MARKET WISE

FOR A company such as Avnet Israel Components, one of the most effective marketing exercises was the celebration of its tenth anniversary with a networking party at Tel Mond.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
EVERYONE LOVES a winner. Thus when Shimon Peres won the presidential race last week, Sheli Postcards was quick to get on the bandwagon by releasing a new set of post cards showing Peres taking a good jab at a punching bag with the word "WINNER" prominently displayed alongside him, plus the gracious words of conceding rival Reuven Rivlin: "Long live the State of Israel. Long live the President of Israel." The photograph was taken by well-known photographer Ziv Koren and the postcards were printed in a limited edition of 50,000 and distributed in coffee shops, bars and nightclubs around the country largely patronized by a young clientele. According to Sheli Rokach, the company's CEO, Peres has always conveyed a young image and has always had an excellent rapport with young people whom he has met in the very places in which the postcards have been handed out. STANDING TOGETHER, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting Israeli soldiers on active duty, was founded in 2004. Its first campaign was to send pizzas to soldiers guarding checkpoints. As more volunteers joined and more donations came in from Jews around the world Standing Together began to cater to additional needs of soldiers, sending drinks, food, outer clothing and underwear to soldiers in the field, arranging Independence Day barbecues for more than 1,500 on-duty soldiers, and various other gestures of appreciation and goodwill. Though primarily focused on soldiers on active duty, Standing Together has expanded its activities to include civilians and has mounted a campaign through various synagogue congregations and individuals to encourage people to buy their Shabbat hallot from bakeries in Sderot, and to visit Sderot as often as possible to do their shopping. Arrangements have even made for on-line shopping for people who cannot get to Sderot. Standing Together organized a solidarity trip to Sderot to boost both the morale and the income of shopkeepers. In the messages that Standing Together sends out via congregational e-mail networks the organization notes that because so many people have left Sderot there is not sufficient traffic for shop owners to maintain their businesses. If shops are forced to close, those residents of Sderot who have not sought refuge elsewhere will be left without basic resources. "One of the most significant ways in which you can make a difference to the residents of Sderot," states the message, "is to support local business." The on line address for orders is WWW.STOGETHER.ORG/SDEROTCHALLOT. UP UNTIL the early stages of her pregnancy, actress and model Miri Bohadana was still modeling for Golbary. But once her great expectations became obvious, Golbary had to find someone else to model their fashion creations. The person chosen was Bohadana's good friend, Ilanit Levy. Now that Bohadana has had a baby, the two have reached an arrangement with Golbary whereby they will jointly head the upcoming winter fashion campaign, posing for the Golbary catalogue, for print media advertising and for posters. For that, they will receive $100,000. Even though they have to split it down the middle, it's not a bad deal for a few days' work. FOR A company such as Avnet Israel Components, one of the most effective marketing exercises was the celebration of its tenth anniversary with a networking party at Tel Mond. Dani Koren, who heads Avnet Israel, brought in Harley Feldberg, the global president of Avnet Electronics Marketing, and Patrick Zammit, who heads the company's European operations. Avnet, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, is reputed to be the world's largest marketer of electronic components and computers with a sales turnover of $16 billion to some 60 countries. Avnet's specialized divisions combine market expertise with technical skills. Bringing Feldberg and Zammit to Israel was a real coup for Koren, especially since it was Feldberg's first visit. The tenth anniversary gave Feldberg the opportunity to meet with more than 500 of Israel's leading hi-tech executives. Avnet Israel has more than 100 employees and sales to the local tech market are in excess of $100 million. ALSO MAKING use of an anniversary to market its brand was Wissmann Furniture, which several years ago purchased Shomrat Hazorea Furniture and opened a chain of stores under the Shomrat Hazorea brand in different parts of the country, while maintaining the huge Wissmann store and showroom in Jerusalem. Arye and Nahum Wissmann inherited the store established by their father, a master carpenter, 75 years ago. The senior Wissmann, who was active in the Hagana, built slicks for the storage of weapons that were hidden from the British. One of his most famous slicks was in the Jewish Agency building. The 75th anniversary celebration was held in Jerusalem in the Tower of David Museum with most of the guests featured on the customer lists of either Wissmann or Shomrat Hazorea or both. ONE OF the best marketing gimmicks is to give the customers the opportunity to get much more than they paid for. Thus McDonald's, in addition to selling its burgers and salads, is holding a daily raffle for a Fiat car valued at NIS 80,000. All in all, 62 such cars are being raffled to customers of the golden arches throughout the country. The campaign which was launched on June 17 will continue till August 31.