Chief Marketer Staff

• Agencies

  Final Round of $1 Million Doritos Super Bowl Ad Contest Starts

  Doritos is staging the final phase of its $1 million Super Bowl ad challenge, with consumers voting for one of five finalists eligible to win tickets to the Big Game.

• Agencies

  Heinz Reprises its Ketchup Packet Design Contest

  The H. J. Heinz Co. is at it again, calling on grade-school students to create designs for its Heinz Ketchup packets.

• New Car Shoppers to Buy American: Survey

  It should provide some encouragement to the troubled Detroit automakers that results of one recent survey indicate a predisposition among U.S. car shoppers to buy American-made vehicles

• News Brief

  SAPUTO’S: Frigo Cheese Head’s brand is running an on-pack promo tied to “High School Musical 3” where people who purchase two of the cheeses and send in the proofs of purchase

• Two Online Travel Firms Change Top Execs

  Orbitz Worldwide and Travelocity Global have named new company leaders. The two firms are unrelated save for both being in the online travel industry.

• Agencies

  Retail Sales Lead Direct In J. Crew Earnings Drop

  J. Crew has revised its per-share earnings expectations.

• Agencies

  Direct Sales Fall Slightly Faster Than Retail for Williams Sonoma

  Williams Sonoma Inc. generated $729.4 million in sales during the eight weeks leading up to Dec. 28, a 22.6% drop from the $942 million it pulled in during the eight weeks before Dec. 30, 2007.

• Agencies

  Internet Sales Small Bright Spot For JCPenney

  While sales levels for J.C. Penney Company Inc. were below those of 2007

• Agencies

  Poor Returns Service May Affect Future Shopping: Study

  What’s worse than a consumer who has something to return? Hurdles in the return process. And according to a new study, those hurdles are getting higher

• Agencies

  Meet the Broker: Wayne Roimisher, List Strategies Inc.

  This week, Meet the Broker features Wayne Roimisher, a business-to-business specialist with more than a passing concern about business ethics, bogus lists and brokerage commission discounts or “kickbacks”