Dec 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Patricia Odell

Two words, taboo last year, are back in vogue as holiday shopping reaches a fevered pitch this month.

Merry Christmas.

The Grinch who attempted political correctness last year by replacing “Christmas” with “holiday” messaging was lambasted by consumers, sales reps and religious groups. ▪ Some retailers took note, others took a middle ground. Still others refused to budge. ▪ Christmas carols are heard in Wal-Mart's Christmas Shop (last year called Holiday Shop). Best Buy is sticking with holiday messaging. Macy's is offering carriage rides and free hot cocoa. And retailers are far from ignoring Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. Amy Johannes has the details starting on page 10. ▪ For Macy's, this is its first holiday following parent Federated Department Store's $11 billion purchase of May Department Co., the owner of Marshall Fields and Lord and Taylor. The deal created the second largest department store company in the U.S. The combined companies will operate more than 1,600 stores bringing in $31.2 billion in sales. ▪ Macy's push during the year to convert 61 Marshall Field stores to its Macy's nameplate is sure to boost sales as consumers shun smaller hometown stores in favor of larger retailers who have worked hard this year transforming stores from frumpy to fashionable. And Macy's, along with others, wasted no time getting its stores decorated well before a taste of gravy was ever ladled over a slice of Thanksgiving turkey. ▪ The National Retail Federation says retailers are expected to boost sales 5% this year over last year with the average shopper spending an additional $62 above the total $738 spent last year. ▪ On another front, PROMO put plenty of ink on paper this year, and an untold number of bytes for our electronic coverage, detailing great campaign work and the big thinkers behind the development and execution of the efforts. ▪ The editors spent hours upon hours pouring over hundreds of entries in our three awards programs: the Interactive Marketing Awards (the entry period begins soon) the Entertainment Marketing Awards and the PRO Awards. The innovation, creativity and hard work are impressive. So when we put our heads together to single out 10 Market Leaders to profile in this issue, it was no easy task. ▪ Our choices represent a cross section of the trends the industry witnessed this year. Cingular's Roberto García goes big to reach Hispanic consumers. Unilever's Tiffany Kurtz spices up copy to reach 25-year-old girls. Adidas' Eric Liedtke shares details on a huge win at the World Cup. And Body By Milk's Julie Buric tries to get teenagers to drink more milk. (See page 20) — Patricia Odell is the managing editor of PROMO.

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