The Association of National Advertisers' conference
ended last night with a "wide-ranging assessment" of what
IBM's Douglas Sweeny called "a business revolution that
strikes terror," and Stuart Elliott of the N.Y. TIMES notes
the "revolution is, of course, the technological upheaval
embodied by the Internet." MVP.com President & CEO John
Costello, on Internet marketing: "Every day I'm learning
something new, what works and doesn't work. It's a very
humbling experience." Costello added, "We're seeing five
years of industry consolidation being compressed at Internet
speed. It's taking one, two, five months. The good news is
that there are more ways to build brands and connect to
consumers than ever before. The bad news is that consumers
are bombarded by more brands, more advertising than ever
before -- [just when] building a strong and distinctive
brand identity is more important than ever before."
Costello acknowledged the original plan was for MVP.com to
be profitable in "three to four years," but it has been
"accelerated down to under two years" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/17).
