Chief Marketer Staff

• Showtime Launches Promo For Live Usher Concert

  Showtime Networks has launched a promotion around its upcoming live concert featuring R&B star Usher as part of the network’s “Big Fat Free Preview Weekend” to entice new subscribers Showtime to promote Usher’s upcoming live concert The network is …

• Google Leads Search Market Share…for Now

  Even though Google’s online search engine market share is dominant today, there is significant opportunity for its competitors to grow their share. Some 58% of Google searchers also visited at least one of the other top two search engines, MSN Search …

• Agencies

  Pampers Honors Babies in Film, Ties-in Sweeps

  Hillary Swank may have won an Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in Million Dollar Baby, but there were other babies out there looking to take top honors in film. Pampers has just honored the five best performances by babies in a film selected …

• New Agency Puts Ads on Betting Receipts

  There is a new agency in town. A sample ad on a racetrack betting receipt Blaze Media, Water Mill, NY, puts four-color ads on betting receipts issued at racetracks and betting parlors across the country. The ads target a predominantly male audience as …

• News Briefs

  CHEVRONTEXACO: has renewed an agreement to raise public awareness and funding for autism education and advocacy through its NASCAR sponsorship program, Driving Autism Awareness, in part through matching donations of $42 for every lap that driver Jamie …

• Start-up Web Ad Network Raises $11.5 Million

  BlueLithium Inc., a San Jose, CA-based Web site advertising network has completed raising $11.5 million in venture capital financing that it plans to use for expanding in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Two venture capital firms Walden VAC and 3i organized the investment.

• Tiffany Says Annual DM Sales Declined 1%

  Tiffany & Co. reported its direct marketing sales rose 6% to $81.4 million in the fourth quarter that ended Jan. 31. Annual direct marketing sales for fiscal year that ended Jan. 31 declined 1% to $195.4 million.

• Verizon Dedicates $25 Million Call Center

  Yesterday, Verizon Wireless dedicated a new 150,000-square-foot call center in North Charleston, SC. The $25 million facility is located in a building that formerly housed a Montgomery Ward store.

• Search Engine Group Elects Board of Directors

  The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPRO), based in Palo Alto, CA, has elected a board of directors comprised of eight new members and re-elected five incumbent directors.

• People in the News

  Barry Gilbert, CEO of Smith & Hawkin Ltd. has joined the board of directors of Informative Inc., a Brisbane, CA-based marketing technology and services firm.