Chief Marketer Staff

• CompUSA Woos Small-Business Owners

  Tech retailer CompUSA this week launches a loyalty program for small-business owners with a national sweepstakes. The program, called CompUSA Network for Business, targets small-business and home offices— $70 billion a year segment. CompUSA is testing a …

• Agencies

  Yahoo, mtvU Team for New Reality Series, Contest

  Yahoo and mtvU, MTV’s 24-hour college network, are partnering for a new, mini-reality series on long distance dating, in which viewers can vote on their favorite couple and send them on a two-week trip to Europe. The show, IMU: I Miss You …

• Agencies

  Simon Malls Host Care Bears

  Simon Properties will host the Care Bears for a two-day blitz in 88 malls in November. The event, timed to National Care Week, targets preschool members of Simon’s Kidgits Club. The Nov. 5-6 promotion brings costumed Care Bears to Simon malls in 35 …

• News Brief

  CALVIN KLEIN, INC.: has entered into a licensing agreement with Markwins Holding Co. Ltd. to launch a new line of color cosmetics and skin care products under the new brand, ck Calvin Klein Beauty. …

• Grocer Plans In-Store Telemarketing

  Broadway Marketplace, an upscale grocer based in Cambridge, MA, plans to launch an in-store loyalty and rewards marketing program on Sept. 26 targeting its customers’ cell phones.

• Online Sales to Hit $329 Billion by 2010: Forrester

  Innovations in Web analytics and personalization will drive online retail sales to $329 billion in 2010, up from $172 billion this year, according to the latest e-commerce forecast released by Forrester Research Inc.

• FCC Gathers 88 Million Numbers on Do-Not-Call Registry

  The National Do-Not-Call Registry grew to 88 million telephone numbers in 2004, according to the Federal Communications Commission’s annual report prepared for Congress.

• Jeffrey Knowles Becomes Chairman of ERA

  Jeffrey D. Knowles, a partner with the Washington, DC, law firm Venable LLP, yesterday assumed responsibilities as the new chairman of the Electronic Retailing Association at the organization’s annual convention in Las Vegas.

• Insert Media Firm Started by Diane Caruso

  A new insert media management firm, Choice Media has been founded by Diane Caruso, former vice president of insert media at Stanton Direct Marketing Inc. Choice Media is based in Amherst, NH, where Stanton previously maintained a satellite office for clients represented by Caruso. The two firms reached an agreement to divide up the client roster.

• Agencies

  Starz Entertainment Boosts Incredibles via Sweeps

  Starz Entertainment is rolling out a new sweepstakes tied to the TV premiere of the Walt Disney Pictures smash The Incredibles, offering a grand-prize trip to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Consumers who watch The Incredibles on Starz, …