Posted on: 03 December, 2001

Author: Mike Banks Valentine

You groggily stumble from bed and turn on the computer as youpass by on your way to the kitchen. ... with the ... cup of coffee you fire up your browser and log-on to theweb as you ta You groggily stumble from bed and turn on the computer as youpass by on your way to the kitchen. Returning with the morning'sfirst cup of coffee you fire up your browser and log-on to theweb as you take the first few eye-opening sips. Downloadingyour personal email, you notice your favorite Bruce Springsteensong title in the subject line of the seventh email message andopen it first.There is a photo of the Boss (that's Springsteen to you non-fans)smiling out at you from the email window above a small buttonthat is labled "Play". Expecting to hear some good music, youclick the button and Bruce Springsteen springs to life in youremail! He's talking to you! Not at you, but to you, using yourname! "Good morning Mike! It's time for a concert update."How the *!?*)@(! do they do that? You have been lookingforward to his concert this coming week and can't believeyour ears as Springsteen continues to talk with you, mentioningyour 3rd row, center seat number and reminding you of concerttime this Thursday evening. You are tempted to answer him ashe pauses and smiles but then the opening riff of guitarbegins of your favorite song from the new album and the Bossis performing for you from your email box!He pauses and tells you that you can order his newest albumfrom the form below and as the video finishes and the musicfades you scroll down to find a "Buy it Now!" button. Thereis no need to enter any credit card information as it wassaved when you purchased your concert tickets online. Youare just about to click the "Buy" button when you noticethere is a search function just below that. You've beenwanting to find a copy of an out of production CD and typein the title in the search box and click "Search".The results come back from the entire music collection ofthis record label to announce that you can purchase thatCD online now and pick it up at your local record storetomorrow! You click the checkbox to order that title andsee that you can buy your concert memorabilia now and wearthat sweatshirt to the concert by picking it up at thesame record store. What the heck. You click the "Buy"button just as your spouse emerges from the bathroom withher toothbrush working.The Boss' voice says "Thanks for your order Mike and I'llsee you Thursday night at eight." Now you have to explainhow you spent $83 before breakfast and scroll back up tothe top of the email to click "Play" again to demonstratethe process to her and see the toothbrush motion freezewhen Bruce Sprinsteen uses your name during the video.Don't be surprised if you get an email like this withinthe coming weeks. Personalization, music, video, catalogslocalization and overnight delivery for products in yourown interest areas will be the norm within the year asadvertisers, marketing companies and business begin usingthe latest available technology for email. (If you allowit and privacy concerns are addressed sufficiently bybusinesses adopting the available tools.)The above technology was highlighted last week at theWashington State Convention Center in Seattle by businessesdemonstrating at the Direct Marketing Association showtitled "net.Marketing 2001". The DMA show was halted earlyby an 11am earthquake that rattled the downtown area andshook us all up more than the new technology did. Rock androll took on a different meaning than that provided by theBoss.But we all emerged unscathed by the rumbling of nature tocontemplate ways to harness the latest in compression andembedded rich media in email. Privacy concerns will clearlybe the biggest hump to dump if companies expect to use thesetools effectively while addressing consumer worries andfinding ways to adequately protect sensitive informationfrom third parties.Here's an email from Ed McMahon and Publishers ClearingHouse! How long will it take me to get used to celebritiesaddressing me by my own name and playing my favorite musicas background to those personalized videos? Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com