Chief Marketer Staff

• News Briefs

  MY GYM CHILDREN’S FITNESS CENTER: is bringing Hasbro’s Play-Doh to kids’ classes

• Stupid Marketing Watch: Inside the Boston Bomb-Threat Flier

  What is it about marketers in Boston and their uncanny ability to concoct promotions that make people think they’re in danger of imminent death?

  On the heels of a Cartoon Network bomb scare that paralyzed the city in January, police evacuated a strip mall last week because of a botched fax promotion that some Bank of America employees mistook for a bomb threat.

• Top Five Ways to Improve Online Sales for Subscription Sites

  I just got the transcript of MarketingSherpa’s Selling Subscriptions Summit 2007 back from the typists. Across the 19 speakers, five specific “what really works” tactics stood out

• Agencies

  Loose Cannon: Will DM Take Collateral Damage in the Anti-Clinton Wars?

  There are many good reasons for direct marketers to follow the dustup between data compiler infoUSA and hedge fund Dolphin Financial Partners. One is that a juicy proxy fight can be a hell of a lot of fun. But another is that the entire industry could take some heat if one of the players is cast as a political liability for a presidential candidate.

• Making the Connection

  (Promo) Promotion marketers often rely on call center reps to get samples or product information into consumers’ hands. And loyalty and incentive programs are grounded in a rep’s ability to clearly convey the benefits of the programs

• Agencies

  Power to the People

  (Promo) There’s a pivotal moment in the classic rock concert film “Woodstock,” when an announcer bellows: “It’s now a free concert, man!” He should have only known. For the 12th annual heavy metal tour known as “Ozzfest,” getting under way July 12 in Seattle, all of the tickets for the 24-city run across the country will be free.

• Digital

  Google’s New Search: Universal, and Far from Remote

  (Searchline) Google has made a major change in the way it displays its general search results. And while the impact may at first be small, the significance of that change will grow over time and eventually ripple through the very concept of optimizing Web pages for search.

• Digital Signs of the Times

  (Multichannel Merchant) Take a walk around Times Square in New York and you’ll instantly see the power of digital signage. From virtual billboards to point-of-sale monitors, audio and video cry out to passersby.

• Agencies

  Analysis Across Channels

  (Multichannel Merchant) It’s one of the great mysteries of modern multichannel marketing: Where are the customers and orders really coming from? If we as multichannel merchants knew the answer, we could build optimal contact strategies, spend our budgets in the most-efficient ways, produce the greatest returns with the perfect marketing mix,

• Agencies

  Going Solo: The Pros and Cons of Postcards and Solo Mailers

  (Multichannel Merchant) Just about every postal rate increase sparks renewed interest in postcards and solo mailers, notes Sarah White, spokesperson for Thirdwave Research,