Hasta La Creative!

Liberty proposed on Friday to acquire the 48 percent of Sirius it does not already own in an all-stock deal valued at more than $10 billion.

On the heels of the brisk last-minute shopping frenzy right before Christmas, shoppers were once again out in full force during the post-holiday sales rush, clearing retailer inventories by stocking up on items such as appliances, apparel and electronics.

In all, sales during the shortened holiday season appeared to have been decent, according to retail experts contacted last week, with big promotions during post-Christmas shopping helping retailers make way for spring merchandise. Like much of the pre-Christmas season, retailers had to “pound the sales button” after the holiday to get those clear shelves, said Paul Swinand, equity analyst at Morningstar.

However, “you shouldn’t take all the red out there as a complete disaster,” said Mr. Swinand. “It has been a very promotional and — as some sites and data points suggested — it’s been a tough holiday season. Everyone was banging the sale drum hard from very early on, but I’m not predicting any disasters really, despite a whole bunch of extenuating circumstances.”

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As New York City’s police commissioner, William J. Bratton will reunite with his friend and sidekick, John Miller, a prominent CBS News reporter.

(TrendHunter.com) To better understand a niche consumer mindset, it’s important to understand the inner workings of some of the bizarre trends popping up globally. Trend Hunter’s Bizarre Trend Report…

Nissan’s new online initiative “The Briefcase” courtesy of TBWA\Chiat\Day LA features a high octane car chase (starring the new 2014 Nissan Rogue) ending in a click through to a contest offering contestants the chance to win one of three 2014 Rogues.

The video opens with a man getting in a hired car for his usual commute home from work. When a motorcycle pulls up and hands off a briefcase to the driver, however, all hell breaks loose. Soon everyone seems to be after the Rogue, including a helicopter that attempts to land on the car. In the end, they run into a blockade and a man shouts “Open the briefcase,” at which time viewers are prompted to click on a link to open it. This link clicks through to the contest on Nissan’s Facebook page. It’s a clever, interactive way to lead viewers to the contest, even if the video is a little over the top. Fans of the brand should enjoy having a background story going into the contest, where they can enter once per day, or more if they share information about the contest via email or social media — a pretty good way to incentivise sharing.

The contest begins today and runs through February 13th at 11:59 PM. You can enter the contest here for your chance to win a 2014 Nissan Rogue. Credits after the jump.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav stands to make more than $110 million in compensation in 2014, the first year of a new contract that keeps him at the cable-network giant through 2019.

Including salary of $3 million, $6.6 million in potential bonuses and more than 1 million performance-based restricted stock units, Mr. Zaslav’s compensation would reach about $110.7 million this year, based on the value of the shares at yesterday’s close. The six-year contract extension lasts until Dec. 31, 2019, according to a statement today.

Mr. Zaslav, whose new contract started yesterday, joined Discovery in 2007 from NBC Universal and helped take the company public the following year. Since then, he’s doubled its slate of cable networks and created a joint venture with Oprah Winfrey to start the OWN channel.

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Não é de hoje que a PETA defende que veganos têm uma vida sexual muito melhor do que pessoas que consomem carne. Seguindo a filosofia de que “carne é algo que não é bom para a sua carne”, a organização de defesa dos direitos dos animais começa o ano incentivando as pessoas a dispensarem a carne do cardápio com a campanha Another Cuban Missile Crisis.

No filme criado pela agência Matter para o mercado norte-americano, um casal está transando e, para evitar a ejaculação precoce, o homem começa a imaginar a garota com a cara de Fidel Castro, para tentar se segurar.

Em outros anos, a organização divulgou a ideia com outros comerciais igualmente provocativos, como Veggie Love, que foi banido do Super Bowl, e Boyfriend Went Vegan, que mostra uma garota cheia de contusões que leva o público a acreditar que ela anda apanhando do namorado, mas que no final mostra que a razão dos machucados é bem diferente.

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Our Clip of the Week is a newly posted TED talk that bashes TED talks. In this nearly 12-minute presentation, Benjamin Bratton, director of the Center for Design and Geopolitics at U.C. San Diego and an associate professor in the Department of Visual Arts there, disparages TED conference culture as “middlebrow megachurch infotainment.” He comes off as a bit of a haughty provocateur (and a nervous one at that, especially at the start of his talk, when he paces the stage like a caged animal), but by the end you might find yourself thinking that he’s fired off some shots that really hit the mark.

On Monday, the same day TED released this video, The Guardian posted Bratton’s talk in text form. Scroll down below the video for a link and a choice excerpt.

Read the text version of this talk, titled “We need to talk about TED,” here. A sample:

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(TrendHunter.com) Trend Hunter’s Health Trend Report covers a wide array of health trends from fitness to tech innovations that increase well being. For any company interested in health, fitness, weight loss or…

With Forbes for sale, Fortune’s website divorcing from CNNMoney.com and Bloomberg Businessweek getting assessed as part of a companywide strategic review at Bloomberg, the year ahead could see a dramatic shift for top business magazines.

The category offers a glimpse into the publishing world at large, where 2014 will see traditional media companies continue to do battle with digital upstarts and new players emerge. Already this year, the former editors of AllThingsD introduced their new website Re/code with backing from NBC Universal, adding another prominent combatant to the field.

The good news for business magazines, according to media buyers and marketers, is that they offer a strong editorial product at a time when advertisers are eager to appear in, around or near high-quality content. The magazines themselves also point to their broadening portfolio of conferences, foreign licensees and other new revenue streams. Forbes, for example, is building a Forbes-branded office tower in the Philippines and putting its name on the business school at Ashford University in Iowa. Fortune events such as The Most Powerful Women Summit and the Global Forum are generating growing profits in their own right.

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