August/September Issue 2009
Features
With Numerous Brands on a Range of Platforms, Hasbro Want to Be King of the Global Toy Box
Spend time with a child and you'll see the world in a different way. Unencumbered by the restraints of adulthood, they imagine and reimagine the world...
With New Movie, GI Joe Goes Hollywood
Way back in 1964, G.I. Joe first marched into toy aisles, commanding action figures portraying the various branches of the U.S. military. This summer,...
Why Aggressive Marketing Spending Makes Sense in a Recession
Most marketers today are lamenting how difficult it is to keep their brands afloat during these recessionary times. The conversation often turns to depressionary...
Mobile Bucks the Downturn
Marketers cut back total spending this year, but they cranked up mobile marketing budgets by 26% and expect to do the same next year, according to a new...
2009 Finalists
This year's finalists are an elite collection of agencies doing some of the best work in promotional marketing. Campaign descriptions can be viewed at...
Editor's Note
Editor's Note: Dog Days and Holidays
Every Year at This Point, just at the turning of July to August, I experience a moment of complete calm. It's a perfectly balanced time when everything...
CM Report
Sweetriot Promotes New Candy Bar on Virgin America Flights
The New York-based candy maker is promoting the $3 bar 65% dark chocolate with crunchy cacao nibs by offering it on Virgin America flights starting this...
Brands Out Front at BlogHer '09
For a conference of female citizen journalists, last month's BlogHer '09 in Chicago sported some marquee names, including Tina Brown, Paula Deen and Tim...
Hershey Sweetens Direct Mail Results With Segmentation
Hershey Entertainment and Resorts has increased its revenue by 17% and room bookings by 10% over the past year, thanks to segmenting direct mail to its...
UJC Unites Local Groups in Database Append Initiative
Through a national database appending initiative this spring, the United Jewish Communities/Jewish Federations of North America was able to help local...
Summer Technology Update: Bing, E-Books and Smartphones
BING is Microsoft's reboot of its Live Search, a perennial third in the search engine races. Last June Microsoft revamped it as a decision engine with...
Measurement/ROI
Measuring Web 2.0 can influence campaign design
As recently as a year ago, most conversations about brands took place in private, either in person or by e-mail. Marketers spent a lot of time trying...
How to Nurture High-Profit (and High-Potential) Customers
Accepted wisdom cautions against measuring customers by how much revenue they generate. The key metric is their profitability. Measuring profitability...
Data & Analytics
Sur La Table Ditches the Guesswork in Channel Allocation Process
Count Neal Cohen among the direct marketers looking to refute John Wanamaker's statement, Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble...
Analytics and Cloud Computing Help Crack the Customer Behavior Code
Advanced analytics tools are a priority for companies today. Because they show companies where to trim, where to expand and where to change ingrained...
Listen to Your Customer Feedback
Tell any group of retail sales associates that the customer is always right and you'll probably inspire some heated debate. Let's face it: Sometimes,...
CM Listline: Back to School
Today's Students Need More than backpacks and binders. They're mobile and they know how to leverage technology in ways many chief marketers have yet to...
Marketing Operations Management
Zimbra Shortens Lead to Sale Time with Increased Automation Web Tracking
Automating communications about new leads to sales reps and integrated tracking of visitors' Web site activity have helped Zimbra increase the converted...
The Chieftains
We Ask the Chieftains: When Will Consumers Begin Spending More Confidently?
QUESTION: WILL CONSUMERS START SPENDING MORE CONFIDENTLY BEFORE THE END OF THIS YEAR, OR SHOULD MARKETERS EXPECT THEY'LL SCRIMP INTO 2010? ROSEMARIE B....
