CM Plus
Drinking Songs: Boru Vodka Hosts Bar Band Contest
(Promo) Boru Vodka is embracing an American tradition in linking live music and spirits. The Irish brand launched in the U.S. earlier this year. Boru's Web-based contest seeks to find the country's "most authentic and passionate bar band." ...
The Good Life: Chivas Launches Online Channel
Chivas Regal is stepping into a marketing arena that has proven quite challenging for another alcohol brand, Budweiser. The Scotch whisky maker recently launched a branded online channel, This is the Life, hosted by MSN.com. But Chivas is spending only a few million dollars compared to the $30 million lavished on Bud.TV. ...
Drinking Buddies: The Impact of Vintage CRM
My husband and I are members of two wine and spirits-related CRM programs. One has led to us making more purchases. The other hasn't generated many additional buys – but has created a lot of good will....
Less is Less: Ketel One Should Fill the Glass a Little More
Anyone with a fresh box of Crayolas and susceptibility to compulsive doodling owes a huge debt of gratitude to Ketel One. The vodka marketer has been generously donating white space in magazine and newspaper ads to frustrated Picassos for several years....
One More Before You Go: Spirits Marketing News Bites
Miller Lite will be the exclusive malt beverage sponsor of next year's Harley-Davidson 105th Anniversary Celebration. The beer will also run a national summer promotion highlighting the Harley-Davidson affiliation. ...
What's In A Name? For Macy's, Perhaps Less Than They Think
This September, retail chain Macy’s will debut several television commercials featuring a variety of notables, including domestic diva Martha Stewart; real estate developer Donald Trump; rap impresario Russell Simmons; chef Emeril Lagasse; and Jessica Simpson, who perennially defines the question “Why are we still paying attention to this woman?”...
Card Tricks: Gift Cards Are Big Business for Retailers
Consumers are expected to spend upwards of $90 billion this year on gift cards, up from $76 billion in 2006, forecasts Dan Horne, associate professor of marketing at Providence College in Rhode Island. And by 2008, the category is projected to surpass $100 billion....
From Mail to Mall: Using Catalogs to Drive Retail Traffic
(Multichannnel Merchant) You've got a catalog. You've got a retail presence. It only makes sense that each should drive the other....
Forget About Integrated Marketing—Think Integrated Shoppers
There's lots of talk about integrated marketing. But let's chat about integrated customers....
Retail Newsbites To Go
Families with school-age children are expected to spend $563.49 on back-to-school merchandise this year, up 6.9% from last year's $527.08 average, according to the National Retail Federation's 2007 Consumer Intentions and Actions Back-to-School survey, conducted by BIGresearch...
Attention, Please: Direct Marketing Basics Help CADM Draw A Crowd
CM Plus recently chatted with Nancy Artz, president, Artz Consulting Services, Northbrook, IL, and chair of the 2007 Chicago Direct Marketing Days & Expo, to see how the Chicago DM Association draws marketers to their event....
Get Me Outta Here: The Top 10 Reasons to Bolt a Session
We've all been there --sneaking covert glances at our watches and reading ahead on the agenda in the wild hope that the next session will be better than the one we're suffering through now. Sometimes, though I hate to admit it, it's just so awful that I've had to grab my stuff and bolt from the room. ...
Swag Party: The Influence of Conference Premiums
The first time I attended a conference as a reporter covering the direct marketing industry, I was amazed at the amount of loot to be had....
Location, Location, Location: Not Worth A Thousand Words
Meeting planners need a lot of practical information, and the industry standard of text-light ads works against the advertisers. ...
Site Inspection: But What is There to Click After the Show?
When people search the Web looking for info on your organization and the conferences you offer, how do you hook them in, if your next shindig is almost a year away?...
Let's Get Together: Meeting News to Go
The 2006 Meetings Market Report, conducted by Meetings & Conventions Magazine, reported approximately 1.25 million meetings were held in 2005, a 25% increase from 2004, according to the Convention Industry Council Economic Impact Study. ...
Zoned for Service: Customer Care Drives Autozone's Marketing Rally
Autozone Inc. is using a new customer-centric parts look-up system to drive in-store sales, which it plans to soon extend to its Web site....
Driving Force: Maintenance Mailing Program is a Good Vehicle for Nissan
(Direct) For nearly four years, Nissan dealers have gotten response rates better than 4% to mailings promoting parts and service to their more than 20 million customers. Six to eight times a year, Nissan and Infiniti dealers send customers self-mailers and other packages urging them to visit dealers for inspections, tune-ups and other basic maintenance work, says Doug Thompson, president of The Marketing Store, Nissan's Toronto-based agency. ...
My Big Silver Car: Coloring in the Emotional Side of Car Ownership
For those of us without trust funds, the first car we drive is usually not one we would have intentionally chosen for ourselves. How well the auto is marketed is definitely not a factor....
What's The Use: Pre-owned? Pre-loved? Try Pre-posterous
If advertisements within a certain sector of automobile sales are any indication, someone has added an eighth word to George Carlin's list of the seven one can't say on network television....
Drive Thru: News to Go
Ad network Jumpstart Automotive Media has joined the EyeWonder Select Publishing Program, which helps media buyers and planners to incorporate rich media into their ad buys....
Oh Bother: Disney Channel Partners with My Gym on Pooh Launch
(Promo) The Disney Channel has partnered with My Gym Children's Fitness Centers to promote the launch of its new show, "My Friends Tigger & Pooh." ...
Scare Tactics: FearNet Isn't Afraid of Multiplatform Marketing
(Direct) To the meek, managing content across multiple channels can be a daunting — one might even say scary — task. But Comcast wasn't afraid of marketing plans going bump in the night when it launched FearNet, a new horror programming channel being offered via video on demand, online and mobile devices. The Philadelphia-based company is using an integrated campaign of online marketing, print and television advertising to promote the channel, which debuted last Halloween. ...
Summer Lovin': Who Needs the Beach When I've Got TV?
Back in the day, television was a dead zone after Memorial Day. All the good shows had wrapped up their new episodes for the season, and there was nothing left to do but read books, go to the beach or – heaven forbid – talk to your family....
Idol Chatter: Buy Now, Sing Later
Is there no respite from advertising on television? For every move a consumer makes to avoid being solicited, the networks come up with a countermeasure. As a result, product placement and in-show pitches are at an all-time high. ...
