New federal regulations making it mandatory for businesses to obtain “prior express written consent” before contacting customers via wireless device, by call or text message, are set to take effect next week, but information about the rule is scarce at best.

The rules change, which was passed in February 2012 and takes effect. Oct. 16, also says that companies should make it clear to the customer how his/her number will be used.

These changes severely alter the playing field for telemarketers and companies with outbound call centers. Firms that don’t comply face hefty fines.

My colleague, Maria Minsker, posted details of the new regs in a separate blog post yesterday.

Many businesses, naturally,  are confused with how to obtain a consent agreement and have other questions about the changes, but due to the government shutdown, cannot find answers. The Federal Communications Commission’s Web site is down, with the following explanation:

“We regret the disruption, but during the federal government-wide shutdown, the FCC is limited to performing duties that are immediately necessary for the safety of life or the protection of property. FCC online systems will not be available until further notice.”

I guess the one consolation is that the agency will not be around to enforce the laws either.

Back in 2012, the FCC announced revisions to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 in an effort to provide greater protection for consumers against unwanted automated calls from telemarketers. While many of the changes have already taken effect, perhaps some of most controversial adjustments go into full swing in less than a week.

Starting on October 16, the TCPA will forbid telemarketers from reaching out to customers without prior express consent. That means no artificial and prerecorded voice messages for residential and wireless lines, and no autodialers–tools capable of storing and dialing phone numbers–for wireless phones specifically. In the past, oral consent was sufficient for most call limitations, but now, written consent is required. The customer must explicitly agree to the phone calls or text messages via an email, an online form, an opt-in text message, input from a touch-tone phone, or a recorded voice message.

And telemarketers counting on the “Establish Business Relationship” exception for prerecorded calls to residential lines, beware: while in the past, a consumer with an established business relationship with the seller was assumed to have consented to the call, fulfilling the “prior express consent” requirement, this exception no longer stands. Previous relationship or not, the company initiating the call must still get written consent.

On top of that, an interactive opt-out mechanism is required for all prerecorded calls. Providing a toll-free number that allows a consumer to opt out of future calls just doesn’t cut it anymore–the  new rule requires all prerecorded telemarketing calls to have a mechanism that allows consumers, at any point during the call, immediately to opt out of future calls and be added to the company’s do-not-call list.

Finally, the new regulations are enforcing a tightened limit on permissible abandoned calls. Often, telemarketers use predictive dialers–devices that call several numbers at once and connect calls that are answered to sales representatives. But, when a sales representative is not available to take an answered call, the call is disconnected, or “abandoned.” As the new rules take effect, the TCPA will limit  the number of permissible abandoned calls to no more than three percent of all answered calls. The new regulation also emphasizes that the percentage is to be calculated within a single calling campaign, not across campaigns.

As for what telemarketers can do to get around this, there isn’t much. At the moment, it looks like the only exemptions are healthcare-related. In light of the strong privacy protections already provided by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), the FCC is exempting all prerecorded healthcare-related calls to residential lines that are subject to HIPAA. The new regulations take effect next Wednesday–is your telemarketing ready?

Diane von Furstenberg hosting Thursday’s Google Hangout

In-store, a high-end retailer like Diane von Furstenberg can provide a personal, customized experience. But you’re unlikely to meet the designer or get a look at the behind-the-scenes of the design process. Technology like Google Hangout is giving retailers the ability to give customers the kind of special experiences they previously might have only expected in person. Last week, designer Diane von Furstenberg hosted the first ever shoppable Google+ Hangout on Air. During an hour Thursday evening, the designer and Lucky magazine editor-in-chief Eva Chen fielded questions from pre-selected viewers and showcased trends in their product collection. Using the tag #shopthehangout, the event was simulcast on social media, with live Tweets and multiple Instagram posts. It’s part QVC, part behind-the-scenes, and a promising new way to deepen the relationship between a brand and its fans.

The Google Hangouts were created as part of a collaboration between the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and Google.  As president of the association, von Furstenberg kicked off the first of the planned hangouts. More are to follow. High-end retailer Rebecca Minkoff will have its own Google Hangout this Thursday, October 10, and ones from Rag & Bone and Rachel Zoe will round out the programming for the rest of October. Retailers will be able to offer exclusive items during the Hangouts in an attempt to drive sales. Sales figures from the Hangouts have not been disclosed.

The Hangout also reflects Google’s expansion and realignment in the shopping space. Searches for “black dress” on Google, for example, return pictures of retailers’ items along with brand name and price. Appearing in those listings used to be free, but now retailers must pay for a “product listing ad,” or PLA, to be included in search results. Google also recently closed its application programming interface (API) for Google Shopping. Previously, many ecommerce players found the API useful for free business intelligence. Now, they’ll have to pay another company, like Semantics3, for similar information.

More evidence Google wants to be present at every point in the sales funnel? The Google Shopping suite not only includes product listings, but also the ability to save and manage product listings as they prepare for a purchase through “Shortlists.” People who use the “Shortlists” product will likely find themselves hit with plenty of remessaging ads that try to encourage them to act on their purchases. People who show up for a retailer’s Google Hangout will also provide valuable information about their fashion preferences.

What’s exciting for retailers is the opportunity to brand themselves in the Google space, which previously was much more of an advertising arena. In a statement to the CFDA, von Furstenberg emphasized the possibilities of the platform to create dialogue and offer “a fabulous way to communicate with your customer.” Google’s Vice President of Global Marketing, Lorraine Twohill, called the initiative “another fantastic experience for our growing Google+ fashion community,” praising Diane von Furstenberg for its “amazing job of creating an unprecedented experience through a number of Google technologies such as Google Glass and Google+ Hangouts.”

Though politically-charged marketing efforts surrounding the Affordable Care Act began long before the act became law on October 1, healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies are now also ready to jump on the marketing bandwagon, especially since it looks like Obamacare is here to stay.

With Obamacare in effect, the diagnosis for the healthcare industry is clear: it has caught the big data bug.

“Medicine has entered the era of big data,” Dr. John Henning Schumann, a primary care doctor in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a professor at the University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine, wrote in an NPR blog. “You’ll be regularly by your doctor, other health care providers or so-called to obtain recommended tests like mammograms, colonoscopies and vaccinations. Health plans will use statistics on flu shots administered and other elements of preventive care to boast about their efficiency and to jockey for market position.”

As 48 million uninsured Americans start to consider their options, healthcare providers are eager to gauge the attention of the new customer base. Insurers, hospitals, urgent care centers, and walk-in clinics operated by companies like CVS, Target, Walgreens, and Walmart are all increasing their advertising spending according to Josh Karmon, the VP of advertising at Vitals, a doctor ratings-and-reviews website that draws 12 million monthly visitors searching for specialists. “We’ve seen a 300% increase in hospital campaigns,” he said in an interview with Fast Company.

Pharmaceutical companies are optimistic about their share of the marketing pie as well.

“Pharma’s thrilled ’cause more people now have insurance and can pay their bills,” Karmon says. “Brand advertising is up 70 percent year-over-year in that category” for Vitals, and, with the right tools, an influx of big data could make this advertising more targeted, relevant, and ultimately more effective and profitable.

“Think Amazon or Netflix. If you take a medication or have a particular condition, you’ll get offers and ads tailored to you as a potential buyer of related goods and services,” Schumann says. And, according to Schumann, though HIPAA prevents doctors and hospitals from sharing protected health information with other entities without patients’ permission, the federal medical privacy law called won’t restrict this type of data sharing, meaning we can all look forward to even more promotional emails and offers in our inboxes.

But, there is a silver lining to the possibility that players in the healthcare industry will have to vie for our attention like department stores on Black Friday.

“Patients will be a step closer to becoming true consumers,” Schumann predicts. “There will be more price transparency for health care as demand increases, but not enough to fully bargain shop. As a consumer, you will have more opportunity than ever to express your opinions — through focus groups, consumer boards, and online surveys. To me, this is one of the most exciting aspects of the health care overhaul. As an industry, we flunk the customer service test again and again. Too often it’s the patient’s voice that’s heard least when it comes to quality improvement.”

Branding consulting firm Interbrand this week released its “100 Best Global Brands” report, and for the first time in the 13-year history of the rankings, there is a new #1 brand: Apple.

With Apple claiming the top position this year, Google jumps to #2 and Coca-Cola, the brand that held the #1 position for 13 consecutive years, moves to #3.

Apple has appeared on Interbrand’s Best Global Brands ranking since 2000. In 2000, Apple ranked #36 and had a brand value of $6.6 billion. Today, Apple’s brand value is $98.3 billion– almost 15 times the amount of its brand value in 2000.

Apple’s meteoric rise in brand value can be attributed to the way it has created a seamless omnichannel experience for customers. By keeping consumers at the center of everything it does, Apple is able to anticipate what they want next and break new ground in terms of both design and performance.

“Every so often, a company changes our lives—not just with its products, but with its ethos. This is why… Apple now ranks #1,” said Jez Frampton, Interbrand’s CEO, in a statement.

“In today’s global and social media-obsessed marketplace, brand leaders recognize the need to be highly collaborative,” notes Frampton. “The top 100 most valuable global brands are unlocking their value by participating, listening, learning, and sharing, and not just with leaders from within their organization, but with consumers too. Brands that learn to think differently about the role they play in consumers’ lives – and how to fulfill that role – have an opportunity to change the world in ways they never imagined.”

Technology this year dominated as the top sector overall, and seven of the top 10 brands were tech companies. Rounding out the list of the top 10 were #4 IBM, #5 Microsoft, #6 GE, #7McDonald’s, #8 Samsung Electronics, #9 Intel, and #10 Toyota.