 |
Bonnier Live on Advantage in Four Countries
by Daryl Vautour
|
|
We are extremely pleased to announce that Bonnier is now live on Advantage on all of their offices and business units in Europe that publish magazines and print books. Bonnier now uses Advantage as its fulfillment and customer management engine for more than 150 magazines, digital offerings, thousands of products and premiums, book clubs and conferences/events across four countries in Northern Europe---Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland.
The company was founded in 1804 and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. The Advantage project team worked closest with a division of Bonnier known as Bonnier Magazine Data located in Copenhagen, Denmark. Bonnier Magazine Data (BMD) provides the subscription systems and associated services to the rest of the Bonnier business.
The implementation project was completed in six phases, starting in 2016. The first Bonnier publication was live on Advantage in the summer of 2017, and the rest of the Bonnier News / Magazines and Brands products went live on Advantage later in 2017. Bonnier Publications brought their Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish business onto Advantage in phases through late 2018 and early 2019, with their final business unit---their Finnish office---going live in May of 2019.
|
The IET Goes Live on Advantage
by Cindy Twiss
|
|
Congratulations to The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) who recently went live on Advantage. This go-live completes the second phase of the IET's program called Know Your Customer (KYC). This phase involved the implementation of Advantage as the IET's new sales order processing system, with integrations to other applications in the IET's ecosystem.
The IET is one of the world's largest engineering institutions, with over 168,000 members worldwide in 150 countries. Their products and services include more than two dozen journals, E&T Magazine, books, guides, webinars, regulations, job boards, videos and a vast digital library. They also provide services to the industry such as expert advice to the UK's Parliament, Government and other agencies on engineering-related policy issues. The IET also awards professional qualifications to safeguard standards, manages more than 1,500 events each year, awards more than £1,000,000 in awards and scholarships each year and works with education providers to help inspire young peoples' interest in engineering and technology.
Taking place at the IET's Stevenage location, the project included the development of software enhancements and integration services and implementation of our new integration with Dynamics. A new website using Cider was also launched and can be accessed at
shop.theiet.org.
|
Advantage in the Wake of Wayfair
by John Sheehy
It's been a little over a year since the groundbreaking decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in the
Wayfair vs. South Dakota court case. In short, the decision expanded the taxable landscape across the United States. States are no longer bound by the physical presence requirement set by the 1992 Quill court case. Effectively, this means that states can start requiring sales and use tax for everyone that meets an economic nexus.
This decision affects nearly all Advantage clients; even our non-USA based clients that sell into the USA are subject to the new rules.
|
Cider Implementations Growing Fast
by Cindy Twiss
The pace of Cider implementations continues to accelerate as more and more Advantage clients choose to make the move. Eleven clients are now live on Cider, with nearly 100 websites, marketing myriad items including digital, print, continuity programs, books and other products. Six more clients are in the process of implementing the eCommerce platform.
"Without a doubt, Cider was a HUGE win for Informa and Advantage," says
Carver Bonine
, Business Systems Engineer at Informa, who went live on Cider earlier this year. "The team all went above and beyond to make this work---and work well---for us. Ultimately, it was AdvantageCS' commitment to the Cider platform and determination to get Informa live on
Cider that led to our success."
Cider offers a marketing portal for speedy creation and assignment of promotions, built-in support for third-party plug-ins and a flexible administration panel for customizing the look and feel of the site. Powerful widgets in Cider allow clients, for instance, to highlight special products in a carousel, offer a rotating deal (hourly, daily, etc.) or highlight special products in a sidebar with an advertising widget.
READ FULL STORY
|
|
Hope to see you at one of these shows!
Mona Hidayet and
Philippe van Mastrigt will be ma
nning booth A09 at the
Digital Content Expo in Berlin October 8-9, 2019.
|
|
Welcome New Employee: Nicole Stark
by Cindy Twiss
We are very pleased to welcome
Nicole Stark to the Advantage family. Nicole is not exactly a newcomer, as she was an intern here full-time last summer and part-time during the school year. She officially joined AdvantageCS in May, after graduating from the University of Michigan with a BBA, including a minor in computer science. Nicole is hoping to return to school for a master's degree in computer science.
Nicole is the newest member of the Program Services group led by
Doug Moore. As an intern, she worked on revamping the support site for clients and some of that work continues today. However, she is also working on Cider implementation projects, helping clients with their setup, especially of promotions. The first Cider project where she served as the lead just had a successful go-live.
|
Supporting Our Community with Hope Clinic
by Vinal Burbeck
We recently wrapped up our 9th annual fundraiser for
Hope Clinic
, a local nonprofit dedicated to providing compassionate and practical help to those in need. Our relationship with Hope Clinic goes way back, as the organization was
founded
by Dr. Dan Heffernan, the late father of our Vice President & Chief Product Manager, Dan Heffernan.
Thirty-seven years later, Hope Clinic's mission is to make lives better through holistic care. In practice, this means free health and social services for thousands of people across southeastern Michigan. Last year, Hope Clinic provided the following in four key areas:
READ FULL STORY
|
Plan to attend AUG February 26-28 in Austin, Texas
by Cindy Twiss
Join your fellow Advantage users in Austin, TX next February for a fantastic time of learning, sharing, networking and fun! The conference will be at the
Omni Austin Hotel Downtown and there are lots of
fun things to do close by. You won't want to miss it!
Mark your calendar now---details of the conference will be coming soon.
|
Integrity in Business Decisions
|
|
Back in the 1990s, I worked in technology sales and service in a developing country. The Requests for Proposals we received for technology needs (hardware, software, networks, training, support) went to a number of competing companies, one of which was owned by a powerful political regime in the country at the time. Upon submitting our bids, we were regularly dismayed at how this competitor could underbid us, given that we were dealing with tiny margins. It turned out that this competitor did not have to pay import duties on any imported hardware due to their political connections. They also paid a mole inside our company to send them a copy of our bids before they were submitted.
When we discovered the first problem, i.e. that we had to pay import duties and they didn't, we realized we'd have to lower our profit expectations. Or lose.
When we discovered the second problem, that of the mole inside our company, we told him he'd been discovered and fired him.
Then, one day, a respectable-looking gentleman in his 60s appeared in my boss' office and informed him that we were in 2nd place on a particular competitive bid, but that he had both the knowledge and power to get us into 1st place to win, if we were willing to pay his price. My boss, without hesitation, informed the gentleman that this was not the way we did business and politely invited him to leave. The gentleman smiled and said, "you just don't understand how the game is played, do you?" and left.
|
Check out our blog for the most up-to-date news and information about Advantage. New posts weekly!
|
|
|
Fun at the Ballpark
by Vinal Burbeck
Recently, AdvantageCS staff and their family members gathered for our annual company picnic. After enjoying dinner at headquarters, we traveled to downtown Detroit to watch the Detroit Tigers take on the Toronto Bluejays. It was the 8th annual "Pink Out the Park" honoring breast cancer survivors and raising awareness of breast health. The first 10,000 attendees received a pink visor. Though the home team fared poorly and ominous weather threatened to rain on our parade, everyone had a marvelous time. Take a look at the photos!
READ FULL STORY
|
|
|
|
Editor: Cindy Mikol Twiss
3850 Ranchero Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48108 USA
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
