July 20, 2012
Publicis Groupe had a 15.5% gain in revenue in the second quarter to nearly $2 billion, the holding company stated in its H1 2012 earnings report. Organic growth was significantly lower, weighing it at 1.6%.
January 01, 2012
AG Salesworks increased staff by 50% in 2011 and plans to hire a comparable amount of new staff in 2012. In these difficult economic times, we're fortunate to work in an industry that continues to experience steady growth.
December 01, 2011
Despite the still-shaky economy, marketers continue to increase their investments in search engine marketing, according to several reports. Two of our Plug-ins experts this month provide their best advice on how to look at navigating the retargeting landscape. Our third expert provides best practices for maximizing search in holiday marketing campaigns in the e-commerce arena.
Santa is going social, and mobile appears to be king when it comes to shopping this holiday season, according to a study conducted Oct. 11-14 by Shopper Sciences, a marketing consultancy unit of the Interpublic Group of Companies' Mediabrands.
ZenithOptimedia has revised down its 2011 global advertising spending forecast by half a percentage point due to slower economic recovery in developing markets and continued fears of a double-dip recession. Still, total ad investment for this year is expected to grow 3.6% to $466 billion, up from $450 billion last year, with digital media continuing to drive growth.
September 01, 2011
First, debt-ceiling negotiations in Washington, DC went down to the wire. Then Standard & Poor's downgraded the United States' credit rating, prompting a roller-coaster stretch for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. In response, marketers pondered if the economy was entering the second valley of a double-dip recession, or whether the market volatility was just another bump in a slow recovery.
Four business executives said they survived the "Great Recession" by returning to direct marketing fundamentals, while speaking during a July 14 panel discussion at the MeritDirect Business Mailers's Co-op and Interactive Marketing Conference.
March 01, 2011
The postal rate increase coming this spring is not expected to have a significant effect on direct mail marketing plans this year, thanks to its size and timing.
Digital marketers have higher average salaries than those specializing in offline channels, said executive recruitment firm Crandall Associates this week. The burgeoning online channel has produced positions for which executives can "write their own ticket," said Wendy Weber, president of Crandall Associates.
February 01, 2011
Direct and digital marketing job seekers will fare better this year than prospects throughout the rest of the US economy, industry experts said.
February 01, 2011
Business has slowly picked up at direct marketing agencies over the past year, particularly as existing clients have boosted marketing spending or sought additional services from agency partners.
February 01, 2011
Imagine circulating in a virtual environment online with business executives from around the world. Your virtual briefcase is filled with presentations, documents and business cards and you're mingling with exhibitor booth representatives in a virtual showroom.
December 01, 2010
E-mail service providers have found a new way to acquire customers in the small business category, a cost-conscious group, by way of an age-old marketing tactic: free samples
December 01, 2010
Rising oil prices followed by a brutal recession that saw a plunge in both business and leisure travel threatened the airline industry as a whole over the last few years.
November 01, 2010
Financial doomsday scenarios at the USPS, coupled with advancements in customer communications, are forcing marketers to prepare for a day when the US Mail is a far smaller piece of their business plans.
October 01, 2010
Merkle's Tim Berry and Queensboro Shirt Company's Fred Myers weigh in on acquisition marketing.
The median length of unemployment for direct marketers has reached 12 months, up from an average of 6.5 months a year ago, according to a survey from Bernhart Associates Executive Search.
May 17, 2010
On January 2, 1971, the ban on cigarette advertising created a huge drop in television advertising revenue to the tune of about $270 million. The recent recession created a similar decline. In both instances, direct response advertisers rode to the rescue.
May 03, 2010
Executives and hiring experts explain why agencies are back on the recruiting trail after last year's hiring freezes.
Slightly more than half of direct marketing professionals plan to increase their marketing spend this year, according to the Direct Marketing Association's (DMA) latest Quarterly Business Review.
February 01, 2010
Retail sales will increase by 2.5% this year compared with 2009 due to positive signs in the housing and employment sectors, according to the National Retail Federation in its forecast released last week.
Magna Global Forecasting and Analysis projected this week that overall advertising revenue will level out after the first quarter of this year, with direct channels continuing to gain market share. Direct mail is slated to grow 4% year-over-year in 2010, though its 11.6% decrease in 2009 means it won't catch up to its previous peak levels for several years.
It is a new year, but one in which direct and digital marketers continue to watch marketing budgets and exercise caution by sticking with proven and efficient marketing channels. Many companies remain more inclined to keep close to their existing customers rather than experiment with lofty acquisition strategies.
October 26, 2009
Add Toys "R" Us to the list of retailers that recently introduced or reintroduced in-store layaway — a service that had been eliminated by many retailers.
The job market for direct and digital marketers is recovering more quickly than the rest of the nation, according to statistics released on October 13 by executive placement firm Bernhart Associates. The survey, which tallied the responses of 359 companies from September 28 to October 12, found that 30% of respondents said they will add staff members during the remainder of 2009, up 10% from the third quarter.
October 12, 2009
The economy will be top of mind for attendees at this year's Direct Marketing Association annual conference in San Diego, but direct marketers also see advantages and opportunities
October 12, 2009
When you start to hear rumors of economic recovery and growth in the market, hiring isn't far behind. Online advertising and e-commerce hiring managers are looking forward to bringing fresh faces in to capitalize on that growth.
September 28, 2009
A US Postal Service proposal to close office branches to cut costs at the financially troubled agency is making news headlines and has resulted in small uproars on the local level.
September 14, 2009
Direct marketing pros have it worse than your average American when it comes to finding a job, according to a recent survey published by Bernhart Associates Executive Search.
What's in our mailbox this month: fitness postcards from Retro Fitness, American Woman Fitness Centers, Union's United Taekwondo Academy, and Bally Total Fitness. (We're totally pumped.)
Social data can improve a brand's bottom line and customer relationships. Just ask brands Infiniti and Diamond Nexus.
Here are three must-have data sets that every marketer should include in his or her email strategy.
