ICv2 : Inside Pop Culture

Madison, Wisconsin. January 31, 2001. ICv2.com--the first trade site for the pop culture products industry--launched today. The site features daily news, analysis, and the latest product trends in five pop culture categories: anime (anime, manga, and Japanese imports), games (ccgs, rpgs, and miniature games), comics (comics, graphic novels, and comic-licensed merchandise), and movie/TV licensed merchandise. The primary audience for the site is retailers, but other members of the trade are also expected to make up some of the traffic.

ICv2 stands for Internal Correspondence version 2. Internal Correspondence was a newsletter and then a magazine published from the early 80s through the mid-90s by Capital City Distribution, Inc., one of the largest distributors of pop culture products during that period. It's being revived by Milton Griepp, cofounder and CEO of Capital, and more recently CEO of Next Planet Over, an e-commerce pop culture retailer. Tom Flinn, a 20-year merchandising veteran with Capital and Diamond Comic Distributors is VP-Content of ICv2.

Griepp explained why they're launching the site. "More than in any other industry, pop culture retailers rely on fast, accurate information. The media and product trends that affect their businesses change rapidly, and until ICv2 there was no way to get trade information on a daily basis. Both Tom and I have a long history of working to make retailers and the industry as a whole more successful, and this site is what we see as the most effective way to do that now."

Initial features on the site include coverage of up-and-coming anime properties, an analysis of the best movie licenses in 2001, some insight into the Ultimate Marvel Magazine controversy, and extensive interviews with officers of Diamond Comic Distributors, the largest U.S. distributor of pop culture products.

The site also features best-seller lists in each of the five market categories. The "Top 10 Cool" section of the site will initially feature the ten top sellers from the previous month.

According to Griepp, these lists will differ substantially from other best-seller lists of pop culture products. "Unlike other best-seller lists," said Griepp, "the ICv2 Top 10 Cool will be based on actual sales by retailers in the period being covered. Bestseller lists based on distributor sell-in (which Internal Correspondence pioneered in the 80s) only give half the picture. Now retailers and others can find out what consumers are really buying."

The site can be accessed at http://www.icv2.com. ICv2 is part of GCO, LLC, a Wisconsin limited liability company.

Press Contacts:

Mgriepp@ICv2.com

Milton Griepp
ICv2
448 W. Washington Ave.
Madison, WI 53703
608-284-9400
608-284-9404 (fax)