When search and interactive agency iCrossing launched destination Web sites for Vail Resorts' properties including Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone in Colorado and Heavenly in California and Nevada, the goal was to integrate all of Vail's resorts under one umbrella.

This move came after the 2008 launch of Snow.com, which serves as a hub for all of the resorts, collectively.

I spoke with Matt Windt, senior manager of online marketing and e-commerce for Vail Resorts, who told me that since their launch between September and October of last year, the sites have seen over a 20% increase in traffic during peak periods.

I also chatted with Amy Simpson, iCrossing's VP and managing director of travel and hospitality, who said the new sites have a completely integrated and redesigned booking engine. “There were some products unique to the individual sites, but now they're centralized under one system,” she explained, “and now the interface is the same for all of the sites." The sites are also now able to share information seamlessly with Snow.com. “For example if Heavenly uploaded a set of photos, Snow.com can easily pick and choose which to apply to that site,” Simpson said.

She said the target audience for the sites varies based on geography and where they are in the planning and booking cycle. “If users are searching by location name, we'd direct them to the individual site, but if they're searching for a more general term like ‘ski vacations,' we'd want them to hit Snow.com first.”

She also noted that at the initial launch, the goal for the new sites was customer retention, but with the current economic situation and the skiing industry struggling, the company has shifted to more of a customer acquisition model.

Additionally, she said different locations are typically more interested in certain resorts. “Whereas Vail might be very New York-focused, Keystone tends to be more Texas-focused.”

Once users visit the sites they have the option to sign up for e-mail newsletters as well as opt-in for mobile text communications like updates on weather conditions.

The sites also drive users to enroll in Vail's Peaks Reward program, which allows users to earn points on skiing and dining purchases and then redeem those points for things like lift tickets and ski lessons.  

Windt said that since the relaunch, awareness of the loyalty program and the accessibility of information on the program have also increased significantly.

DMNews constantly reaches out to the direct marketing community -- by phone, in person, e-mail and IM and often a combination of them at once. In that role, we often work with public relations professionals and media contacts, the intermediaries who help us get the right executives on the phone.

We're in the news gathering business. Most of the time, sources and their PR reps are gracious and responsive, even if they don't want to comment on a story. Then there are the bone-headed masters of "what not to do."

This week, one of our reporters encountered a prime example: Mrs. Fields Gifts. Rather than expediting her request, our journalist was met with obstructionist tactics designed to deflect any media contact. Mind you, this was not an investigative piece going after the company for a misstep of some sort. No, it was to speak with their executive about the possibility of writing an expert column for this fine publication. Oh, and on top of that, they're stuck in the 90s.

The e-mail reply to our request is re-printed here. It speaks for itself. (The editor in me can't help but note three grammatical mistakes/typos in the first two sentences. But I digress.):

Thank you for contacting us!  We do not review Marketing request via email or phone. You will need to either mail in or fax in your request on your company or organizations official letter head to:                                            

David Smith
Mrs. Fields Gifts Inc.
1717 S 4800 W
Salt Lake City, UT 84104                                               

Our fax number is 1-801-412-8899 or you can email [e-mail address redacted]. Normally you will receive a response with in 3-6 weeks. Please do not reply to this email. Thank you for choosing Mrs. Fields gifts. Have a great day!                                            

Fax? Letterhead? Snail mail? Three to six WEEKS? Seriously? Um, did I mention we're in the news business? 'Nuff said.

Senator John McCain weighed in on the Census' $2.5 million Super Bowl ad, with fellow Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson joining in with criticism of the effort's $133 million total budget.

The AP reports:

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., tweeted this week that the government "shouldn't be wasting $2.5 million taxpayer dollars to compete with ads for Doritos!" Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., called on the Census Bureau to justify every dollar of its $133 million ad campaign, citing the tight economic times.

The Census says that each 1% increase in the direct mail response rate saves it $85 million.

Draftfcb won the account just over two years ago with no fiscal-related complaint from the Senators that I could find in a Google search. The agency's New York office, which worked on the campaign, laid off 47 employees in 2008. Without this Census account (.8% of the initiative's total budget of $15 billion), that number could've been higher — and preserving jobs has been difficult in this economy.

I wish our Senators would look at the big picture here and see what this relatively small outlay saves in terms of jobs and the ROI it provides for the financially strained US government.

Monster Inc. has acquired HotJobs.com from Yahoo for $225 million in cash. As part of the deal, Monster will provide job content on Yahoo.com's careers section in the US and Canada.

According to comScore, HotJobs averaged 12.6 million unique visitors per month in 2009, and the acquisition boosts Monster's local newspaper alliances from 400 to 1,000.

The annoucement comes just a few days before Monster's cross-channel Super Bowl effort, which includes a TV commercial as well as a social media push.

Yahoo acquired HotJobs from

The Direct Marketing Association is running an integrated campaign, including direct mail, an iPhone app and viral videos, to promote its Echo Awards. The DMA recently called for submissions for the awards.

The playful effort, which pokes fun at other award ceremonies, pretends to promote a fake gala called the “Fiffy Awards.” The fake ceremony gives ridiculous awards such as the “Top Dog in Chihuahua Food Advertising.”

“There are so many award programs out there, and in today's economy, businesses are more careful about where they are spending their money. We are advocating that Echo is one of the awards that you should enter,” said Barbara Parker, awards programs director at the DMA and head of the Echo Awards. “We thought that we would invent silly awards shows and play on the fact that we don't need another irrelevant awards show.”

The direct mail piece, sent this week, is a flat laminate with artwork of a fake trophy for the “Top Dog” award. The mailer calls recipients to “catch the Fiffy” online at www.fiffyawards.com. On the site, visitors can play the game, watch videos of other mock entries and download an iPhone app.

“We believe this is a true 360-degree campaign. It is multichannel and fully integrated, combining mail as well as online components, iPhone apps, social marketing and viral videos,” added Parker. “These are the types of programs and work we want to see in Echoes.”

A display ad runs the length of the righthand side of the site and links to the actual Echo Awards. Using the tag line “The 2010 Echo Awards advocates ‘No more silly awards,'” the site calls companies to submit their work and sign up for e-mail alerts about the awards.

The effort's goal is to drive the number of entries up 10% from last year, said Parker.

The campaign will run through April 24, the deadline for entries. Two additional fake awards mail pieces will go out as well. On February 18, the DMA will send pieces for the “Golden Yawn Awards,” and on March 15 creative will begin for the “Rotten Inbox Awards.” The awards ceremony is scheduled for October 20.

Toy, the New York boutique agency that created the ElfYourself concept for OfficeMax and recently did a cool media piece for J&R that played on common New York City menus, has closed.

Toy is currently wrapping up its obligations to current accounts, which include Virgin Mobile, QVC and the Magazine Publishers of America.

The US Postal Service is planning to triple the size of its greeting card sales test program by the end of March.

The federal agency grew the program from 500 post offices at its inception to about 900 this month, just in time for Valentine's Day. By the end of next month, the USPS will increase the size of the program to about 1,500 branches. The initiative allows consumers to purchase greeting cards – as well as mail them – at post office branches, and it gives the Postal Service an additional revenue stream.

The USPS saw a net loss of $3.8 billion for fiscal year 2009, which ended last September 30. The agency is also in the process of determining what post office branches to close or consolidate.

One of the questions that President Barack Obama tackled yesterday in a YouTube town hall regarded a theoretical privatization of the US Postal Service. His response: privatization of public services is “a bad idea most of the time.”

Obama answered that while some of the Postal Service's operations would be appealing to many businesses, others - for instance, delivering a postcard to a remote area – would be less so.

The USPS ran a net loss of $3.8 billion for its 2009 fiscal year, which ended September 30.

The president also took on green energy and health insurance during the session, according to the Chicago Tribune's The Swamp politics blog.