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Best Buy’s (BBY) Twelpforce consists of 21,100 employees who respond to customer tweets about consumer electronics via Twitter. To date, the Twelpforce has delivered advice in the form of 12,314 tweets to its 13,398 followers. Brandweek 10/31/09
Starbucks (STBX) will launch a new customer loyalty card program, called My Starbucks Rewards, on Dec. 26, 2009. The program will consolidate Starbucks Card Rewards and Starbucks Gold card. It has no annual fee, allows members to use one registered card (any Starbucks Card) and provides customized rewards, that increase with frequency of use. Chain Store Age 10/30/09
The Federal Drug Administration has notified Proctor & Gamble (PG) that the company’s marketing two of its Vicks-branded over-the-counter medications—Vicks DayQuil Plus Vitamin C and Vicks Nyquil Plus Vitamin C—violate FDA guidelines by portraying products as both a cold medication as well as a dietary supplement. Brandweek 10/30/09
Target (TGT) has cut 85 marketing jobs, about 8% of its 1,100 employees in that department.The recession has hurt Target because much of its revenue comes from fashionable nonessentials such as home decor and clothing. Chain Store Age 10/30/09
To introduce a leather-scented deodorant called Axe Instinct, Unilever (UL) is paying street musicians $1,000 to put up “Axe Instinct” signs, offer free deodorant samples when they play and, a few times a day, sing a ‘ditty’ “Look Good in Leather” that Axe is using in its commercials. NYTimes 10/29/09
Less and less individuals are trying out Bing says a study by online ad network Chitika. In looking at network traffic from August through the first half of October, it appears that although Bing's share of search impressions has declined at a steady rate, the number of users coming through Microsoft's (MSFT) decision engine has declined much more quickly.
In August, over 8% of search engine users and 6.7% of search traffic came from Bing. Since then, however, Microsoft's impressions share has dropped to 5.44%, and the user share has decreased even more significantly, to 6.28%. Chitika, Inc. 10/29/09
Videos posted on YouTube over the past two months featuring “the world’s fastest nudist” show a man, “clad only in running shoes, tube socks, and a strategically positioned frontward fanny pack” running through high-profile locations in New York City. Turns out the viral videos are a campaign for Zappos.The revelation comes too late for CNN and other media outlets who didn’t realize the runner was really an actor and included him in interviews and news stories. NYTimes.com 10/28/09
“United Breaks Guitars” musician Dave Carroll flew United Airlines (UAUA) last Sunday, and guess what? The airline lost his luggage. Carroll was on United because it was the only carrier with service from Canada to Colorado Springs where he had a speaking engagement. United located his luggage and returned it to him---the following Wednesday. NYTimes 10/28/09
Despite the inexpensive pricing, marketers are finding that brand advertising on social networkingsites isn’t a great deal because it’s either resented or ignored. Turns out that “members of social networks want to spend time with friends, not brands.” New York Times 12/13/08
Concerned about getting the best results for their money in a tight economy, some marketers plan to reduce online display advertising in favor of more immediate results, such as PPC or search. However, the results of a study conducted by SpecificMedia indicates display advertising may help to boost search advertising results by making it more likely that consumers will search by brand and segment terms such as “BMW”and “635CSi.” Marketing Charts 12/08/08
Mobile advertising reaches coveted affluent and young audiences, is measurable, and relatively inexpensive but spending is not expected to grow much in 2009 because it is still in the experimental stages. Adweek 12/01/08
The recessionary climate has increased the number of Fortune 500 firms seeking to barter goods, services and underperforming assets, such as real estate leases on closed stores, for ads. Adweek, 12/01/08
I sure hope the folks at “Cuil” (pronounced “Cool”) have thick skin. The search engine upstart debuted on Monday to mostly scornful reviews which had to be a little bit of surprise. They must have wondered where all the folks were that had been clamoring for a Google killer.
Cuil says they index 120 billion Web pages (Google says they’re still bigger,) 3x more than any other search engine. And privacy advocates will be pleased that Cuil doesn’t retain personal user information. They’re definitely worth a look. http://www.Cuil.com. Source: Cuil/PRNewswire
Seafood restaurant brand Bonefish Grill is debuting “Bonefish Grill's NOTES FROM THE ROAD” on August giving viewers a glimpse of life on the road for musicians on tour. Each hour-long episode is shot on location at a Bonefish Grill. Upcoming guests include: 3 Doors Down, Josh Kelley, Gavin DeGraw, Vanessa Carlton, The Bravery, Ben Folds, Jason Mraz and Matisyahu.
Oh, and each episode will include a segment highlighting Ocean Trust, an award-winning ocean conservation foundation that builds science, conservation and industry partnerships for the sustainability of the oceans and provides a link to sustainable fisheries, wildlife and the environment. Nice, integrated green strategy that goes way beyond the predictable. Green or not, who wouldn’t want to tune in? Image credits: Jason Mraz talks about his career and life on the road during the taping of Bonefish Grill's "Notes from the Road, Denver. (PRNewsFoto/Bonefish Grill) Bonefish Grill logo. (PRNewsFoto/Bonefish Grill) Source: Bonefish Grill/PRNewswire)
Alas, things aren’t looking quite as sunshiney for other restaurant brands as food and labor costs, bloated market share, high gas prices and anemic consumer spending kick Metromedia to the curb. The company has filed for Chapter 7 and shut down 50 or so Steak and Ale restuarants and 150 Bennigan’s. About 138 domestic and international franchisee-owned restaurants will remain open, and the closures don’t affect Ponderosa and Bonanza restaurants which operate under a different company. Sources: Wall Street Journal, 7/29/08, (May require Subscription), Bennigan's Franchising Company, L.P.; Steak & Ale Franchising Company, L.P./PRNewswire
Oh please---another brand goes [yawn] green. But wait…it’s not what you think: Researcher comScore is planting $1 million+ trees in developing nations retain Internet users in its global panel. Anything’s better than the “and you’ll be entered into a drawing to win” spiel that many online research companies use to try to draw you in. comScore Press Release 7/29/08
More bad news from Starbucks. The company is cutting 1,000 jobs in addition to the 600 store closures announced earlier this month in what AdAge says insiders are calling a “bloodbath.” AdAge, 7/29/08
Cross-channel shopping, also referred to as ‘precision shopping,’ ‘multi-channel shopping,’ or ‘web-influenced offline sales,’ describes the practice of shoppers researching a product or service online, e.g. keyword search, retail websites, etc., and then purchasing the product or service at a bricks and mortar store.
According to eMarketer estimates, 2007 store sales influenced by online research (also referred to as ‘web-influenced sales,’ ‘offline sales,’ or ‘precision shopping’) totaled $471 billion, 3.5 times higher than comparative retail e-commerce sales of just $136 billion.
Both eMarketer and Forrester Research highlight the growing importance of utilizing web marketing to reach cross-channel shoppers because of the appeal of cross-channels shopping to buyers; they can obtain a product immediately, see and touch it before they buy, and avoid shipping costs.
Excite is a metasearch engine and among the Internet's most personalized portals featuring a completely customizable start page. Excite features comprehensive search tools, a popular Webmail platform and robust content and resources from over 100 leading providers.
Clustyqueries several top search engines, combines the results, and generates an ordered list based on comparative ranking. This "metasearch" approach helps raise the best results to the top and push search engine spam to the bottom.
Clusty then groups similar results together into clusters. Clusters help you see your search results by topic so you can zero in on exactly what you’re looking for or discover unexpected relationships between items.
Concerned about getting the best results for their money in a tight economy, some marketers plan to reduce online display advertising in favor of more immediate results, such as PPC or search. However, the results of a study conducted by 
I sure hope the folks at “Cuil” (pronounced “Cool”) have thick skin. The search engine upstart debuted on Monday to mostly scornful reviews which had to be a little bit of surprise. They must have wondered where all the folks were that had been clamoring for a Google killer.
Seafood restaurant brand Bonefish Grill is debuting “Bonefish Grill's NOTES FROM THE ROAD” on August giving viewers a glimpse of life on the road for musicians on tour. Each hour-long episode is shot on location at a Bonefish Grill. Upcoming guests include: 3 Doors Down, Josh Kelley, Gavin DeGraw, Vanessa Carlton, The Bravery, Ben Folds, Jason Mraz and Matisyahu. 
Oh, and each episode will include a segment highlighting Ocean Trust, an award-winning ocean conservation foundation that builds science, conservation and industry partnerships for the sustainability of the oceans and provides a link to sustainable fisheries, wildlife and the environment. Nice, integrated green strategy that goes way beyond the predictable. Green or not, who wouldn’t want to tune in?
