Direct Marketing | Print

• Direct Marketing | Print

  Sept. Sales a Mixed Bag for Multichannel Merchants

  J. C. Penney Company Inc. announced that total direct sales for the five weeks ending Sept. 30, 2006 increased 11.8% over the same month last year to $284 million. That compares to a year-over-year increase of only 0.4% in September 2005 and a direct-sales total of $254 million for the month.

• Direct Marketing | Print

  Meet the Broker: Michelle Brown

  Today we meet Michelle Brown, a Boulder, CO-based senior account executive at Walter Karl Inc. Brown was one of the principals with The List Group for six years, but she gave that up to join Walter Karl three years ago. “I had to run operations but I wanted work more closely with clients,” said Brown.

• Direct Marketing | Print

  USPS Reports Income Decline

  The U.S. Postal Service posted net income before escrow allocation of $1.28 billion for the nine months ended Aug. 31, off $28.5 million from net income of $1.5 billion for the same period last year. However, after escrow allocation, the USPS was in the red by $1.46 billion.

• Direct Marketing | Print

  U.S. to Stop Crackdown on Canadian MO Drugs

  The federal government plans to stop its crackdown on discount drugs mailed from Canadian pharmacies to U.S. customers, according to wire service reports.

• Direct Marketing | Print

  Cenveo Ups Takeover Bid After Banta Rejects Offer

  Cenveo Inc. made a late-Tuesday offer of $50 per share for all of the stock of printer Banta Corp. The offer came after Banta rejected an unsolicited bid from Cenveo, under which Cenveo would acquire Banta for $47 per share, early Tuesday morning.

• Direct Marketing | Print

  These Are Deceptive Subject Lines?

  A lawsuit filed by a long-time anti-spammer against Scott Richter and his e-mail marketing firm OptInRealBig accuses Richter and his clients of using deceptive subject lines.

  However, if the California court agrees that all of the subject lines detailed in the suit are deceptive, some fairly standard direct-marketing teaser-copywriting techniques could be legal landmines in e-mail.

• Direct Marketing | Print

  MetroGroup Acquires Proficient Data

  Direct marketing services firm MetroGroup has acquired Proficient Data, a transaction document management, production and mailing services company. The acquisition terms were not disclosed.

• Direct Marketing | Print

  QuadData Solutions Expands Data Services

  QuadData Solutions, a printing company based in Sussex, WI, has expanded its data-driven marketing service. In addition, the data solutions group, formerly known as Quad/Data Services, has enhanced its list rental capabilities through relationships with a number of well-known, well- respected data providers like InfoUSA/Donnelley Marketing and Advo, Inc.

• Direct Marketing | Print

  Mail Stream: A Report on Incoming Direct Mail

  New Name and Look for Casual Male This summer, Casual Male Big & Tall unveiled a new name, tagline and front cover design, each of which are on display in the menswear catalog’s Fall 06 issue. The 132-page book, rechristened Casual Male XL, places the …

• Direct Marketing | Print

  The Web Numbers Game

  Confused about what you’re supposed to be measuring on your e-commerce site? Probably. Unless, that is, you’ve thrown up your hands and decided not to measure anything at all.