Stories about: Rubicam

VeriSign Inc. launched a new suite of brand management services Thursday to help companies protect their brands and trademarks online from cybersquatters and other digital foes.

Big companies routinely collect mountains of personal information about customers in the hope that the data can be used to do targeted marketing based on individual preferences. But getting positive business results from such customer relationship management (CRM) endeavors isn't anything close to a sure thing.

Two years ago, Bigwords.com and VarsityBooks.com Inc. shook up college bookstores with splashy campaigns that included students in bright orange jumpsuits, superball stunts and deep discounts.

In an increasingly competitive world, companies no longer have the luxury of holding on to more employees than they need or workers who are not contributing fully to the bottom line.

Computer.com has a great name - and not much else. So on Super Bowl Sunday, the upstart retailer of, well, computers, is laying down the biggest gamble of its short life. It's taking $3.2 million - more than half of the $6 million it just acquired infirst-round funding - and buying 90 seconds on ABC's television broadcast of the big game.