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Technology Stocks : TWMC: Trans World Entertainment Is Playing Catchup -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bosco who wrote (40)	3/25/1999 8:53:00 AM
From: spinynorman1323	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93

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