AOL is planning to reduce its staff by one third, which will result in a loss of 2,500 jobs. To soften the blow, AOL is offering employees the opportunity to volunteer to resign from December 4-11, after which they will enforce the layoffs.

This news comes as Time Warner announced this week that AOL will officially be spun off into its own entity on November 27.

The Atlantic's Daniel Indiviglio reacted to the US Postal Service's November 16 announcement that it lost $3.8 billion during fiscal year 2009 by saying that cutting Saturday service “is a pretty reasonable idea.”

However, he named two groups that could have a problem with the idea. For one, consumers and companies that pay their bills via the mail.

The other group: Netflix, and other delivery services. Yet technology may do away with their problem at some point, he contends.

“As a Netflix customer myself, I admit that I wouldn't be thrilled with having one less day per week to mail or receive movies,” said Indiviglio. “But given their new on-demand service that I can access through my Blu-Ray player, I think I could supplement any lack of mailed movies through that option.”

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has released its new “Ad Unit Guidelines 2009 Update.” The new guidelines include the perspective of creative agencies, who gave their input for the first time, joining the media agencies and publishers who have historically been a part of the process.

The new update reads, “In order to be considered a standard, an ad unit must be commonly bought and offered throughout the marketplace; only seven of the eighteen ad units currently on the list meet the new criteria.” In addition, “Ad units will not be removed from the standard list in 2009, but must meet the criteria by the end of 2010.”

The idea to include creatives in this process is part of the IAB's Reimagining Interactive Advertising initiative, which aims to bring together people from creative agencies, media agencies and publishers to discuss the evolution of digital marketing. This is the first iniative of the Reimagining Interactive Advertising Task Force.

Barron's reported on November 16 on analysts' positive outlook for FedEx, saying it has “upside for the long haul,” mostly due to its international shipping business.

According to the feature, FedEx has “a growing footprint in big overseas markets like China, enough operating leverage to boost earnings when volumes ramp up and solid growth at its very profitable FedEx Ground unit.”

Keith Schoonmaker, senior stock analyst at Morningstar, goes so far as to say that FedEx and rival shipper UPS are “likely to become a global duopoly.”

FedEx reported in September that its 2010 fiscal first-quarter earnings fell 53%.

The Direct Marketing Club of New York honored the giants of direct marketing this week at the DMCNY's Silver Apple Awards at New York's Hudson Theater.

This years honorees were Ed Mallin, president, InfoGroup Services Group; Ruth Stevens, Principal, EMarketing Strategy; Andy Goldberg, CEO, Publishers Clearing House; Beatriz Mallory, CEO, HispanAmerica; Brian Wolfe, EVP, Time Inc.; Tom Turner, founder emeritus, Turner Direct; and Acxiom Corp. for its corporate supporter award.

The cocktail reception was bursting at the seams in the art-deco theater lobby; current honorees rubbed shoulders alongside a number of past honorees, many of whom were in attendance.Gawkers like me simply took it all in. I've covered direct marketing now for a dozen years, so I enjoyed seeing the mix of past and present movers and shakers and speaking with some of them.

Club members marked the 25th year of the Silver Apples this year, so the event also paid tribute to the direct marketers who have received the award in the past. That list is truly a who's who of direct marketing: Lawrence Kimmel, Bob Teufel, Ed Burnett, Dave Florence, Mal Dunn, Chris Paradysz, Reggie Brady, Ray Schultz, Lois Geller, Denny Hatch, John Temple, Holly Pavlika.....

The Silver Apple Awards is usually a lunchtime affair and typically more subdued, but Thursday night's gala was fitting for this fine group of direct marketing luminaries. It is the kind of event that inspires me, and it is wonderful to see deserving people in our industry get their due.

DMNews celebrates its 30th Anniversary this month. Our 30th Anniversary issue, which publishes Nov. 30, will include a feature celebrating a small but elite list of direct marketing legends whom we feel have shaped the direct marketing industry. We're so proud and excited to honor these DM heroes.

TBWA Worldwide appointed Gary Wenzel president of its TBWA\WorldHealth November 12. He had been COO of TBWA\Hakuhodo in Tokyo. The Omnicom agency's healthcare practice also named Steve Pashkoff executive creative director. Both will be based in New York. Client brands include Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Roche, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson and Schering-Plough.

The New York Times reported this week on how high-fashion brand Burberry is looking to reach a younger audience with a proprietary social network. Artofthetrench.com calls users to share trench coat stories.

Also noted in the article: "…this year, direct retail overtook wholesale as [Burberry]'s biggest sales channel." The same was true of Neiman Marcus earlier this year.

There were lots of big moves for digital agencies reported on in AdAge today. Pepsi, GM and IBM have all taken up with new digital shops for reportedly big pushes.

Pepsi has apparently dropped Omnicom Group's Arnell Group from its Sobe creative account and hired Huge and Firstborn.

GM has hired MRM Worldwide for their digital advertising, which they confirmed on the phone with me, but they are unable to discuss any plans. MRM Worldwide deferred all calls to GM, but according to AdAge, the McCann Worldgroup will be hiring 200 staffers to support the new business win.

The Wall Street Journal had some good news for the ad industry this week, reporting that retailers including Target, Wal-Mart, Kmart and the Gap are boosting their holiday ad spending above last year's levels.

The report states that Kmart launched its holiday ad blitz about a month prior to when it did so last year, and that Kmart, Wal-Mart and JC Penney doubled their ad weight during the first two weeks of October, compared to 2008. Home Depot and Lowe's have increased theirs by nearly 50%.

However, the Journal also reported that holiday consumer spending is expected to remain flat this year, according to numerous research firms. Holiday retail sales fell in 2008 for the first time since 1967.

Just in time for holiday party season a new company called Rent the Runway is bringing a Netflix style mail order membership model to couture dresses. Members of Rent the Runway can rent a gown for 4 nights for $50-200 depending on the dress, to dress to the nines for their event. And then, when they are finished with the gown, they can pop is back into the envelope and mail it back to Rent the Runway. Dry cleaning is included in the price, so no need to send it out.