Jack Morton Worldwide, describing experiential marketing, quotes from publications to make the point. Prefacing these excerpts, he notes that experiential marketing - inspiring audiences with 360-degree experiences that engage hearts, minds and senses - isn't a trend. It's a 21st-century marketing imperative.

"The Web has made it easier for millions of Americans to file their own taxes," said Greg Bloom, senior analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings. "Offering step-by-step instructions, automated calculations and often quicker returns, filing online is an attractive option for the often daunting task of filing taxes."

According to SFN Flash, a new monthly update of World Press Trends published by the World Association of Newspapers, newspaper executives in the US are attempting to build on their products aimed at young adults and other demographic groups, prompting one trade magazine to call 2004 "The Year of the Niche."

According to Arbitron Internet Broadcast Ratings, the Adsertion Network was ranked as the top Internet Radio Advertising Sales Network with 698,556 hours of Total Time Spent Listening (TTSL) for the week of January 5.

Hitwise, a provider of online competitive intelligence services, reports that their demographics data in the Health & Medical- Health Insurance category shows that almost 50% of visits to health insurance websites are from households with an income of $75K+, while nine of the top 10 health insurance websites have witnessed decreases in market share of visits during 2003.

Entertainment, lifestyles, education and careers take a backseat to computers and electronics online in January.

Chris Charron of Forrester Research reports that an advertising backlash is upon us. - Sixty million US households have signed up for the Do Not Call Registry. - Fifty-four of online households have spam blockers; - 20% have ad blockers. - Personal video recorder households skip 59% of ads. - Multitasking, especially among younger consumers, is sapping consumer attention away from advertising.

Big-ticket high-tech items and discount shopping topped consumers' 'hot' lists along with low-carbohydrate diets heading into 2004, according to the latest study by BIGresearch. Shopping at discount stores was seen as 'hot' by 80 percent of respondents, while 67 percent said so about shopping at dollar stores. Of 9,500 consumers polled, 84 percent said they considered plasma televisions 'hot' in 2004, while 80 percent said the same about picture cell phones.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) released its 2004 forecast, predicting that GAFS sales (general merchandise stores, apparel stores, furniture and home furnishings stores, electronics and appliances stores, and sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores) will increase 5.0 percent from last year. According to its Retail Sales Outlook Report, NRF cites gains in consumer income and low inflation as major contributors to growth in 2004.

Horowitz Associates, Inc. has recently released their latest consumer research study, Women's World III: Women as Media Consumers and Household Decision Makers. While the study features the importance of understanding how women and men differ when it comes to attitudes and perceptions of digital and interactive services (read: cable and broadband), of perhaps more importance are the psychographics.