Chief Marketer Staff

• Agencies

  KFC Runs “Hail Mary” Scholarship Pass Play

  If any National Football League team completes a “Hail Mary” pass on the final play of a divisional or conference championship game, KFC will make a six-figure donation to its Colonel’s Scholar’s Program.

• Agencies

  Sharpie Sets Up Experiential Shops in Office Depot Stores

  Office Depot and Sharpie, the maker of permanent markers, have opened an in-store shopping experience at Office Depot retail locations where customers can experience the product.

• Agencies

  Music Fans Get A Chance at Glory with “My Grammy Moment”

  Singer Katy Perry has garnered lots of attention for her 2008 single “I Kissed a Girl,” from nominations as the favorite MySpace performer in the Teen Choice competition to winning the 2008 MTV Europe Music Award as the best new act.

• Food Banks to Benefit from Weight Loss Challenge

  General Mills, NBC’s “Biggest Loser” and Feeding America are collaborating on a weight loss challenge that will deliver a pound of groceries to local food banks for every pound participants knock off

• Kroger Revs Up NASCAR Promo

  (Supermarket News)— Gatorade, Klondike, Ragu and Ritz join more than 100 products that feature limited-edition Daytona 500-themed packaging at Kroger Co. stores.

• Hospitals Ailing in Their Web Marketing Efforts: Study

  They might be cutting edge when it comes to medical treatments, but in the online marketing arena, top hospitals need serious resuscitation.

  That’s the findings of a new report from Oneupweb

• Agencies

  Atrium Breaks Into DM With Nutri-Health Acquisition

  Atrium Innovations Inc., a health supplements marketer, has acquired Nutri-Health Supplements LLC for $23.9 million.

• GXS Purchases Brazilian Firm Interchange Servicos

  GXS, a provider of online business-to-business software, has acquired Interchange Servicos S.A, a Brazilian electronic data interchange services firm, for an undisclosed sum.

• Agencies

  Premium Color and Hand Pack Merge

  Premium Color Graphics Inc., a Clifton, NJ direct mail services firm, has merged with Carlstadt-based Hand Pack, Inc to form Premium Color Group LLC.

• Holiday E-Shopping Was Difficult for Many: Survey

  About 36% of online shoppers ran into roadblocks while buying holiday gifts. They ranged from molasses-like Web site response to fruitless efforts to check out, to outright system crashes, according to a survey from Guidance, an online marketing services firm and market researcher Synovate.