Chief Marketer Staff

• Agencies

  PartyPoker.com Sponsors Lingerie Bowl after Dodge Pulled out

  Poker Web site PartyPoker.com has stepped in as the title sponsor of the controversial Lingerie Bowl airing Super Bowl Sunday after DaimlerChrysler Corp.

• Safeway to Close 12 Dominick’s Stores

  Safeway Stores will close 12 Dominick’s stores in the Chicago area on March 13. Safeway will shutter the under-performing stores in order to focus on

• Mail Stream: A Report on Incoming Direct Mail

  Sara Lee’s athletic wear brand, Champion, has burst on to the direct marketing scene with its new catalog offering “the world’s largest assortment of Champion apparel.”

• Online Marketing and Spending for It Increases

  Digital marketing has high strategic importance to nearly two-thirds of marketers, according to a new study. And, over 75% of them plan to increase spending

• Judge Denies Gillette’s Motion to Halt Sale of Quattro Razor

  A federal judge last week denied The Gillette Co.’s request to block Schick-Wilkinson Sword from selling its new Quattro razor. Judge Patti Saris of the

• School Specialty Buys McGraw-Hill Titles

  (Catalog Age) Greenville, WI-based School Specialty is at again. The acquisitive parent of such school-products catalogs as Childcraft, Sax Arts & Crafts,

• Frito-Lay Readies Low-Carb Doritos, Tostitos

  Frito-Lay will launch low-carb Doritos and Tostitos this spring. Doritos Edge and Tostitos Edge will be made with soy protein and fiber and should boost

• Kellogg Canada Steps Up Government Tie-in

  Kellogg Canada this month puts 800,000 pedometers in boxes of Special K cereal as part of a tie-in with the government. Specially marked boxes feature

• News Briefs

  COCA-COLA CO.: rolled out its Diet Coke with Lime drink. A national ad campaign supports with radio, magazine and Internet ads and billboard promotions.

• Formal Investigation Opened in Coca-Cola Tampering Case

  The Securities and Exchange Commission formally opened its investigation last Wednesday of Coca-Cola over allegations raised by a former employee that