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.

Huntington Bancshares has named Arnold Worldwide lead marketing agency for its flagship brand and its Huntington National chain of retail banks. Terms of the deal, which closed the first week of March, were not disclosed.

Starwood Hotels is conducting an under-the-radar pilot loyalty initiative targeting members of competing loyalty programs. The company is keeping the effort separate from its existing loyalty program, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG).

Vinod Gupta, the founder and former chairman and CEO of recently sold database company Infogroup, has agreed to pay more than $7.4 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges. The SEC alleged that Gupta fraudulently used almost $9.5 million in corporate funds for personal expenses, such as personal jet travel, a yacht, private club memberships and automobiles from 2003 to 2007.

The US Postal Service's plan to reduce home delivery to five days per week faces considerable opposition from some members of Congress and postal employee unions.

The Postal Regulatory Commission said it will hire an actuarial consultant to review the pension-payment system used by the financially strapped US Postal Service. The USPS' Office of Inspector General released a report in January stating that the agency's current pension-funding system resulted in an overpayment of $75 billion from 1972 to 2009.

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.

Digital firm Responsys launched a platform to integrate e-mail marketing and social media on March 16. Client Diapers.com is using the tool to add more social media to its digital marketing mix.

Sharp Electronics is rolling out an integrated campaign to support its upcoming Aquos line of televisions. The company's agency of record, McGarryBowen, created the effort, which has e-mail, display, online video, paid search, social media, print and TV elements.

Aflac launched its first user-generated video contest, called the "10 Second Challenge," on March 18. The competition encourages consumers to submit 10-second videos of themselves explaining exactly what Aflac does for policy holders.

Reader's Digest and Arcadia catalog have made two lists of South African consumers available through manager Acton Direct. The files are new to market.

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.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations released new definitions of what comprises a magazine's digital edition on March 16. The move came after Wired sought review of its iPad version, which will qualify as a "digital replica" under the updated guidelines.

'The New York Times' launched a business-to-business campaign on March 15 to promote its reach among women, professionals and art enthusiasts in the New York market compared to the rival 'Wall Street Journal.'

Bank of America launched an interactive mobile campaign in New York on March 19 to promote its Merrill Lynch Wealth Management unit and create consumer discussion of retirement plans.

Reader's Digest and Arcadia catalog have made two lists of South African consumers available through manager Acton Direct. The files are new to market.

Video game retailer GameStop will begin testing a revamped loyalty program in May. It will also expand its downloadable offerings, according to its March 18 earnings call for the fourth quarter of 2009. Paul Raines, COO of GameStop, said on the call that the retailer plans to incorporate elements of the MegaCard loyalty program by Micromania, a French video game retailer GameStop bought in 2008.

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.

Direct marketers know they can use variable data printing to create highly personalized marketing pieces. Our experts discuss the best ways to segment and measure these VDP efforts to optimize your ROI.

Bottomline Ink, a Perrysburg, OH-based printer, acquired its in-state peer Bolt From The Blue on March 4. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Bottomline's goal is to add direct mail marketing to its transactional printing service-focused business.

On June 25, 2009 at 5:20pm EST, TMZ announced the death of pop star Michael Jackson with a bit.ly link (a shortened link made to post on sites like Twitter). The news shocked the world, and at its peak, the bit.ly URL was getting 42 clicks every second. It's a perfect example of how people want and expect lightning-fast news.

Marketers can reach more than just Facebook friends or Twitter followers with real-time messaging now that search engines index the latest updates from social media sites.