Jupitermedia executives unloaded about 1.15 million of their company shares Friday, sending the stock price tumbling by as much as 14 percent. Alan Meckler, chairman and CEO, and Christopher Cardell, chief operating officer, of Jupitermedia executed a block trade through Piper Jaffray following the close of trading on Thursday. Nearly half the trade was made up of stock options that were exercised and sold. The stock fell $1.70, or 10.5 percent, to $14.61 on Friday. "Our stock has been volatile recently," Meckler said in a Reuters report. "I'm presuming that this movement, which represented about 2-1/2 percent of my holdings, has caused the stock to have some gyrations." Meckler added that he had no immediate plans to leave the company, calling the transaction of shares "modest" compared to the number of total investor-owned shares. "I guess some people don't think I have confidence in the company, which is ridiculous, since I still control 42 percent," he said. Shareholders posting messages on Jupitermedia's Yahoo! Finance message board had negative reactions to the deal. "Well Alan, maybe if you'd released a statement last night or this morning before the bell this "shakeout" would have been less severe," one angry post stated, adding: "Now, the momentum looks to be gone and will have to find a new base and repair the damage." Another post, citing Meckler's statements made to Reuters, said the "CEO specializes in oxymorons." Meckler had said he made the sale on the advice of his accounting firm. Cardell did not comment. It's been a volatile summer for tech stocks in general on the Nasdaq. Several companies, including Yahoo! and DoubleClick, reported lower-than-expected second-quarter earnings, while Google's highly anticipated initial public offering was clouded over by several controversies. However, Jupitermedia beat Wall Street estimates for the second quarter, and expects third- and fourth-quarter earnings that would also surpass street estimates. Jupitermedia went public in June 1999 during the height of the Internet stock run-up period. On Wednesday the company's stock reached its 52-week high, trading at $16.73. Its 52-week low was on Sept. 2, 2003, when it traded at $3.90.
It was a raspberry beret in Prince's hit single. For Absolut, it's a raspberry soiree. Specifically-Raspberri unleashed-as the spirits brand delivers its latest flavor with an unusual online awareness campaign. Not since the launch of Absolut Vanilia in 2003, has the Swedish spirits brand made such a splash. For Raspberri, Absolut handed two street artists-Kenji Hirata, and Maya Hayuk-a creative brief to develop ads for the new product. "Raspberri Unleashed," is the theme of the cable TV, print, outdoor, and online campaign. The campaign's online components were built and designed by Springtime, Stockholm, and Daddy, Gothenburg, Sweden; media buying is handled by Omnicom Group's OMD. A micro site offers a drinks search engine and shows Absolut's trademark martini with an olive. When a user scrolls over the martini glass, the fabled green olive turns into a pink raspberry. The site offers users the ability to interact with Hirata and Hayuk's unique and colorful interpretations of "Raspberri Unleashed." However, beyond the artists' renderings and a comprehensive micro site, the most unusual aspect of Absolut Raspberri's online presence is that it gives users an opportunity to go behind the scenes to create their own interpretation of Raspberri. To go behind the scenes, or behind the canvas, users scroll to the far left-hand corner of their computer screen to locate a trap door. Once the secret passage is located, users can go behind the Absolut.com curtain in real-time to create their own renderings of Absolut Raspberri. The backstage area allows users to adjust the lighting, choose spray paint colors, drag, rotate, highlight, and edit artwork. After creating their own Raspberri masterpiece, users can post signed artworks live on Absolut.com. In fact, Absolut posts a new piece of art every 10 seconds featuring users' initials and country of origin. The Web site was built in Flash with a connection to databases and server-sided programming in Episerver, according to the Swedish agencies. When users go backstage, they can edit objects in the original art work by Hirata and Hayuk. Once they save their additions to the work, the data is sent to the database. Absolut representatives were vague on exactly how users will know to look for the trap door on Absolut.com. However, members of Absolut Access, the brand's loyalty program, were apparently introduced to the online campaign for Raspberri two weeks ago and perhaps, began passing the word along about the secret door. Guerrilla marketing and public relations efforts also will orient Absolut aficionados.