• restaurants Culver's Goes National With Oscar Ad by Aaron Baar

    The marketing effort will also include radio and in-store graphics. The company is also trying its hand at social media and grassroots marketing, having started a Twitter feed and a Facebook fan page. "We still aren't sure that it works for quick-service restaurants, because so much of the buying is impulse," VP Chris Contino says. "But we're hoping to hit on something that makes sense." ...Read the whole story

  • financial services AmEx Gets Real, Offers Rewards Like Gas by Les Luchter

    Membership reward members were alerted to the addition of large home appliances through a recent mailing, while the other new program choices were incorporated into the new 2009 program guide, also mailed to members. ...Read the whole story

  • spirits New Skyy Flavor Looks To Ride Tiki Trend by Karlene Lukovitz

    While acknowledging that "this might seem a rather strange time to innovate," Skyy Vodka Senior Brand Manager Jason Daniel says that the brand's "rather dramatic" step of replacing its existing flavored vodka line with Infusions is proving very much on the money precisely because of consumers' proclivity to indulge in relatively inexpensive "mini-vacations" in lieu of the real thing. ...Read the whole story

  • retail ComScore: Online Sales Up, Concerns Linger by Mark Walsh

    "One has to wonder whether we're at a tipping point for distribution vehicles for coupons as newspaper readers decline and they shift attention to the Internet," says chairman Gian Fulgoni. In that vein, surfing the Internet was the activity the highest proportion of respondents said they were spending more time doing to relieve stress from the economic downturn, just ahead of watching TV. ...Read the whole story

  • retail Miserable Economy Makes For Happier Customers by Sarah Mahoney

    "Despite heavy discounting during the holiday season, the bulk of the improvement in ACSI was actually due to better customer service," writes a professor at the University of Michigan. "It is likely that sales staff tried harder to please customers because of the economic situation and fear of unemployment. It is also possible that store traffic decreased to the point that there were more personnel per customer than usual." ...Read the whole story

  • Who's Using Hair Conditioner? by

    1 Laredo, Texas 2 Lexington, Ky. 3 Columbus/ Tupelo/ West Point, Miss. 4 Bowling Green, Ky. 5 Detroit 6 Jackson, Miss. 7 Seattle/ Tacoma 8 ... ...More

insight Brands Poised For Engagement During Oscars by Robert Passikoff

The Academy Awards are called "The Super Bowl for Women," but female ratings have been on the decline. And while it's the second-most viewed TV ... ...More

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