This issue marks the 12th issue of Promo magazine that I’ve edited. Making it to that threshold seems as a good time as any to take stock of the publication’s changes over the past year. Besides stating the obvious, such as this past May’s redesign resulting in better photography and graphics, I think you’ll agree the articles in each issue represent something of a fresh perspective on the promotional marketing business.
But the Promo franchise always has been far more than the monthly printed product, as our Promo Xtra e-newsletter demonstrates on a daily basis.
We’re by no means resting on our editorial laurels. Last month we debuted an e-newsletter Promo Interactive, a twice-a-month look at notable campaigns, contentious issues and looming trends in the world of interactive marketing and promotions. That’s in addition to our existing biweekly P&I newsletter.
Each edition of Promo Interactive will cover the full gamut of Web-enabled, digitized and pixilated promotions — from micro-sites and virtual worlds to mobile coupons and viral marketing. Take a glimpse of the newsletter’s microsite at http://promointeractive.net.
It’s also awards season here in Promo-land. The call for entries just went out for the Third Annual Interactive Marketing Awards. The deadline to enter online at http://promomagazine.com/awards/iaawards is Feb. 15. An important distinction about this year’s IMA competition is that it will now be entirely peer review. Our judges will be getting down to business in the beginning of March.
And just looming ahead is the always eagerly anticipated Promo 100, our annual ranking of the top promotional agencies. Based on reader feedback, we’ve tweaked our methodology to no longer factor in creative in the formula, which will now place more emphasis on revenue and growth.
We’ll leave such creative critiques to the IMAs and the later in the year Pro Awards, which also has been peer review.
In December we launched our first of a series of all-day webinars. The first online event focused on interactive marketing, covering such topics as online games, contests and sweeps; e-mail; and mobile phones. They’re all still online at http://promomagazine.com/webinars/
The response was so great from attendees that we’ve scheduled on March 27 a second series devoted to experiential marketing. Among the sessions will be a presentation of the Advertising Research Foundation’s recent findings on event marketing effectiveness (see page 20), as well as matching the right sponsor with the right event, and personalized sampling.
Watch for our notices in the coming weeks to sign up for this virtual conference, and I welcome your feedback on all of the above.
Network
