04 October 2000

U.S. PetPlanet Broadens its Horizons

U.S. PetPlanet.com, announced on Monday that it is changing its name to eMemberDirect as part of a move into multi-channel direct-marketing offering membership-based consumer and business discount products and programs. eMemberDirect's lead product is the PetVantage Network (www.petvantage.net), announced by PetPlanet.com (www.petplanet.com) in June. The Company's name change reflects a widening of its business operations. (The www.petplanet.com site has been unavailable all this week) Steven E. Marder, Chairman eMemberDirect said: "The Company is leveraging its multi-channel marketing, distribution and fulfillment experience in the pet vertical market to become a multi-channel direct marketer whose focus is on building a long-term one-to-one relationship with its customer base across numerous vertical markets, while employing a low-cost customer acquisition model," "eMemberDirect is already well-positioned to take advantage of the projected growth in the Consumer Direct channel through powerful marketing relationships that are already in place, in addition to its customer relationship management tools and order fulfillment infrastructure." "Through our experience building and launching the PetVantage Network with Protective.." [Protective Marketing Enterprises is a direct marketing group operating consumer clubs and subscription services that provide members with discounts on a range of services including pet club subscriptions.] " ..we recognized that an opportunity existed to cultivate and exploit a long-term relationship with consumers by applying the direct marketing power and e-commerce capability of the Internet to expand the already strong and profitable traditional 'club' based business," "This is accomplished by extending the traditional club-based model -- which, historically, has been primarily focused on member acquisition -- to focus on the Internet as a tool to not only acquire members but retain and increase customer loyalty and convert them to long-term shoppers, thereby increasing lifetime member value."