Chief Marketer Staff

• Alcone Taps Murphy for Consumer Lab

  Alcone Marketing Group has hired Kraft Foods veteran Beth Murphy to help run the promotion agency’s Consumer Lab research division.

• Email

  Mailing Inactive Addresses Can Be Big Trouble

  With Internet service providers using consumer spam complaints to decide which incoming e-mail to block, house-file hygiene is taking on a new meaning, according to one expert.

• Email

  E-mail a Top Sales, Loyalty Driver: Study

  Not only is e-mail a top sales driver for the 40 largest online retailers, respondents driven by promotional e-mails tend to be more satisfied with their experience and more loyal to the merchant who sent them, according to a recent study by ForeSee Results.

• Email

  Stupid PR Watch: The Most Insightful Christmas Gesture Ever

  When two editors unaffiliated with Magilla Marketing received Christmas cards from marketing services firm Epsilon, it seemed like a possible snub.

• Agencies

  Post Offices Closed Today to Honor President Ford

  There will be no regular mail delivery or retail service at U.S. Post Offices on Tuesday, Jan. 2.

• Email

  Five Must-Have New Year’s Resolutions for E-mail Marketers

  (E-Centric) As 2006 drew to a close and 2007 dawned, some of you might have made personal New Year’s resolutions. Maybe you want to get back to the gym, pay off your credit cards — or, if you’re really ambitious — try to become a better all-around person.

• Digital

  Unilever Scrubs Up Dove Online Video Promotion

  (Promo Xtra) Unilever is using a videoblog and a create-your-own-commercial contest to support it’s latest Dove product debut.

• RMI to Manage Hachette Filipacchi Files

  RMI Direct Marketing is now the list manager for Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S.

• Agencies

  For Dave’s, CRM is Best in Show

  It doesn’t matter if your clientele has four legs, two legs, wings or fins: good customer relationships are vital. We chatted recently with Dave Ratner, the “chief instigating officer” of Dave’s Soda and Pet City, an Agawam, MA-based chain of pet supply stores (that, yes, also sells soda).

• Agencies

  Voice Messaging Regulations May Tighten in 2007

  Companies that utilize automated voice messaging may have a double edged sword to look forward to in 2007, according to on-demand voice firm Vontoo.