Filed under: Products and services, Consumer experience, Competitive strategy, Microsoft (MSFT), Marketing and advertising, Technology

Microsoft is looking to revolutionize the way grocery stores are able to communicate with their shoppers. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is rolling out MediaCart consoles later this year that will let grocery stores send advertisements to consumers depending on where they are located in their stores.

The basic concept behind the new MediaCart consoles is that users are able to log into a website from their home, enter a shopping list, and have that list waiting for them on a shopping cart when they get to the store. The first of these mediacarts will be in ShopRite supermarkets on the East Coast later this year. For shoppers that have a ShopRite loyalty card, they will be able to get on the web at home and enter their shopping lists. Once they hit the stores, they’ll then be able to swipe their cards into the MediaCart, and their list will magically appear.

The carts will be able to keep track of items as they are gathered and will even keep track of the consumer’s running bill as well as give them the option to pay for their merchandise without having to wait in the checkout line. I’m not really sure how this would work with weighed items such as produce, but I’m sure Microsoft has thought of this as well.

Where it gets really interesting is that the carts will use radio-frequency identification to keep track of where the cart is located inside the store. With this knowledge, the console will be able to serve up advertisements to shoppers based on their location. Pretty nice idea I think. Suppose you are walking down the salad dressing aisle… the device could show you advertisements of which brands are on sale.

MediaCart will also be able to store consumers’ past buys in order to send them targeted advertisements the next time that they go shopping.

We are definitely a culture that is submerged in advertisements. Everywhere you look you are hit with ads… TV, radio, websites, billboards… everywhere. I guess it only makes sense that our shopping carts should join the list of advertising outlets. After all, you can’t find a much more targeted group of shoppers to serve up a milk ad to than one presently standing in front of the grocery store cooler.

[photo : yananine]

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the on the web investment advisory service Investor’s Observer

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Filed under: Products and services, Consumer experience, Competitive strategy, Microsoft (MSFT), Marketing and advertising, Technology

Microsoft is looking to revolutionize the way grocery stores are able to communicate with their shoppers. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is rolling out MediaCart consoles later this year that’ll let grocery stores send advertisements to consumers depending on where they are located in their stores.

The basic concept behind the new MediaCart consoles is that users are able to log into a website from their home, enter a shopping list, and have that list waiting for them on a shopping cart when they get to the store. The first of these mediacarts will be in ShopRite supermarkets on the East Coast later this year. For shoppers that have a ShopRite loyalty card, they’ll be able to get on the web at home and enter their shopping lists. Once they hit the stores, they’ll then be able to swipe their cards into the MediaCart, and their list will magically appear.

The carts will be able to keep track of items as they are gathered and will even keep track of the consumer’s running bill as well as give them the option to pay for their merchandise without having to wait in the checkout line. I’m not really sure how this would work with weighed items such as produce, but I’m sure Microsoft has thought of this as well.

Where it gets really interesting is that the carts will use radio-frequency identification to keep track of where the cart is located inside the store. With this knowledge, the console will be able to serve up advertisements to shoppers based on their location. Pretty nice idea I think. Suppose you’re walking down the salad dressing aisle… the device could show you advertisements of which brands are on sale.

MediaCart will also be able to store consumers’ past buys in order to send them targeted advertisements the next time that they go shopping.

We are definitely a culture that is submerged in advertisements. Everywhere you look you’re hit with ads… television, radio, websites, billboards… everywhere. I guess it only makes sense that our shopping carts should join the list of advertising outlets. After all, you can’t find a much more targeted group of shoppers to serve up a milk ad to than one presently standing in front of the grocery store cooler.

[photo : yananine]

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the on the internet investment advisory service Investor’s Observer

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Filed under: Forecasts, Products and services, Launches, Consumer experience, Conventions and conferences, Ford Motor (F), Marketing and advertising

For residents of Detroit, this day might have felt like they were transported back to the great old West, as automakers Ford Motor (NYSE: F) and Chrysler brought country to Motown for this year’s North American International Auto Show.

For Ford, that meant recruiting the help of country music icon Toby Keith to unveil its newest model of the popular F-150 heavy duty truck. For Chrysler, it meant taking things to an even higher level. The auto maker literally brought traffic to a standstill when it paraded 120 Texas Longhorns into the convention center surrounding its newest version of the Dodge Ram pick up truck.

Definitely impressive marketing techniques to launch new models. Perhaps Ford and Chrysler figure they better put on a good show this year, after all, truck sales dropped pretty sharply last year, and with gasoline prices still hovering around $3 a gallon, you can bet that the trend will carry over into 2008.

Ford is banking on a successful showing for its F-150, which has been the best-selling car in America for the past 26 years, despite a 6 percent drop last year. High gasoline prices weren’t the only factor that pushed truck sales down last year. The troubling housing market also played its hand in the falling popularity of heavy trucks. As housing starts slowed, so did the need for home builders to add to their fleets. Like high gasoline prices which have carried over into 2008, the housing market weakness also continues to loom on consumers’ minds.

If last year’s 6 percent drop in large pickups was tough to swallow, 2008 could prove to be even more worrisome as some analysts are predicting even more dramatic declines. The director of United States automotive research at Global Insight in Lexington, Mass., Rebecca Lindland, predicts that 2008 could see as much as a 10 percent drop in the pickup market. Last year there were 2.2 million pickups sold in America, but Lindland thinks the number will shrink to around 2 million this year. That’s a pretty massive hit, considering Lindland estimates truck makers profit between $5,000 and $10,000 per each truck sold.

The stakes are definitely huge for both Chrysler and Ford. Both heavily rely on pickup sales, so a bad year could be disastrous. Hopefully for both companies, oil prices will stop their dizzying climb and the housing market will rebound, but for now neither of these appears to be in the cards. Whatever the year holds in store for truck sales, one thing is for sure… both companies definitely know how to put on a good show.

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the on the internet investment advisory service Investor’s Observer

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Filed under: Forecasts, Products and services, Launches, Consumer experience, Conventions and conferences, Ford Motor (F), Marketing and advertising

For residents of Detroit, today may have felt like they were transported back to the great old West, as automakers Ford Motor (NYSE: F) and Chrysler brought country to Motown for this year’s North American International Auto Show.

For Ford, that meant recruiting the help of country music icon Toby Keith to unveil its newest model of the popular F-150 heavy duty truck. For Chrysler, it meant taking things to an even higher level. The auto maker literally brought traffic to a standstill when it paraded 120 Texas Longhorns into the convention center surrounding its newest version of the Dodge Ram pick up truck.

Definitely impressive marketing techniques to launch new models. Perhaps Ford and Chrysler figure they better put on a good show this year, after all, truck sales dropped pretty sharply last year, and with gasoline prices still hovering around $3 a gallon, you can bet that the trend will carry over into 2008.

Ford is banking on a successful showing for its F-150, which has been the best-selling car in America for the past 26 years, despite a 6 percent drop last year. High gasoline prices were not the only factor that pushed truck sales down last year. The troubling housing market also played its hand in the falling popularity of heavy trucks. As housing starts slowed, so did the need for home builders to add to their fleets. Like high gasoline prices which have carried over into 2008, the housing market weakness also continues to loom on consumers’ minds.

If last year’s 6 percent drop in massive pickups was tough to swallow, 2008 could prove to be even more worrisome as some analysts are predicting even more dramatic declines. The director of United States automotive research at Global Insight in Lexington, Mass., Rebecca Lindland, predicts that 2008 could see as much as a 10 percent drop in the pickup market. Last year there were 2.2 million pickups sold in America, but Lindland thinks the number will shrink to around 2 million this year. That’s a pretty massive hit, considering Lindland estimates truck makers profit between $5,000 and $10,000 per each truck sold.

The stakes are definitely massive for both Chrysler and Ford. Both heavily rely on pickup sales, so a bad year could be disastrous. Hopefully for both companies, oil prices will stop their dizzying climb and the housing market will rebound, but for now neither of these appears to be in the cards. Whatever the year holds in store for truck sales, one thing is for sure… both companies definitely know how to put on a good show.

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the on the web investment advisory service Investor’s Observer

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Filed under: Products and services, Consumer experience, Competitive strategy, Microsoft (MSFT), Marketing and advertising, Technology

Microsoft is looking to revolutionize the way grocery stores are able to communicate with their shoppers. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is rolling out MediaCart consoles later this year that’ll let grocery stores send advertisements to consumers depending on where they are located in their stores.

The basic concept behind the new MediaCart consoles is that users are able to log into a website from their home, enter a shopping list, and have that list waiting for them on a shopping cart when they get to the store. The first of these mediacarts will be in ShopRite supermarkets on the East Coast later this year. For shoppers that have a ShopRite loyalty card, they’ll be able to get online at home and enter their shopping lists. Once they hit the stores, they’ll then be able to swipe their cards into the MediaCart, and their list will magically appear.

The carts will be able to keep track of items as they’re gathered and will even keep track of the consumer’s running bill as well as give them the option to pay for their merchandise without having to wait in the checkout line. I’m not really sure how this would work with weighed items such as produce, but I’m sure Microsoft has thought of this as well.

Where it gets really interesting is that the carts will use radio-frequency identification to keep track of where the cart is located inside the store. With this knowledge, the console will be able to serve up advertisements to shoppers based on their location. Pretty nice idea I think. Suppose you are walking down the salad dressing aisle… the device could show you advertisements of which brands are on sale.

MediaCart will also be able to store consumers’ past buys in order to send them targeted advertisements the next time that they go shopping.

We’re definitely a culture that’s submerged in advertisements. Everywhere you look you’re hit with ads… television, radio, websites, billboards… everywhere. I guess it only makes sense that our shopping carts should join the list of advertising outlets. After all, you can’t find a much more targeted group of shoppers to serve up a milk ad to than one presently standing in front of the grocery store cooler.

[photo : yananine]

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor’s Observer

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Filed under: Products and services, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Wal-Mart (WMT)

Some people will go out of their way to avoid using Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows operating system. If you look around carefully enough, you can escape the “Microsoft tax” and get a PC for a lower price. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) already sells PCs that don’t use Windows, and it’s about to add a laptop Computer to the mix.

The world’s largest retailer will start selling an ultra-light, two-pound laptop Computer in a few weeks. Made by Everex, it comes with gobs of Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) applications and links to online services pre-installed. These services include Google Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google News, Google Maps and YouTube. There are so many links to Google’s on the web content that the laptop is already being referred to as containing the “Google operating system.”

Is this the first shot by Google in a war with Microsoft’s Windows operating system? Possibly, but not on Google’s part. Everex is using cheaper components like a processor from Taiwan’s VIA and a free operating system known as Ubuntu Linux for the new product, which will be priced at $399. Too bad — that’s probably not low enough, considering how relatively weak the new laptop is. Spend about $50 to $100 more, and you can get a fully-featured Windows laptop with much more powerful performance.

But then again, that’s not the market this new laptop Personal computer is gunning for. Looking at the Everex product, the target market for this VIA-powered ultra-portable seems to be beginners, enthusiasts and road warriors more concerned with weight, size and price rather than overall performance.

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Filed under: Products and services, Consumer experience, Competitive strategy, Microsoft (MSFT), Marketing and advertising, Technology

Microsoft is looking to revolutionize the way grocery stores are able to communicate with their shoppers. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is rolling out MediaCart consoles later this year that’ll let grocery stores send advertisements to consumers depending on where they’re located in their stores.

The basic concept behind the new MediaCart consoles is that users are able to log into a website from their home, enter a shopping list, and have that list waiting for them on a shopping cart when they get to the store. The first of these mediacarts will be in ShopRite supermarkets on the East Coast later this year. For shoppers that have a ShopRite loyalty card, they will be able to get online at home and enter their shopping lists. Once they hit the stores, they’ll then be able to swipe their cards into the MediaCart, and their list will magically appear.

The carts will be able to keep track of items as they are gathered and will even keep track of the consumer’s running bill as well as give them the option to pay for their merchandise without having to wait in the checkout line. I’m not really sure how this would work with weighed items such as produce, but I’m sure Microsoft has thought of this as well.

Where it gets really interesting is that the carts will use radio-frequency identification to keep track of where the cart is located inside the store. With this knowledge, the console will be able to serve up advertisements to shoppers based on their location. Pretty nice idea I think. Suppose you are walking down the salad dressing aisle… the device could show you advertisements of which brands are on sale.

MediaCart will also be able to store consumers’ past purchases in order to send them targeted advertisements the next time that they go shopping.

We are definitely a culture that is submerged in advertisements. Everywhere you look you’re hit with ads… TV, radio, websites, billboards… everywhere. I guess it only makes sense that our shopping carts should join the list of advertising outlets. After all, you can’t find a much more targeted group of shoppers to serve up a milk ad to than one presently standing in front of the grocery store cooler.

[photo : yananine]

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor’s Observer

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Filed under: Forecasts, Products and services, Launches, Consumer experience, Conventions and conferences, Ford Motor (F), Marketing and advertising

For residents of Detroit, today might have felt like they were transported back to the great old West, as automakers Ford Motor (NYSE: F) and Chrysler brought country to Motown for this year’s North American International Auto Show.

For Ford, that meant recruiting the help of country music icon Toby Keith to unveil its newest model of the popular F-150 heavy duty truck. For Chrysler, it meant taking things to an even higher level. The auto maker literally brought traffic to a standstill when it paraded 120 Texas Longhorns into the convention center surrounding its newest version of the Dodge Ram pick up truck.

Definitely impressive marketing techniques to launch new models. Perhaps Ford and Chrysler figure they better put on a good show this year, after all, truck sales dropped pretty sharply last year, and with gasoline prices still hovering around $3 a gallon, you can bet that the trend will carry over into 2008.

Ford is banking on a successful showing for its F-150, which has been the best-selling vehicle in America for the past 26 years, despite a 6 percent drop last year. High gasoline prices weren’t the only factor that pushed truck sales down last year. The troubling housing market also played its hand in the falling popularity of heavy trucks. As housing starts slowed, so did the need for home builders to add to their fleets. Like high gasoline prices which have carried over into 2008, the housing market weakness also continues to loom on consumers’ minds.

If last year’s 6 percent drop in big pickups was tough to swallow, 2008 could prove to be even more worrisome as some analysts are predicting even more dramatic declines. The director of United Says automotive research at Global Insight in Lexington, Mass., Rebecca Lindland, predicts that 2008 could see as much as a 10 percent drop in the pickup market. Last year there were 2.2 million pickups sold in America, but Lindland thinks the number will shrink to around 2 million this year. That’s a pretty large hit, considering Lindland estimates truck makers profit between $5,000 and $10,000 per each truck sold.

The stakes are definitely massive for both Chrysler and Ford. Both heavily rely on pickup sales, so a bad year could be disastrous. Hopefully for both companies, oil prices will stop their dizzying climb and the housing market will rebound, but for now neither of these appears to be in the cards. Whatever the year holds in store for truck sales, one thing is for sure… both companies definitely know how to put on a good show.

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor’s Observer

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Filed under: Products and services, Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT), Wal-Mart (WMT)

Some people will go out of their way to avoid using Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows operating system. If you look around carefully enough, you can escape the “Microsoft tax” and get a PC for a lower price. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) already sells Computers that don’t use Windows, and it’s about to add a laptop Personal computer to the mix.

The world’s largest retailer will start selling an ultra-light, two-pound laptop Personal computer in a few weeks. Made by Everex, it comes with gobs of Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) applications and links to online services pre-installed. These services include Google Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google News, Google Maps and YouTube. There are so many links to Google’s on the web content that the laptop is already being referred to as containing the “Google operating system.”

Is this the first shot by Google in a war with Microsoft’s Windows operating system? Possibly, but not on Google’s part. Everex is using cheaper components like a processor from Taiwan’s VIA and a free operating system known as Ubuntu Linux for the new product, which will be priced at $399. Too bad — that’s probably not low enough, considering how relatively weak the new laptop is. Spend about $50 to $100 more, and you can get a fully-featured Windows laptop with much more powerful performance.

But then again, that’s not the market this new laptop PC is gunning for. Looking at the Everex product, the target market for this VIA-powered ultra-portable seems to be beginners, enthusiasts and road warriors more concerned with weight, size and price rather than overall performance.

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Filed under: Products and services, Competitive strategy, Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO)

Yahoo!, Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) CEO Jerry Yang gave a keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last week that highlighted some of the company’s past while plowing into what it needs to do in the future. Yes, competitor Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has eaten its breakfast in world wide web search. Yahoo!, though, still draws more web visitors. Why can’t it turn that traffic into consistently growing profit?

That’s the question that’s been around for more than a year now. Yang stated last week that “I’m sorry to disappoint you. It’s still the same old face. I’ve been around since the beginning.” What Yang did show the audience besides quoting the obvious was a powerful new version of Yahoo!’s email service that was more like a communications hub than plain old email service. Yang also officially rolled out a commitment for Yahoo! to integrate more third-party sites to its network as well as let outsiders develop services that can be offered to Yahoo!’s market-leading audience.

Unfortunately, Yahoo!’s window of opportunity is limited to 2008. If it rolls out some truly unique services and is successful at getting its gargantuan web audience to use them — and find a way to become more profitable with these services — Yahoo! could be on track to a recovery in the wake of Google’s runaway success. But, Google is not slowing down either and can be counted on to have just as much innovation as Yahoo! this year based on what has transpired in Mountain View in the last 18 months. Yahoo! has talked the talk. Now, let it walk the walk. If it fails, it will become the one of the single largest missed opportunities in the short history of the internet.

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