Q&As

Scholastic and its “I Spy” brand celebrated 20 years last week with an event in New York City around the classic cadence of riddles and clues that are found among the pages of the beloved series.

It was February when rapper Lupe Fiasco twittered his large base of followers that something big would happen in New York’s Union Square on a certain day. About 2,000 fans gathered, most expecting to see Fiasco perform, but were instead greeted with a …

The growing popularity of online daily deal sites are contributing to a decline in consumer e-mail list prices, according to Worldata’s just-released spring 2011 list price index.

I have been a direct and database marketing consultant since 1984. In all that time, one consistent verity is that most internal information technology departments think they can – and should – be responsible for the marketing database. In many instances, the IT department has no idea what it is talking about.

Welcome to Broker Roundtable, where each week we ask list brokers to give their opinions on issues that matter to the marketing community. This week’s question: How reliable is data from social media for predicting buying behavior?

A revamped website better highlighting maritime transport firm Crowley Corp.

After several years of many companies being corporate homebodies, anecdotal evidence suggests that B-to-B marketers are starting to ramp up their live event schedules.

Over the last 10 or 12 years at IndyCar racetracks there had been some type of fan village footprint for sponsors, but it was limited and didn’t fit the growth of the sport.

Coupons are hot, and given the persistent hang of the “new frugality”, they seem likely to remain so for a good while. But getting those coupons into the hands of shoppers who will redeem them

Some businesses can survive with a once-a-year customer visit pattern. Swimwear vendors and Christmas tree sellers come to mind.

Restaurants have a harder go of it.

“We were considered a destination restaurant,” says Rafael Barbosa, marketing manager for Fire + Ice, a small chain of grilled-at-your-table eateries. “Bachelorette parties, birthdays. We weren’t considered a restaurant you would go to every week, or twice a week.”

As it happened, even as little as twice a month would have been an improvement.