Does Norma Kamali Understand Digital Better Than Time Inc. & Conde Nast? - Steve Blacker - MediaBizBloggers

1. "Shoppers will soon be able to stand outside the designer Norma Kamali's boutique in Manhattan, point a phone at merchandise in the window and buy it - even late at night when the store is closed." -The New York Times,2/27/10

2. Shouldn't major shopping magazines like LUCKY and INSTYLE be doing the same with all the ads that appear in their publications?

3. Norma Kamali seems more willing to invest in new technology to make shopping easier for consumers than the magazines that carry all the apparel, beauty and retail fashion ads.

4. Ironically, print media, among the most trusted media brands, seem to stand passively by and let others invest and create new profit centers that should be new profit centers for print.

5, Imagine if The New York Timeshad had the courage and foresight to place the lion's share of its classified ads on line and for free! Would Craigslist exist today?

6. Major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Crate & Barrel, etc. are testing mobile technology to help shoppers find different promotional items within their stores. As a result more traditional ad dollars will go from print into these new mobile technology offerings.

7. IBM's Prescence.Shoppers can offer users real time coupons once they set foot in a store. Prescence.Shoppers can also track shoppers' spending habits and browsing time to help figure out which consumers might be significantly moved to buy a discounted item.

8. Add Mobile Concierge systems to the mix and retailers can connect customers' smartphones to a retailer's wireless network. Thus, a shopper could type "Cheez Whiz" into a cell phone and then find out its location in a store.

9. Motorola has stores testing kiosk systems that enable consumers to summon a clerk to a particular department.

10. All of the above and much more will become a marketplace reality by 2011. The net impact will be a more informed shopper with more personalized promotional options on demand as they shop. This will dramatically increase mobile spending by suppliers and retailers.

11. As print remains slow to embrace the technology that already exists, and does so with limited dollars, the future may be passing them by. Until either new owners or new, digital savvy management takes over, most publishers will be at a major disadvantage and playing a losing catch-up game with shifting ad dollars.

Steve's new book You Can't Fall Off The Floor - The Insiders' Guide to Re-Inventing Yourself and Your Career chronicles his 50 year career working for over 25 different companies with 189 lessons learned and insider tips from Gayle King, Cathie Black, Chuck Townsend and 28 others; Blacker is still going strong today as a partner in Frankfurt & Blacker Solutions, LLC. His web site is blacker-reinventions.com and e-mail address is blackersolutions@aol.com

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