world-watch-report


The emergence of RSS technology

August 2005


RSS, an acronym for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary is a syndication format for Web content. It permits the management of an incredible quantity of information found on the Web. For example, the RSS format lets someone surfing the Internet receive only summaries of articles that have recently appeared on the Web, thus avoiding the e-mail channel that is often now saturated with spam.
Interest in this format is demonstrated by a group of investors that recently collected 100 million dollars earmarked for research by innovative companies working in this domain. Steve Smith, Manager at Ritchie Capital Management, the principal investor, explains, “We see the RSS as an emerging platform. It is how people will organize and communicate with each other.” Also, the blogs and the podcasts, two technologies that have enjoyed remarkable growth on the Web, are based on this format.
For watch brands, the RSS format will offer the possibility of creating specific content messaging intended for journalists, or finding ways to better manage and market the image of the brand on the Internet.
While waiting, this technology is already
available on the Europa Star website: www.europastar.com.

Advertisers eye podcasting
The iTunes software from Apple lets a person download music to an iPod. By improving its iTunes software, Apple has brought this innovation to the public, which now has the opportunity to sign up for audio content according to specific interests. Called Podcasting, it allows a person to scan several thousand online radio stations. On July 1, 2005, Apple announced that it had attracted more than a million users in only two days thanks to its podcasts.
A number of advertisers have already understood the potential of this technology. One example is the ‘serial entrepreneur’ Sir Richard Branson. By flying his airline, Virgin Atlantic, clients have the opportunity to sign up to receive a guided tour of New York, for example.
It won’t be long before we have web-based audio ads promoting luxury boutiques to very selected targeted audiences.

China, the new land of opportunity
Watchmakers, your brand namein China is on… Google!
China already counts more than 94 million Internet users, even though this represents only 7.3% of its population. Internet players know this and have entered the race, especially in the market for search engines.
Google seems to be on the verge of a great coup, since it just bought the search engine Baidu, thus getting a jump on Yahoo and Microsoft in this rapidly growing market.
Watchmakers, if you want to increase your visibility and that of your products in China, get your brand name listed near the top on Google’s search engine.
Are Chinese buyers ready to use PayPal?
On July 7, the online auction site eBay made a strong entrance into the Chinese market with the announcement of its payment system called PayPal. Owner of an 80% stake in China’s online auction market, eBay plans to invest 100 million dollars in the promotion of its brand in China and sees the country as its largest market in five or ten years.
Other American e-commerce sites are also eyeing the Chinese market, and with PayPal, this can facilitate the exchange of money between e-commerce platforms and clients.


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China: The country in Asia with the most Internet users, representing still only 7.3% of its population.


eBay: threat or opportunity?
When you mention ‘eBay’ to a watchmaker, the words ‘copies’, ‘grey market’ and ‘lawsuits’ will probably come out as quickly as ‘online auction’, ‘collectors’ or ‘inventory reduction’.
Even if this market will not be changing tomorrow, it is sure to evolve as time goes by. As an example of this evolution, eBay unveiled an innovative service on June 23: The Reseller Marketplace. This is a special place reserved for eBay’s best sellers. They may have access to stock reductions and liquidations from manufacturers and distributors at preferential pricing. For the manufacturers and distributors, “this represents an access to a new and extremely dynamic distribution channel,” says the American firm.
Suppliers of watch products will thus have a simpler way to ‘unload’ certain models. It won’t be surprising therefore to see stocks diminish more easily thanks to eBay.
So, while perhaps eBay remains a threat to some. Others are finding ways to turn it into an opportunity.