Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 18, 1993 TAG: 9308180048
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The companies said card users will get bonus points toward gifts from a catalog.
American Banker said in its July 15 issue that the card also will test "a novel way" to build customer loyalty. Even if a card holder pays cash at the supermarket, he or she can get bonus points added to an account. The card can be used for more than grocery store shopping, too, and points accrue for those purchases.
The reason the card is being started in Texas is that Kroger has had a promotional store-card program there. It's been test-marketed.
\ Tryouts such as the Kroger card are routine in business, and Roanoke is one of the areas with the attributes to be a test market for new product.
It's not that we're out of touch with the world, but we have what's called "media isolation." That has to do with spill-in, the amount of influence outside media have on the Roanoke Valley, and spill-out, the influence the local media has on people outside the area.
For example, there aren't many Roanoke newspapers delivered in Richmond, 180 miles away, or Washington, D.C., 235 miles out, and not an overwhelming number of papers from other markets sold in the valley.
So even though the whole principle of test marketing seems to ignore cable television, which puts any community in touch with intimate details in places all over the world, we fit the image, as the accompanying chart shows.
\ If television isn't changing test markets, it's certainly influencing the lives of teachers, especially those professors who do television teaching. In addition to preparing syllabi, they're worrying about things such as avoiding wearing large prints or patterns such as herringbone or forgetting to remove loose change from pockets.
These are some of the tips the University of Virginia Division of Continuing Education gives teachers who will be on TV screens in places such as the Roanoke Valley Graduate Center. They're good tips for anyone who plans to be in front of a camera, on purpose or by happenstance, and they should work equally well if co-workers are your only audience.
Here are more tips, compliments of John Payne, director of educational and distance learning technologies, and no, he is not related to the late actor and Roanoke native John Payne.
In addition to large prints or patterns, don't wear black and white fabrics or very shiny fabrics, overwhelming scarves and ties, noisy or shiny jewelry, or hats with wide brims.
Do wear solid colors, your usual eyeglasses and pastel shades or off-white for shirts and blouses. (Women should avoid frosted lipsticks because they turn blue on TV.)
And what to remember if you're on TV: If you smile and look friendly, "the viewer will want to be your friend." Don't distract listeners by scratching your ear or adjusting your hair. If your nose itches, don't scratch.
\ A nightspot note: There's a new corporation called Hooters of Virginia Inc. that has been advertising for waitpersons. But don't expect this place, which has a Franklin Road Southwest address, to be THE Hooters, the pub-restaurants that are part of Hooters of America and specialize in waitresses who can win wet-T-shirt contests.
There's gossip that the real Hooters crowd is looking at the Roanoke Valley, but they're not so sure how it would be received here.
by CNB