According to the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) 2009 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, holiday shoppers plan to spend slightly less on gift cards, with the average person spending $139.91, compared to $147.33 last year. The survey, which polled 8,692 consumers from Nov. 3-10, revealed that total spending on gift cards is expected to reach $23.63 billion. Gift-card recipients also can expect cards with lower monetary values this year. The average value per card this year will be $39.80, compared to $40.54 in 2008. Consistent with last year, 77.2 percent of people will buy at least one card this holiday season.

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I’m not a big fan of the press release as a method of reaching out to journalists for the first time, but they remain the staple diet of most PR campaigns.

I receive a lot of press releases, some more relevant than others, but I’d be lying if I said I read them all. I don’t. Many emailed press releases aren’t even opened, largely because the subject line doesn’t inspire me to look at them.

So what can you do to make your press release more effective? What will make writers more inclined to open and read them?

RECALL

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Brown Shoe Co. said it expects its third-quarter profit to top analysts’ estimates on an improvement in a key sales figure.

Late Tuesday the footwear company said it anticipates quarterly earnings of 40 cents to 41 cents per share, which removes 4 cents per share related to information technology initiatives.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, whose estimates normally exclude one-time items, forecast third-quarter profit of 30 cents per share.

Brown Shoe said sales for the period ended Oct. 31 dipped 1 percent to $625.6 million.

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Over the past year, we’ve seen a couple of examples of well known e-commerce sites being unable to cope with traffic spikes, mainly caused by sales.

This time last year, Debenham’s website went down for around 24 hours thanks to the weight of sales traffic, while the Next website had to implement a queuing system in July thanks to a traffic spike.

But what can online retailers do to avoid such problems?

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Many women are willing to pay top penny for the perfect pair of heels. So when it was announced that famed stiletto-meister Jimmy Choo was planning to collaborate with H&M, you could practically hear a collective cheer coming from the female population.

For the official launch on Saturday morning, we popped over to the retailer’s blockbsuster Fifth Avenue location to find out about the devoted shoppers waiting on line to score the “Jimmy Choo for H&M” loot. (Some of them had been there for 12 hours in the rain!)

Whether super styled or comfortably suited for an extensive day of credit card swiping, photographer Alys Kenny snapped them all. Check out the array of chic scenesters before running off and buying your new pair of Choo Choos!

I don’t have a story about how I had to walk four miles to school in the snow as a child, because I didn’t. But I did have to wait for the bus, and sometimes it was really, really cold. I remember actually wishing my boots had heaters in them.

Guess what?

You can now buy boots with heaters in them.

The “Columbia “Bugathermo” has a built-in heating system that will keep your feet warm for up to eight hours, depending on which of the three settings you choose. The heated boots are rated to -25 degrees F (-32 C), and feature rechargeable battery packs. If it’s heated boots for women that you’re after, then you may want to check out the Columbia “Snow Hottie.”

Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE: BWS, www.brownshoe.com) will make a series of changes within its leadership team as Division President-Wholesale Gary Rich and Division President-Retail Joe Wood announce their plans to retire in 2010. Both will remain with Brown Shoe until early 2010 to facilitate an orderly succession of their responsibilities to leaders within the company, all of whom have had increasing responsibilities in recent years and also bring significant industry experience to their new roles.

“Over his more than 20 years with Brown Shoe, Gary Rich has had a positive and lasting influence on many of our wholesale brands, from the revitalization of Naturalizer in 2004 that increased our ability to bring consumers the comfort and style they expect, to the continuing development of Dr. Scholl’s into a leading footwear brand. He also established Brown Shoe’s leadership in the celebrity artist category by forging partnerships with top entertainers like Carlos Santana, Fergie and Reba McEntire. Gary’s emphasis on retail partnerships and keen consumer insights are the foundation for this area of our business, and that spirit will remain as we continue its growth,” said Brown Shoe President and Chief Operating Officer Diane Sullivan.

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The Timberland Company (NYSE: TBL – News), a leading outdoor footwear and apparel company and environmental steward, today announced the launch of Don’t Tell Us It Can’t Be Done – a movement that encourages citizens of the world to challenge government leaders attending the United Nation’s Conference on Climate Change (COP15) in Copenhagen this December to set standards for emissions. Don’t Tell Us It Can’t Be Done is a global campaign that urges the public to get involved in the climate change debate by giving them a forum to let their voices be heard.

In December, 192 nations from around the world will come together in Copenhagen to attempt to ratify a new global climate change treaty, designed to replace the soon-to-expire Kyoto protocol. COP15 represents a significant opportunity to take action on climate change. Through the Don’t Tell Us It Can’t Be Done campaign, Timberland hopes to rally the power of individuals and consumers around the world to affect this process positively by challenging government leaders to set standards for emissions.

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Creating a competitive edge is another important aspect of branding. Today, the online world has many methods of branding. The most popular method of branding and gaining the competitive edge is through the use of Blogs. Blogs allow a site to increase traffic, improve rank through search engine results, and even helps with credibility building also.

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Although many businesses now recognise the importance of regularly updated content to their search engine optimisation (SEO) efforts, not enough of them understand the importance of quality content.

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