Casual restaurant franchiser Einstein Noah Restaurant Group has named Young & Rubicam Chicago agency of record for its Einstein Bros. Bagels brand. The agency will handle creative, digital and media buying.

Online footwear and apparel retailer Zappos.com launched an advertising campaign on March 18 using puppets to promote its approach to customer service. The year-long effort, called "Zappets," was created by Boston ad agency Mullen.

Barnes & Noble is running a Web-focused campaign to promote the March 23 release of "Matterhorn," a book published by Grove/Atlantic and El León Literary Arts. The retailer is employing e-mail, paid search, banner ads on BarnesandNoble.com, in-store signage and social media to promote the book, written by Marine Corps veteran Karl Marlantes.

Local search engine Superpages.com began feeding its clients' coupons to city-specific Twitter accounts on March 18.

Footlocker.com launched a package insert program on March 18 through manager Zed Marketing Group. The program reaches people who order from the footwear company's e-commerce site.

DMNews gathered the best and the brightest young superstars in the direct, database and interactive marketing industry for its second annual 30 Under 30 feature. These successful up-and-comers were judged on their ability to initiate change, drive growth and achieve measurable results for their companies and clients. While these honored executive are not ranked per se, the top 10 we feel are particularly innovative standouts who deserve special mention.

Ted Schweitzer, VP of e-commerce at parent LQ Management, discusses how La Quinta Inns and Suites tested mobile banner ads as part of a multichannel campaign and increased sales

The quality of contact data is vital to any direct marketing effort. Marketers are masters at developing catchy, well-positioned campaign messages. But if that message never reaches the intended recipient, then the effort is wasted.

First impressions mean everything, especially in business marketing, but they have to be sustained. Your message should be reinforced—many times, and in multiple channels—until the decision maker you want to influence sees you as a recognizable brand.

Although e-mail marketing has been a global business for years, numerous US-based vendors are now growing their presence in the Asia-Pacific marketplace. This week, e-mail firm StrongMail extended its small footprint in the region through a partnership with XCOM Media.

Integration of e-mail and social media took shape in 2009 with the inclusion of e-mail links allowing users to share content on social networks. Now companies like Flowtown are enabling marketers to append data to e-mail addresses based on information obtained through social profiles.