I just read that Steve Case is telling his senior management that he would like to take back the unit spinning it off from the Time-Warner group. Now, I'm pretty illiterate when it comes to M and A issues but this one never seemed to be the right match from the start. And I guess that line of thinking has been born out. For whatever reason, AOL and Time-Warner have not clicked. Call it a culture class or irreconcilable differences. There are too many strings between the two that are hampering the growth of both. Bigger is definitely not better.
When alone, AOL was lithe, quick to grow and yes, had problems. But it appeared as though it had a singular mission: to be the biggest and the best packaged online experience. Well, it's certainly the biggest but far from the best. I say the best thing for AOL and Time-Warner is to split. Go off and do what each is best at doing. Doing it together is not working.
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In a study conducted by the National Retail Federation and BIGresearch entitled The NRF 2002 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey , consumers plan to spend an average of $649, an increase of 2.6 percent from 2001 projected spending.
"We expect pent-up demand for apparel and electronics to play a strong role during the 2002 Holiday season."
I would agree with this cautiously. Yes, there has been pent up demand caused by a slow economy and just the plain old need for things to be replaced. However, I do believe that given the economy, shoppers will be cautious and frugal.
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All the things MyWay does NOT offer.
My Way - The No's Have it
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WB Gains Where Least Expected
But older viewers and men -- not the network's primary targets -- are helping to fuel much of the WB's ratings growth in the genre.
Reach to 18-49 and 35-54 demos are up. This is not all that surprising when you think about it. What "older" man wouldn't want the guilty pleasure of watching Katie Holmes of Dawson's Creek or the ever growing babes of 7th heaven, or any of the babes on Birds of Prey?
Now, even if you take all that sexism away, we all want to be young. What's wrong with any "older" person wanting to watch a so called "younger" show?
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Does Permission E-Mail Marketing Push Consumers to Purchase?
A recent DoubleClick survey indicates that 69% of US e-mail users have made online purchases as a result of receiving permission e-mail marketing.
Also reported on eMarketer, 75% prefer receiving communication from online merchants via permission-based e-mail whereas just 25% prefer postal mail communication.
Also of interest, men respond more (69%) then women (46%) to News and Information subject lines. And women respond more (64%) then men (50%) to a discount offer related subject line.
So...women like to find a bargain before purchasing while men like to have every possible detail before purchasing? Interesting.
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Coke Sign Goes Dark in the Heart of Times Square.
"After 11 years of teasing parched New Yorkers, the animated Coca-Cola sign in Times Square is dark. Eventually it will be replaced by a more advanced-looking Coke display, the company said."
I guess it's all in the name of commercialism. Who can have the biggest and best sign.
I noticed something very interesting about Times Square and America in general on the eve of the new millennium. There were TV shots from all over the world. All the major cities celebrating the new millennium on an hour by hour roll. What I noticed was how beautiful all these cities all over the world looked. Except NYC.
Now I'm not NYC bashing here but most every other city in the world was not adorned with Vegas style billboards. You were actually able to appreciate the beauty of the cities themselves. I wonder what the rest of the world thought when they saw this stark contrast as well.
We are a commercialist country and with commercialism goes adverting but we have really taken it into a whole other realm. A realm that could only occur here in America.
Good or bad, it's who we are.
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