Chief Marketer Staff

• Agencies

  Think Like a CIO: Use Technology to Improve Brand Loyalty

  Many CMOs don’t go beyond an annual customer satisfaction survey, brand study or something managed by their service/support teams. Taking this view is a mistake, and here’s why.

• Agencies

  Urban Outfitters’ CEO Backs Off Catalog Expansion, Embraces Social Media

  While direct-to-consumer sales among Urban Outfitters’ three brands jumped during its most recent quarter, a previously announced increase in catalog circulation may not have been the cause of the jump.

• True Marketing Databases Make Sophisticated Data Mining Possible

  There is a big difference between a marketing database and an operational database. A marketing database supports sophisticated data mining and an operational database does not.

• Evaluate Social Media By Listening, Leveraging and Engaging

  It may seem obvious that social media is here to stay, but roughly 20% of marketers feel that social media has no bearing on their businesses whatsoever. Yet an estimated 78% of adults online engage in social media, nearly double just two years ago. Marketers shouldn’t be asking whether they can turn this information-rich reservoir of insights into fuel to accelerate their business: They should be asking how they can do so. The approach I recommend consists of three core activities: listen, leverage and engage.

• Email

  Four Often-Overlooked E-mail Metrics

  Some metrics, such as open rates, get much more scrutiny than they arguably warrant. Others, though, are criminally overlooked.

• Agencies

  IBM to Acquire Unica for $480 Million

  IBM will acquire Unica, a marketing software developer, for about $480 million.

• Agencies

  Data Services Inc. Names Bridges to International Post

  Data Services Inc., a database marketing services company, has named Mark bridges senior director, international sales and business development.

• Agencies

  Octagon Hires Two to Expand Event/Hospitality Services

  Sports and entertainment marketing agency, Octagon, has hired two industry veterans to expand its events and hospitality services

• Agencies

  Jamba Juice CMO on the Brands First Professional Sports Partnership

  Jamba Juice has launched its first professional sports league relationship, choosing the Women’s National Basketball Association to move forward its strategy to tie its brand to fitness and healthy nutrition

• Agencies

  Q&A: BlueHornet’s Susan Tull on E-mail Creative

  E-mail creative is often considered an afterthought: Take what works on the Website, tweak it a bit for the inbox, and hit the