Haggar Clothing Co. has selected Austin, Tex.-based McGarrah Jessee as its Agency of Record to assist in guiding the company’s branding efforts.“Consumers are looking for well-made clothing at reasonable prices from brands they trust, without having to sacrifice on style,” said Jon Ragsdale, Senior VicePresident, Marketing & Merchandising at Haggar, in a statement. “We believe McGarrah Jessee understands that vision and is the perfect partner for us to help showcase a rich heritage and innovative new product lines to our loyal fans and to future customers.”

Barcode technology company Scanbuy today reported the number of active users for its scanning technology increased 300% during the third quarter from a year ago. There has also been a 39% increase in the average number of scans per code, and more than 20 million scans have been processed through its ScanLife system this year through September. The single best QR code marketing campaign had nearly 428,000 scans in six weeks. Women now make up 43% of the total barcode scanning audience, up from 30% a year ago.

KISS frontman, actor and entrepreneur Gene Simmons will keynote the Mobile Marketing Association's MMA Forum Nov. 17 in Los Angeles. The MMA said Simmons and his business partner, Ortsbo President David Lucatch, will "talk to marketers about the need to start speaking in the language of their customers."

The Wall Street Journal remains the No. 1 newspaper in the U.S., according to the latest figures released today by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC). The Journal once again leads all daily newspapers in total average circulation, which includes both print and digital, rising 1.7% to 2,096,170 (September 2011) from 2,061,141 (September 2010).

MTV's second "O Music Awards," which recognizes artists impacting digital music, nearly doubled the live stream numbers of its inaugural event in April, and generated more than 22.2 million user votes. The event, which was sponsored by Dove go fresh Deodorant, Dance Central 2 for Xbox, Trojan, and L'Oreal, also featured a special tribute to late Apple chief Steve Jobs.

Yahoo announced Tuesday it has agreed to acquire behavioral targeting network interclick for about $270 million in cash. The Web portal said the move would enhance its data targeting and optimization capabilities, and provide new premium inventory supply drawn from disparate sources. "This investment underscores our focus on enhancing the performance of both our guaranteed and non-guaranteed display business across Yahoo and our partner sites and, combined with Yahoo's reach and advertising leadership, will deliver a powerful solution for marketers," said Ross Levinsohn, EVP, Americas region. Through its Open Segment Manager (OSM) data-valuation platform, interclick aims to help marketers boost …

Kantar Media announced that access to its Web-based services has been restored. Earlier today Kantar reported that its Web-based access and email communications were disrupted by power outages caused by the winter storm that hit the Northeast over the weekend.

Mobile app analytics and advertising firm Flurry has added a new feature that lets developers retarget ads to iOS device users who have previously downloaded one of their apps. The company says the new targeting capability helps developers solve the problem of maintaining traffic to apps, post-download. In a blog post today, the company argues that making lists of top-ranked apps as a promotional strategy only works for attracting first-time users. "Only when compelling ways of connecting with existing app users are established, that allow the easy re-launch of an app, can app makers address retention through marketing, and fully …

Call it a throwback kind of Christmas: Toys R Us has kicked off its holiday ad campaign with two commercials from the ‘80s, which it says leverages nostalgia for both the brand and Geoffrey, its spokes-giraffe.   The Wayne, N.J.-based chain, which also just mailed its holiday catalog, says it is also running spots that feature exclusive toys. Ads kicked off on network TV over Halloween weekend.   "We believe our holiday marketing campaign speaks strongly to our toy authority position today and with the generations of kids who grew up with the Toys R Us brand," Greg Ahearn, CMO, …

The surprising winter storm that hit the Northeast over the weekend caused power outages that have temporarily affected access to the web-based products of WPP's Kantar Media research unit, including competitive ad intelligence services such as Stradegy, MarketAdvisor, Ad$pender, MagAdvisor, AdDetector and AdScope, the company said in a notice sent to clients this morning.