Wednesday May 12, 8:36 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
America Online, Inc. and iTurf Form Comprehensive Marketing Alliance
Three iTurf Sites Become Anchor Tenants in AOL Shopping Channel; Co-Branded AO-girL/gURL.com Area to Be Created on AOL Incorporating iTurf Features and Content
DULLES, Va. and NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 12, 1999-- America Online, Inc.(NYSE:AOL - news), the world's leading interactive services company, and iTurf Inc. (Nasdaq:TURF - news), a leading provider of Internet community, content and commerce for Generation Y, today announced a two-year strategic marketing alliance that will give iTurf's e-commerce and community brands prominent presence on several key AOL brands, including AOL, AOL.COM, ICQ and Netscape Netcenter.
Under the two-year agreement, iTurf will provide payments to AOL totaling $8 million. In exchange, four iTurf properties will have anchor tenancies on AOL and three other iTurf properties will have prominent positioning throughout the AOL brands included in the agreement. Positioning for iTurf brands will include:
Anchor tenant positions in the Teens Products area of the AOL Shopping
Channel for dELiAs.com and droog.com, iTurf's two popular on-line
stores offering apparel and accessories for teens;
Anchor tenant position in the Sports and Health area of the Shopping
Channel for TSISoccer.com, iTurf's online store offering soccer
apparel and equipment;
Prominent positioning in the Kids' Products area of the AOL Shopping
Channel for DotDotDash.com and StorybookHeirlooms.com, iTurf's
on-line stores offering kid's apparel and accessories;
Prominent positioning in AOL's home furnishings Shopping area for
ContentsOnline.com, iTurf's on-line home furnishings store; and
Anchor tenant position in AOL's new AO-girL area for iTurf's gURL.com,
which features content and community for teenage girls.
Stephen Kahn, President and Chief Executive Officer of iTurf, said, ''This alliance will give iTurf the opportunity to reach the largest consumer audience in cyberspace. AOL is the leader in creating and managing online communities and providing online shopping opportunities, which positions us well as we look to offer six of our e-commerce sites to AOL's members and Web- based users. In addition, the creation of a gURL area on AOL will enable iTurf to rapidly expand awareness and increase membership of our gURL community sites. This alliance not only provides us significant customer acquisition opportunities, but also serves as an important brand investment as we continue to set the standard as a leading online destination for Generation Y.''
Jonathan Sacks, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the AOL service, said, ''This agreement is great for AOL members and users of our Web-based brands because it further expands their already dynamic online community, giving them easier access to leading Generation Y-focused offerings. In addition, this alliance makes a selection of content from gURL.com, a leading online community for Generation Y teenage girls, even more accessible to AOL members.''
''Recent surveys show that 36% of all AOL member-households in the U.S. have at least one child between the ages of 6 and 17, and that among those households, 81% have at least one child using AOL,'' continued Sacks. ''This agreement will offer iTurf a great opportunity to serve one of the largest teenage audiences in cyberspace.''
Founded in 1985, America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia, is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies, and e-commerce services. America Online, Inc. operates: two worldwide Internet services, America Online, with more than 17 million members, and CompuServe, with approximately 2 million members; several leading Internet brands including ICQ and Digital City, Inc.; the Netscape Netcenter and AOL.COM portals; and the Netscape Navigator and Communicator browsers. Through its strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems, the Company develops and offers easy-to-deploy, end-to-end e- commerce and enterprise solutions for companies operating in the Net Economy.
iTurf Inc., a subsidiary of dELiA*s Inc. (Nasdaq: DLIA - news), is a leading provider of Internet community, content and commerce services focused primarily on Generation Y. iTurf is an online destination, or network of web-sites, offering interactive magazines, proprietary content, chat rooms, posting boards, personal homepages, e-mail, and online shopping consisting of a wide range of apparel, footwear, athletic gear and home furnishings.
With the exception of the historical information contained in this press release, the matters described herein contain forward- looking statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors beyond the Company's control, which may cause material differences in actual results, performance or other expectations. These factors are detailed in the Company's registration statement and periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
