Q&As

Amazon.com’s sales jumped from $1.90 billion in first-quarter 2005 to $2.28 during the quarter just ended. But increases in technology and content and fulfillment expenses ate into its net income, which slipped from $78 million a year ago to $51 million in first-quarter 2006.

Banta Corp.

The new Fox television series Prison Break is now serving as the centerpiece for an integrated marketing partnership that coincides with the launch of Toyota’s new Yaris liftback and sedan.

JetBlue Airways has signed on youth marketing firm Mr. Youth to handle a variety of promotional activities for the low-cost carrier to help build brand awareness among consumers.

Calling all gamers: Nintendo and AOL.com are on a mission to give one video-game playing consumer the ultimate opportunity to be the first in the world to play Nintendo’s next home console system, Revolution.

Recently, I compiled and led a live trivia contest for a group of folks I occasionally chat with in an online bulletin board. The effort was not exactly a raging success: As one contestant said afterward, “Well, nobody died.” What is especially galling is that, had I applied a few basic rules from direct response marketing, I could have avoided a lot of heartache. What follow are some of the lessons that were brought home, as well as a sampling of the questions. The answers are at the end of the column.

Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc. is maximizing its partnership with the National Basketball Association through the launch of the league’s 2006 Finals Trophy Tour to five military bases in the U.S. heartland.

Visa is bringing its “Life Takes Recycling” TV spot to the streets of New York City next week to drive home a message that checkbooks are becoming obsolete.

Everyone has customers who are more valuable than others. But why do you have them? Put another way, why did they choose to become a high-value customer?

Loyalty marketers seek to reward and recognize best customers and keep them coming back for more. To segment best customers from infrequent shoppers, one-offs, or visiting relatives, you must track their transactional behavior. Customers will pay with cash, checks, and credit and debit cards, and you ideally need to track each of these tender types to develop a complete view of their behavior.