Richard H. Levey, Author at Chief Marketer

Some Super Bowl Advertisers’ Sites Are In Danger Of Crashes

Marketers buying time during the Super Bowl broadcast face challenges in determining the return on investment of their spots. They

Digital

DAA’s AdChoice Icon Ads Fall Flat – And Then Some

Three new videos from the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) seek to inform consumers to the use, value and control of banner ads

Doing Something Right: Pure-Play Online Marketers Hailed for Service In NRF Survey

Among the top 10 companies an American Express/National Retail Federation Foundation survey recognized for excellence in customer service, fully half are pure-play online marketers. As in, no brick-and-mortar presence whatsoever

Agencies

Global Loyalty Programs Need a Local Flavor to Succeed

Marketers who want to create loyalty programs around the world should design them with each country’s needs and customs in mind. Cultural differences mean that the programs which work in North America won’t necessarily translate well to other parts of the globe.

The emerging BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) markets are fertile grounds for the next generation of loyalty program participants. These countries are growing, in terms of middle-class population and economic clout, and their citizens are open to established western brands. In addition, they’re eager to participate in loyalty schemes, according to a new study.

Agencies

Debby Boone Headlines Lifestyle Lift’s New DRTV Campaign

Facial rejuvenation firm Lifestyle Lift debuted a new long-form DRTV spot this month featuring 1970’s pop icon Debby Boone.

Lifestyle Lift’s core demographic – women in their mid-50s through mid-60s – influenced the choice of Boone as spokesperson. “We wanted someone with a wholesome image who was relevant to our target audience,” says Lifestyle Lift CMO Steve Hanson. That audience would have been in its 20s and 30s during the time of her biggest hit “You Light Up My Life,” the summer of 1977.

Agencies

Customized Mailings Promote PIP/Sir Speedy Franchise Services

Franchise Services Inc. brands Sir Speedy and PIP Printing and Marketing Services are using custom printed direct mail pieces to promote their range of services.

Simply put, says David Robidoux, vice president of marketing services: “We’re using PURLs to sell PURLs.”

Agencies

As IPOs Go, Zynga’s No Groupon (And That’s A Good Thing)

Both Zynga, the online games company whose offerings include Farmville, Mafia Wars and Zynga Poker, and Groupon, the daily deal site, are dot-coms which deal primarily in virtual goods. They hold no physical inventory and rarely generate transactions …

Agencies

Atout France Uses E-Miles for American Connection

French tourism development agency Atout France is testing creative approaches, exploring the viability of offering travel to unsung regions and even building its social media activity through its work with e-Miles.

E-Miles’ online forum puts client’s messages in front of an opt-in database of consumers, and then rewards participants for interacting with the messages, whether through simply being exposed to them, answering survey questions or providing feedback on the ads.

Agencies

Multivariate Testing Shows Sex Doesn’t Sell Cosmo Magazine

Anyone looking to design a direct mail prospecting package for Cosmopolitan magazine should know that sweepstakes don’t boost responses, tote bag premiums don’t justify their cost and above all, sex doesn’t sell. At least, not on the outer envelope. (Inside the package is another story.)

That last point may be surprising, but the magazine conducted two multivariate tests within the past 18 months. The tests offer statistically valid results for the impact 12 changes had on response rates.

Agencies

ACMA’s Catalog Postage Survey: Sprawling, Ugly…and Necessary

Imagine receiving a survey on marketing practices. Now imagine receiving a marketing practices survey consisting of 25 multi-part questions spanning several different organization areas. Now consider that at least one of the questions has five …