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To: Mark Fowler who wrote (55108)	5/4/1999 3:42:00 PM
From: Sarmad Y. Hermiz	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164684

>> it could go either way the volume is lighter from yesterday The only bad thing today, is it is a reversal. What makes it difficult to judge, is that everything is down, including dow and most of the internets. Oh, well. I guess now it is a long term hold.

To: Mark Fowler who wrote (55108)	5/4/1999 7:39:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Your right it could go either way the volume is lighter from yesterday and if you have to get out there's time if 140 key support is taken out. Mark, Do you feel key support has been taken out? Glenn

To: Mark Fowler who wrote (55108)	5/4/1999 8:46:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164684

INTERVIEW-Experience ousts service in marketing By Hester Abrams LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - "Thank you for flying with us. Goodbye now. Thank you for flying with us. Have a nice day now." So goes the typical flight steward's farewell as you blink into fresh air after a four-hour trip. It sounds impersonal, even fake. No matter which airline you use, you've heard that exchange dozens of times and probably don't think twice about it. But to business strategists Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore it epitomises a dangerously uniform approach to customers that threatens to turn service into a valueless commodity. In their book "The Experience Economy - Work is Theatre and Every Business a Stage," the Americans propose that the new holy grail of marketing -- the bit companies can charge a premium for -- is offering an experience beyond mere good service or a well-made product. They argue that as companies compete increasingly on price -- with little else to distinguish their offerings -- the service economy, particularly in the United States, is peaking. "Just as people have cut back on goods to spend more money on services, now they also scrutinise the time and money they spend on services to make way for more memorable -- and more highly valued -- experiences," write the founders of Aurora, Ohio-based consultancy Strategic Horizons. No two experiences are alike, since they take place inside the individual. So companies have huge scope to customise their offerings to engage personally with purchasers, to surprise them or evoke a sense of suspense that makes them want more. Those air steward automatons should see themselves as actors in a street theatre, observing passengers en route so they can ad lib with them as they leave, Pine and Gilmore told Reuters. "A service is inherently customisable because it's intangible. The personalisation of that service is perhaps the most direct way to begin staging experiences," Pine said. In their book, published by Harvard Business School Press, Pine and Gilmore trace a hierarchy of economic value from commodities, goods and services to experiences and finally transformations. Each stage commands higher prices than its predecessor in the chain. A coffee bean can be exchanged on a futures market for $1 a pound. When roasted and packaged it can sell in a store for up to 25 cents a cup. Dished out in a diner it costs $1 per drink. But an espresso served in a five-star restaurant can command $5. The difference is in "charging explicitly" for the ambience and sense of theatre that comes with the good, Pine explained in a telephone interview. "The experience is the marketing." Chicago doll emporium American Girl Place recently migrated to a physical store from catalogues and now has seven to 14-year old girls and their chaperones queuing up to pay for a musical, American Girl Revue, or to take their dolls for a meal. "It's an escapist, fine dining, white tablecloth experience for little girls to act grown-up," said Pine. "There's a one-foot high-chair on the side of the table. The hostess explains to the girl how to eat properly, or fold her napkin, then when she goes away the girl turns to the doll and explains it to her." The next step, say Pine and Gilmore, is to start charging for the whole location, as Universal Studios <VO.TO> does at City Walk in Los Angeles, where visitors park then pay to walk around shops, restaurants, rides, movies and kiosks. Of Niketown, the flagship U.S. stores to promote the Nike <NKE.N> products, they say: "We're convinced Nike could generate as much admission-based revenue per hour as Disney does at its venues. It will make it more difficult to lure first-time guests but easier to get them to come back." Walt Disney Co <DIS.N> was the first to realise the potential of experience in entertainment, taking care not to break the spell of seeing customers as "guests" and employees as "cast members." At the Ba...