ERA: Working For You

By Sieglinde Friedman

In response to ERA’s strategic goals of increasing its benefits for retailers and marketers, the association is developing new and compelling programs, as well as enhancing its current offerings.

Current benefits include ERA’s government affairs work on behalf of its membership. This program is among ERA’s most significant benefits, as it assists member companies to ensure their livelihood by lobbying Congress on a variety of issues, including net neutrality, streamline sales tax and privacy, among others. Indeed, some 75 members recently participated in the ERA Government Affairs Fly-In, during which they met with their Congressional representatives to discuss the issues noted above. ERA’s Self-Regulation Program (ERSP) gives a forum to review claims independently of federal regulation and thereby continues ERA’s advocacy for increased ethical standards and best practices for products and services available to the consumer.

The association’s further commitment to consumer protection is demonstrated by the data and security PCI Scanning service. This service assists ERA members in understanding the latest government requirements and helps members avoid costly breaches in their data security. ERA members are kept informed of the latest research through ERA’s partnership with Forrester Research, which presents relevant, multichannel papers. Dovetailing with Forrester’s research, ERA’s Media Report Card provides members with a tool to evaluate the success of their long- and short-form campaigns.

New benefits being launched shortly include an in-depth study of the convergence of direct response television and emerging media by the Winterberry Group, which will be introduced at the European Conference in Monte Carlo this summer. Further, ERA is designing its educational sessions to be more relevant, compelling and practical for ERA retailers and marketers.

At the Annual Convention in Las Vegas, ERA is offering an attractive line-up of topics that address the profitable partnership between direct response and traditional advertising, the increase in ROI by utilizing new technologies, the pathway to success for products and the reality of the consumer in charge. Speakers this year will represent such companies as Quigley-Simpson, Yahoo!, Donat-Wald Agency, Exceptional Products, Savvier and hawthorne direct, among others. In addition, ERA will offer an exclusive retailer event at the Annual Convention, as well as offer retailers a chance to meet with one another at the Retail Council.

This month, the Online Retailing Alliance Steering Committee has developed a free educational offering for retailers who wish to increase their return on investment in the online sector.

Direct to Consumer 2.0 and Beyond, will be held Tuesday, June 5 from 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in San Jose, Calif. We are pleased to present speakers from Cisco, ShopNBC, Yahoo!, United Online, Winterberry Group and Shopzilla, among others, who will offer not only an overview of media convergence, but also practical tools on optimizing social media, augmenting website influence across channels, and the interplay of online and offline marketing.

ERA and its governing board understand the need for benefits that offer value to its current and prospective retail members. As the year unfolds, ERA will be launching new programs and services and, as always, remains committed to ensuring that its members are given the latest industry information, that member businesses are protected, and that the overall value proposition is constantly being enhanced and increased.

Sieglinde Friedman is ERA’s vice president of board and strategy. She can be reached at (703) 908-1021, or via e-mail at [email protected].

Online Retailing Alliance Steering Committee Presents: