting their time. They've also become a little smarter - and more squeamish - about credit card fraud, and they'll quickly take flight if they don't feel right about an e-vendor's security.
|
Banking & Finance | | China aims to bump India in outsourcing services
China has been promoting its outsourcing sector in recent years to tap the booming market. The nation's software outsourcing companies raked in $1.4 billion in revenue in 2006, up more than 40 percent compared with a year earlier. Unlike their Indian counterparts, outsourcing companies in China work closely with local clients from industries such as banking, securities and manufacturing.
|
Brand news | | Caring for our children
 Investment in people is an economic need. Since business is the most powerful institution on earth, business needs to take responsibility for the upliftment of the societies in which it works.
Tea with a twist at fashion event
Five Roses, South Africa's iconic tea brand, will again be involved as a sponsor at the summer collections of the Sanlam SA Fashion Week (SSAFW) 2007.
Google gives newspapers shot in arm with ad service
Google is fortifying the newest territory in its advertising empire - the newspaper print world - by expanding its Print Ads service to include users of its popular online advertising program, AdWords. The biggest immediate beneficiary of the move is the print publishing industry, which will have access to a larger pool of advertisers.
Vodacom revenues up, customers up
As at 30 June 2007, Vodacom Group recorded 32.4 million customers across its networks operating in South Africa, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho and Mozambique, reflecting a 7.5% increase in the three months since 31 March 2007.
Zesty Eikendal Sauvignon Blanc goes green
 Eikendal, situated on the verdant foothills of the Helderberg, lightens up for summer with its latest Sauvignon Blanc 2007. This easy-drinking wine radiates a renewed crisp taste with a significant ‘greener' appeal than its more tropical predecessors.
Wining and dining on winning oysters
 Twenty food and twenty wine exhibitors offered a total 15,500 oysters prepared in unique and delectable ways while about 1,000 litres of wine was consumed between 700 people at the Pick ‘n Pay Oyster and Wine Mardi Gras. The event was held on Wednesday, 11 July, at the Heineken Pavilion at Loerie Park Sport grounds, and formed part of the 24th Pick ‘n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival.
There's time for tea at the Cape Town Flower and Garden Show
Even better than just the time, there's even a spot where you can sit, relax and enjoy a cup or two...
Building better batters...
...and fielders... and wicketkeepers... and bowlers...
Gourmet "bites of creativity"
 Pyotts recently created the "Win A Salticrax Moment" campaign and teamed up with 94.7 Highveld Stereo to launch the competition. To enter, listeners had to log onto the 94.7 website and create a Salticrax "Bites of Creativity" recipe using listed ingredients, and supply an original name for their creation. Prizes included daily instant cash awards, Salticrax hampers and a grand prize of a Salticrax gourmet dinner party for the winner, Anoren Naidoo, and nine friends at The Michelangelo hotel in Sandton, worth R15,000.
Natty new design supports breast cancer awareness
National Jean Company has partnered with top designer, Sharon Segal, to create a new tee in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The tees will be sold exclusively on National Jean Company's website, LiveNatty.com, from 15 September 2007. 20% of all proceeds will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, one of the world's largest network of breast cancer survivors and activists. Source: eMediaWire.com
What a cracker
Pyotts have added rye and gluten-free maize variants to it original wheat Crackerbread offering. This extension is aimed at providing alternatives for consumers with specific dietary needs. All variants contain less than 98 kilojoules per slice. The range has been launched in revamped packaging and is available from select supermarkets at an recommended selling price of R7,99.
|
Catering | | Self-taught chef scoops top national title
 Chef Petrus Madutlela's drive to succeed took him from being a part-time cleaner at a catering company to becoming the country's top young chef.
Catering pioneer makes strategic acquisitions
 Compass Group SA, a leading pioneer in the outsourced contract catering market, has further strengthened its position in the market through the strategic acquisition of two catering food services businesses.
Farewell, Angus
Angus Dodds, Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa Western Cape Board member, passed away on Tuesday, 17 July 2007. He will be remembered as a true gentleman and great colleague. The funeral will be held on Monday 23 July, at 3pm at the Christ Church, Constantia. Should you wish to send flowers or a tribute, the family specified the following charities to which donations can be made: UCT Private Academic Hospital ICU, Medical Research and NSRI.
|
Consumer research | | South African consumer confidence still positive
Results of the MasterIndex™ survey of Consumer Confidence, commissioned by MasterCard Worldwide, for the second half of 2007 have revealed that consumer confidence in South Africa remains strongly positive, despite a decrease in the past year.
Building confidence in SA sky high
Building confidence in SA rose back to near a record peak in the second quarter of this year, reflecting a boom spurred by public spending and pent-up demand for affordable housing, an independent survey showed yesterday.
Your favourite brand: good enough to recommend?
For the last twelve months, TNS Research Surveys, marketing and social insights company, has been asking South Africans what brands they would recommend to foreign visitors attending the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Win with your opinion
British price comparison site PriceDude.co.uk has launched a competition aimed at encouraging people to share their opinions on everything from movies, books, music and travel. In a prize draw to take place at the end of August, they will be giving away £200 ($400). It's free to enter - the only requirement is that a review on any product is submitted and published through the site. Visit PriceDude.co.uk for more information.
|
Distribution | | Where are my balls?
Key Golf (Key TV Limited, UK) has announced it will manage the global marketing and distribution of the first patented product Blue Marlin developed, the Ballfinder Scout, endorsed by UK golf player and 2008 Ryder Cup Captain, Nick Faldo.
Assisting eBay's big-ticket
AuctionAssist, an eBay facilitator, believes that it has a model that will help eBay's growth in big-ticket items. In 2005, eBay paid $2.6 billion for Skype in the hope that it could encourage buyers and sellers to talk about big-ticket items, but this has not yet yielded the anticipated results.
|
Franchising | | Build-A-Bear Workshop to open flagship store
 International interactive entertainment company, Build-A-Bear WorkshopTM's flagship store is set to launch at Sandton City, Gauteng, on 27 July 2007.
|
Logistics | | Transport management across Africa
TransAfrica 2007, South Africa's international transport and logistics exhibition, hits the Durban Exhibition Centre from 24 - 26 October.
SA transport embraces high-tech solution
South African transport companies received a boost last year with the launch of the www.Bid2Load.com website and the response to this high-tech transport matchmaker is evidence of the need for technology-driven solutions in the highly competitive transport industry.
|
Promotions | | Savour a sip of sauvignon at the Soweto Wine Festival
The third annual Soweto Wine Festival on 7-8 September 2007, is being hailed as the most exciting Soweto-based initiative in years.
It's tool time!
Exhibitors are powering up raise the roof on Hardex 2007.
'In-store' expansion for international sign expo
 The international Sign Africa 2007 and the Africa In-store show will kick-off for three days from 5 - 7 September at the Sandton Convention Centre. Spanning two halls, the exhibition offers suppliers and manufacturers of all means of visual communication the opportunity to present their latest products, designs and trends to the public.
It's toy time!
 Toys for Boys is back! One of Gauteng's most exciting consumer expos is soon to make its long-anticipated return September 28-30 at the Johannesburg Expo Centre (formerly Nasrec).
|
Regulatory | | Why invest in Africa? Why not?
A new study, the Baird's Communication Management Consultants Africa Review, promises to discover exactly what encourages US investors to invest in Africa, and what puts them off.
|
Shopfitting | | New restaurant design features are looking up
 USA - For a new way to enrich the ambiance of restaurant interiors, designers should look to the ceiling, says Larry Loser, owner and president of Applied Visual Concepts. The Michigan-based company has announced that it would begin marketing its "Ceiling Scenes" products for use in restaurants, bars and coffee houses.
|
Supply chain | | Bad roads hamper trade, business in Central Africa
The World Bank's Central Africa Transport and Transit Facilitation Project aims to open continent's most challenging corridors.
Swiss retailers aim to be friends of the sea
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND - According to a recent survey and analysis run by three environmental organizations - Friend of the Sea, OceanCare and fair-fish - approximately one third of seafood products sold in Switzerland is fished in environmentally unsustainable ways.
SA clothing group goes global
Eqos, Inc. (www.eqos.com), a provider of on-demand global sourcing and supplier management solutions for the retail supply chain, has announced that South Africa's Edgars Consolidated Stores Limited (Edcon) has gone live with Eqos' global sourcing solution.
|
Technology | | User postings and the law: a question of structure
A federal court in California has ruled against Roommate.com, stating the site violated federal and state housing laws with some of the services it provides. At issue is content posted not by the Web site's administrators, but by its users. The case creates a distinction between what sorts of user activity for which a Web site is and is not responsible.
Spying in the workplace: big money?
The Business Software Alliance launched its rewards program in the US in 2005 to encourage individuals with detailed information about software piracy to come forward and confidentially submit the information. Since then, the BSA claims that it successfully settled with hundreds of companies, bringing in nearly US$22 million.
E-Discovery and the SMB
Most large organizations in the US have responded the recent e-discovery requirements by implementing specific procedures and processes designed to ensure that the right personnel - both from internal counsel and IT - are brought to the table early to make sure that artifacts of this type are preserved appropriately. However, SMBs have unique challenges that large firms don't have.
Managing SMS contact lists just got easier
Companies with large centralised databases face a dilemma when seeking a solution to send bulk SMS messages.
Actionable intelligence is meaningful intelligence
Business intelligence is of limited value unless you can make quick and effective use of it to enhance your competitiveness, and a South African company has a portal they reckon allows you to do just that.
Vietnam: From catfish to computers
Vietnam is gradually becoming an important market in its own right. It boasts the region's second-fastest-growing economy after China, and its rapidly expanding middle class is buying up cell phones, personal computers and iPods. There are some 10 million mobile phone subscribers, and computer penetration in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City is approaching 50%, says Intel.
SA Internet access grows, but only for the 'haves'
The number of South Africans with access to the Internet will grow by little more than 3% in 2007, despite massive growth in broadband connectivity.
How opting for outsourcing helps Telcos put their customers first
Telecoms operators today are increasingly interested in exploring the benefits of outsourcing their CRM and billing systems to third-party solutions providers.
|
Training | | State-of-the-art coffee training centre launched
Ciro Alliances, the South African distributor of popular Italian premium espresso brand, Lavazza, has launched the first-ever Lavazza-accredited Barista Training Centre in Africa.
|
| | Business | | Corruption dragging down Zim: WB report
Zimbabwe is among the few African countries facing decline due to corruption and poor governance although many African nations have taken steps to reduce the vice over the past 10 years, a recent World Bank Institute (WBI) report says. [Management] |
|
| | Galleries | | M&M's bash for Shrek The Third
 
More | | | |
| | Events to diarise | Sign Africa 2007 and the Africa In-store Show Sign Africa - Johannesburg, 5 September
An opportunity for all suppliers and manufacturers of all means of visual communication including signage, display, POS, road signs and outdoor advertising mediums to present their latest products, designs and trends to the public. | | | Soweto Wine Festival 2007 - Johannesburg, 7 September
The 3rd annual Soweto Wine Festival happening at the University of Johannesburg is being hailed as the most exciting Soweto-based initiative in years with an an increase in the number of wineries and expected attendance. | | | | |
| | Quotes | | | "Shopping is a woman thing. It's a contact sport like football. Women enjoy the scrimmage, the noisy crowds, the danger of being trampled to death, and the ecstasy of the purchase." - Erma Bombeck | | "A person buying ordinary products in a supermarket is in touch with his deepest emotions." - John K. Galbraith | | "We want consumers to say, 'That's a hell of a product' instead of, 'That's a hell of an ad.'" - Leo Burnett | | More... Submit a Quote | | |
Print any item. Mondi Rotatrim - The Better Performance Paper - www.rotatrim.co.za.
Email - Email any item in this newsletter.
Comment - Comment on any item in this newsletter.
| 
|
| |
Business ServicesMOTORING CORPORATE WELLNESS BUSINESS TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT OFFICE EQUIPMENT
|
|
