Q&As

The U.S. Postal Service has proposed service standards for its market-dominant products, something it must establish by Dec. 20.

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. will acquire Cardinal Brands Inc., a designer, developer and manufacturer of business forms, for $130 million.

Canada Post has launched Direct Marketing Online (www.directmarketingonline.ca), a service designed to give small and medium-sized businesses online access to marketing tools once reserved for big-budget enterprises.

A watch dog group is up in arms over a McDonald’s Happy Meal promotion, saying the fast food chain is luring young girls into its restaurants with “highly sexualized” toys.

Premium tequila maker Partida is rolling out an integrated brand campaign that incorporates viral video, podcasts, blogs, a revamped Web site, live bartending events, and, just for good measure, traditional print advertising.

Hasbro is setting up a temporary Littlest Pet Shop boutique in New York City to promote the brand’s newly launched Virtual Interactive Pets (VIP) plush line.

Shelly Lazarus well remembers when she first considered taking the top spot at OgilvyOne. Her friends thought she was crazy to leave her position managing the prestigious American Express account to delve into the world of direct marketing.

If direct marketers needed a reason to puff out their chests, new economic figures have provided it: At $173.2 billion in expenditures predicted for 2007, DM will make up more than half of all U.S. advertising spending, according to new Direct Marketing Association research. Total advertising spending is forecast as $340.4 billion for this year.

The Communications Workers Union, the labor group for U.K. postal workers, said Tuesday that it has called off strikes against Royal Mail as it mulls over a draft agreement reached last Friday.

Shelly Lazarus well remembers when she first considered taking the top spot at OgilvyOne. Her friends thought she was crazy to leave her position managing the prestigious American Express account to delve into the world of direct marketing.