Chief Marketer Staff

• Agencies

  Steve and Barry’s Uses Celebs to Drive In-Store Traffic

  Steve and Barry’s doesn’t get a TV play. It rarely advertises. It’s not a big user of direct mail, either.

• Agencies

  Jelly Belly Kicks off New Flavor Contest

  Jelly Belly is rolling out a new contest in search of an original jelly bean flavor.

• MySpace Straw Poll to Beat Iowa Results by Hours

  If you just can’t wait until the Iowa caucuses close at 7:30 p.m. (CST) on Jan. 3, relax. Social network MySpace is letting its U.S. voting-age members cast their ballots on Jan. 1 and 2 and expects to serve up the results hours before the first vote is taken on Jan. 3 in the Hawkeye State.

• Agencies

  Post-Holiday Bills Bring the Blues: Survey

  In the wake of the holiday season, most Americans get the blues – frequently after seeing their bank and credit card statements.

• Agencies

  NHL Sponsors Amp Up Activities for Winter Classic

  The NHL has a roster of sponsors pushing various activations around its outdoor Winter Classic contest, which kicks off a limited slate of regular season games to be broadcast on NBC.

• News Brief

  TOSTITOS: will honor the University of San Francisco Dons 1951 football team in a halftime tribute at this year’s Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on Jan 2.

• Online Holiday Shopper Satisfaction Dips: Study

  Customer satisfaction with online retailers this holiday shopping season was down slightly from last year, according to a report by ForeSee Results.

• U.S. Appeals Court Hands Google Split Decision in Patent Case

  A federal appeals court has thrown out part of a summary judgment in Google’s favor in a lawsuit filed by Hyperphrase Technologies LLC, according to wire service reports.

• Archway Names Thomas President of Fulfillment Operations

  Archway Marketing Services Inc., a direct mail services company, has named Joe Thomas president of its consumer fulfillment and customer service businesses.

• Valassis to Launch Redplum, Retire ShopWise

  Valassis is set in January to launch in RedPlum www.redplum.com), a new advertising service that offers savings and special deals in the purchase of groceries and beauty, travel, electronic, home and entertainment products and services.