Q&As

Direct mortgage lender Ditech.com is leveraging its NASCAR sponsorship with a sweepstakes that dangles a $50,000 room remodel as the grand prize. Race fans and home decorating enthusiasts can enter the Ultimate Racing Room Challenge at Ditechracing.com. …

DINERS CLUB: is attempting a comeback for its card created in 1950 as a way for executives to pay for meals when cash was not handy. The new card will enable customers to use the card at any merchant that accepts MasterCard, tripling the locations where …

Toyota Motors USA subsidiary Scion is running a ride-and-drive event for the third straight year. But this year’s events are taking place in smaller cities and at places its Generation Y target are more likely to hang out. Just three weeks into …

When it comes to planning a vacation, some consumers may forget to thank the middleman responsible for tying it all together—the travel agent. So, Thrifty Car Rental is helping consumers pay homage to their travel agents via a story contest, which …

The American Dairy Association/National Dairy Council this week breaks its second 3-A-Day of Dairy campaign with tie-ins to the Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest and People Magazine. The spring 2004 effort, ADA’s first promo positioning dairy as a weight-loss …

Taco Bell is out with a national beverage promotion dangling 1 million pesos for customers who drink its exclusive Mountain Dew Baja Blast. The sweeps is the first major promotion since the new beverage, created with Pepsi, the maker of Mountain Dew …

Blues music is the latest offering under a new sweepstakes at McDonald’s Corp., which gives consumers a chance to win tickets to the House of Blues concerts. McDonald’s is teaming up for its first-ever partnership with live music brand House of Blues to …

The Los Angeles Times, a unit of Tribune Publishing Co., expects to spend $8 million this year for a database and direct marketing program to increase newspaper circulation in Southern California.

Victoria’s Secret Adopts Travel Theme The annual Swim catalog from Victoria’s Secret has an atypical theme this year, depicting beachy Latin American locations that suggest travel. A dreamy seaside sunset on the cover serves as a backdrop for a model in …

Direct mail is playing an ever-larger role in promotion. Whether for coupons or sample distribution, building buzz for product discounts or driving consumers to the Web to try online sweeps, direct marketing is the name of the game.