Carol Krol

Several companies debuted products this week at the DMA: 2010 Conference & Expo, including UMarketing, US Monitor, V12 Group and OgilvyOne Worldwide.

Direct Marketing News has learned that Infogroup has appointed Natalia Lorenzo VP of marketing. She replaced Glenn Prettyman in the role last month.

Acxiom will announce October 7 that it has created AbiliTec Digital, a web-based component to its 10-year-old data integration product.

Welcome to our new monthly edition of Direct Marketing News. In addition to this 76-page issue, we have reengineered the website and introduced an iPad edition with exclusive material. We have also employed quick response codes.

Bonin Bough, PepsiCo, global director, digital and social media discusses PepsiCo's recent social media campaign

Digital and direct marketing agency Rosetta said September 20 that it has acquired Level Studios, an integrated marketing and product development agency. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

As DMNews embarks on its rebranding, it is a good time to reflect on our industry. I've witnessed enormous change in direct marketing in my 14 years covering this industry as a journalist, from my cub reporter days at Advertising Age through my current role as steward of the DMNews brand.

After an exhaustive, six-month-long search, the Direct Marketing Association named Lawrence Kimmel president and CEO. Kimmel was chairman and CEO of Grey Direct from 2000 to 2008, before it was renamed G2 Direct & Digital, and prior to that logged time as EVP at Draft Worldwide and president of Unimark, a direct marketing agency he founded.

Among many errands today was a trip to Bloomingdale's to return a pair of trousers. I walked up to the counter in the DKNY clothing section, and as I approached, two employees behind the counter murmured to each other: One said, "It's your turn," to which her co-worker replied, "No, you take this one."

The marketing implications and opportunities presented by social media are dominating the marketing conversation right now, but marketers continue to struggle with ways to deploy social media, maintain a presence in social networking circles, integrate social advertising with other media channels and monetize those efforts.