The Marketing Relevance Imperative

NIGEL: You're on ten on your guitar...where can you go from there? Where? MARTY: I don't know.... NIGEL: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is if we need that extra...push over the cliff...you know what we do? MARTY: Put it up to eleven. NIGEL: Eleven. Exactly. One louder. -Conversation between filmmaker Marty DiBergi and guitarist Nigel Tufnel, This Is Spinal Tap In study after study, consumers have stressed that, regardless of the channel, they’d rather not see ads.     - A 2004 study by Forrester found that when people watch pre-recorded television shows, they skip an average of 92 percent of the commercials    - Most Internet users block pop-up ads, screen for adware, and safeguard...

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Why Microsoft May Be a 'Classic Value Trap'

The early days of January are typically a time of unbridled optimism. This will be the year we lose 10 pounds and learn to speak French; Japan will turn itself around; Microsoft (MSFT) stock will pull itself out of a decade of doldrums. Most analysts are betting that the Redmond computer company’s time has come. The company’s fiscal-year revenue has nearly tripled to $74 billion in the last 10 years. At $27, the shares trade right at their 10-year average and yield more than it costs the company to issue debt. Redmond has Skunk-Worked an exciting new tablet and operating system it’s eager to showcase. It’s all backed by ridiculous amounts of free cash and a fortress-like balance sheet. The 12-month price target on the stock forecasts a 25 percent gain. Still, the...

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Parl passes banking bill, paves way for setting up more banks

New Delhi: Parliament Thursday paved the way for corporate houses to enter the banking sector by approving the banking bill, a key reform legislation pending for long. Parliament also passed the amendments to the debt recovery laws or Sarfesi law after a reply by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on the combined discussion on the two bills in Rajya Sabha. These two Bills -- Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2012, and Enforcement of Security Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2012, -- he said, will strengthen the financial sector and help in establishing large-sized banks, besides promoting financial inclusion. "We need 2-3 world-sized banks. China has three among the world's top 20. We have none....

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