`Gifts.com' Is Launched in $20 Million Campaign; Top Technology and Marketing Team Is Formed to Create and Launch the Premier Internet Gift Service.NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 2, 1999-- `Best of Breed Solutions' Power Up WWW WWW or W3: see World Wide Web. (World Wide Web) The common host name for a Web server. The "www-dot" prefix on Web addresses is widely used to provide a recognizable way of identifying a Web site. .GIFTS.COM (1) (Computer Output Microfilm) Creating microfilm or microfiche from the computer. A COM machine receives print-image output from the computer either online or via tape or disk and creates a film image of each page. for the Holidays The new online gift-shopping service gifts.com has officially been launched with a flurry of television commercials in the morning network talk shows and evening newscasts. Development of the site was overseen by an all-star team of leading e-commerce, marketing and merchandising organizations assembled by the site owners, The Reader's Digest Reader's Digest U.S.-based monthly magazine. Founded by DeWitt and Lila Wallace, it was first published in 1922 as a digest of articles of topical interest and entertainment value condensed from other periodicals. Association, Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : RDA RDA abbr. recommended daily allowance Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) The Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) are quantities of nutrients in the diet that are required to maintain good health in people. , RDB See Oracle Rdb. 1. Rdb - Oracle Rdb 2. rdb - A roll-your-own database, created in the Unix toolkit philosophy. It appears to be written in the awk language, and is very compatible with awk. It uses awk's syntax and can be combined with awk commands. ) and StarTek, Inc. (NYSE: SRT (1) (Source Routing Transparent) An IEEE-standard that provides bridging between Ethernet and Token Ring networks. Ethernet LANs use transparent bridging, and Token Ring LANs use source route bridging (SRB). ). The new Web site, fine tuned for anticipated heavy holiday-related traffic from consumers, was introduced nationally by humor-oriented ads created by Young & Rubicam. The ads position gifts.com as the one-stop online service that gives "a delightful surprise" to friends and loved ones loved ones npl → seres mpl queridos loved ones npl → proches mpl et amis chers loved ones love npl by bringing a higher level of customization and thoughtfulness to the online shopping experience. "The development and launch of this site was exceptional because of the best-of-breed group who worked with us to bring it to life," said Keith Fox, director of New Media at Reader's Digest and himself a veteran of more than 20 site launches. "The explosive growth of the online gift market made it critical for us to work with a team that could help us make an immediate impact. The resulting site has terrific merchandise -- and it functions well, is easy to navigate, has the perfect domain name and can withstand the demands of high volume." The gifts.com development team includes a number of nationally experienced Internet developers. Nicholson NY, a leading provider of e-business consulting and Internet development services, offered business and marketing strategy, conducted concept testing Concept testing is the process of using quantitative methods and qualitative methods to evaluate consumer response to a product idea prior to the introduction of a product to the market. , established the information architecture and interactive design of the site, and facilitated data design and functional development. Nexgenix, a leading e-business consultancy headquartered in Irvine, Calif., provided Web strategy, transaction capabilities as well as CRM (Customer Relationship Management) An integrated information system that is used to plan, schedule and control the presales and postsales activities in an organization. and data warehousing as part of its 360-degree e-Relationship (TM) approach. Digex, a leading Web hosting organization that provides hardware support and hosting capabilities, hosts gifts.com and manages the high-level of security required in this transactional Web site. In merchandising and fulfillment, Good Catalog Company, which Reader's Digest acquired one year ago, is providing a variety of the merchandise that is for sale at the online store. StarTek, a global supplier of e-commerce and fulfillment services, is providing the key fulfillment services and also contributed the intuitive gifts.com domain name. StarTek owns 19.9 percent of gifts.com and Reader's Digest owns 80.1 percent. Merchandising expert McCaffery & Company is providing expert guidance on merchandise, selection and presentation of the branded items. On the marketing side, Young & Rubicam (NYSE: YNR), a world leader in commercial communications, assembled an alliance of six of its companies to deliver an integrated campaign to launch the site and market it to the burgeoning consumer online gift market. Backed by the $20 million marketing budget, Y&R New York's marketing program will include television, print, radio, direct mail and online advertising and promotion. Landor, the design and positioning company, has responsibility for brand identity and all design elements of gifts.com. A team from Wunderman Cato Johnson and The Media Edge will work in partnership to deliver media planning and buying. Cohn & Wolfe is directing public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most for the site. KnowledgeBase Marketing, Y&R's database management company, may be tapped to augment the database marketing effort. "It is a testament to the strength of the Reader's Digest name and organization that they could assemble such a potent team of technology and marketing players to develop gifts.com," says Tom Bell, president and chief operating officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. of Young & Rubicam. "It indicates that Reader's Digest will be a major name in the burgeoning e-commerce marketplace for many years to come." The gifts.com site will offer more than 400 products, including leading names like Escada, Laura Ashley, Burberry's and Lenox, which were carefully selected by gifts.com to ensure that quality choices are available to gift buyers who care about the gifts they give but don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what to purchase. In addition, gifts.com has several special customer services including a customized Gift Finder, a Gift Calendar with e-mail reminders, and other personalization features such as customized gift cards to help shoppers find and send the most appropriate gift possible in a hassle-free environment. The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. (www.readersdigest.com) is a global publisher and direct marketer of products that inform, enrich, entertain, and inspire people of all ages and all cultures around the world. Products include the Reader's Digest magazine, the world's most widely read magazine. Worldwide revenues were $2.5 billion for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1999. Headquarters are located in Pleasantville, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . As one of the world's leading providers of a broad range of outsourced process management services, Denver-based StarTek (www.startek.com) has five facilities in Colorado and one each in Wyoming and Tennessee. The company's pan-European services are performed from its facility in the United Kingdom, while Asian operations are based in Singapore. The company's clients are in the software, Internet, e-commerce, technology and communications industries. |
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