Morning Bosco,
Article from Forbes ASAP section discussing TWMC and ideas on how to effectively compete with AMZN. I agree that TWMC either needs a catchy brand name (ie Amazon) or must count on foot traffic from stores to spread the word. TWEC.com just doesn't jump out at ya. Also agree that TWMC needs to take off the kid gloves and go after the inet aggressively and that the potential to inflict damage on the online-only stores is huge. I hope management has similar thinking!!
forbes.com
paste of article from Forbes ASAP 04/05/99....
WHILE CHATTING UP their Web site to the press over the past few
months, the executives at TWEC.com have seemed almost sorry for
online music retailers Amazon.com and CDnow. The gist of their pitch:
TWEC.com will crush its competitors by leveraging what the others don't
have—actual storefronts, along with long-standing relationships with
record labels developed in the real world. TWEC.com is a division of
Trans World Entertainment, the holding company for some of the
nation's largest music outlets, including Strawberries, Coconuts, and,
pending SEC approval, West Coast giant Camelot Music.
TWEC.com execs see cross-promotion as their secret weapon: They
plan to put the site's URL, as well as their online offerings, on every
poster, shopping bag, and handout at each of their 1,000-plus stores.
Add relationships with record labels, which put the company at the front
of the line for promotions and live performances by recording artists, and
TWEC.com officials argue competing sites will be rendered
lifeless-generic outlets competing only on price. "We're prominently
positioned," says Tom Tuomela, senior manager of marketing and
merchandising for the Albany, New York-based company.
TWEC.com's traffic has increased 85% per month since its
November launch, Tuomela says, so there might be something to the
strategy after all.But there's also something missing-a brand. "Their
relationships may be a legitimate advantage, but that won't help them
capture customers. No one has ever heard of TWEC," says Ken Cassar,
an analyst at Jupiter Communications' digital commerce group. "They
still have to spend money to build an online brand. Their [retail] brands
aren't going to guarantee them a constituency. That's one lesson
everyone should learn from Barnes & Noble."
The record labels agree. "Our relationships with the bricks and
mortars have been long and evolutionary. They have grown up with us,
and we're obviously looking at them as major partners," says Jim
Wagner, senior VP of sales, merchandising, and advertising for Warner
Bros. Records, which carries Madonna, Eric Clapton, and Faith Hill. "But
our job is to let the public know there are records available, and eyeballs
is what it all comes down to."
And in terms of eyeballs, TWEC.com has a long way to go. It doesn't
even appear yet on the Media Metrix Web Report—a list that tracks the
most popular Web sites. Projected retail foot traffic of 500 million will no
doubt help drive eyeballs to TWEC.com, but the company also needs to
start thinking less about relationships with labels and more about
relationships online—those that will help drive eyeballs directly.
After all, the relationships that matter in cyberspace may not be the
ones that count once you cross the threshold of a real record store.
—Jeffrey M. O'Brien
Mark
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