Q&As

Gander Mountain Co., the outdoors cataloger, has acquired Overton’s Inc. from Linsalata Capital Partners for $70 million.

Nine out of 10 shoppers said a convenient returns policy is either important or somewhat important when deciding whether or not to shop with an unknown online merchant or cataloger, according to a study commissioned by returns management firm Newgistics.

It’s mid-December. Direct marketers are reaping the rewards of the Christmas catalogs they started mailing last January. An unfortunate few are planning the final panicked e-mail blasts for the holiday 2007 season.

Old Navy is giving people a chance to win money to buy items on their holiday wish list.

Cable network Bravo is extending its restaurant-based reality series “Top Chef” with a mobile phone game that lets users work their way up wirelessly from dishwasher to five-star chef.

For corporate sponsors playing the National Collegiate Athletic Association sponsorship game, the tactical caveat is pushing the brand without beating students and alumni over the head with their presence.

Southwest Airlines is using the Bowl Championship Series as a launching pad for its latest TV ads promoting changes in service.

Hertz is hoping to boost car rentals by offering Nickelodeon content on pre-loaded media players.

Today we meet Patrick Patten, vice president of list brokerage at Statlistics in the Ventura, CA office. Patten is a seasoned broker and direct marketer who has sourced postal lists in many categories over the years.

Big-name marketers, including Kodak, The Dial Corp. and Pedigree have signed on to sponsor the newest version of “The Apprentice,” which returns in January.