Mary Elizabeth Hurn

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.

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.

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).

EZ Street Company, a producer of temperature-resistant asphalt, launched a direct mail campaign on March 17 targeting media and government officials. The company is using the effort, called "the spoken wheel," to drive attention to the state of US roads and urge state and federal authorities to increase funding for America's highway infrastructure.

CCMP Capital Advisors, which bought Infogroup for $635 million on March 8, plans to continue Omaha, NE-based Infogroup's transition from database company to full-service direct marketing firm. The acquisition, expected to close this summer, will result in Infogroup becoming a private company.

Christopher & Banks, a women's clothing specialty retailer, has launched its "Friendship Rewards" multichannel loyalty program. The initiative, announced March 9, will span the company's more than 800 retail locations and two e-commerce sites.

Festiva Hospitality Group will roll out benefit packages for its recently launched Adventure Club Loyalty Program on April 1.

CCMP Capital Advisors, which bought Infogroup for $635 million on March 8, plans to continue Omaha, NE-based Infogroup's transition from database company to full-service direct marketing firm.

T-Mobile USA has launched a Web and mobile sweepstakes targeting Hispanic soccer fans in the US. The campaign, titled "El Llamado del Futbol" — "The Call of Soccer" in English — was designed to engage subscribers and non-subscribers and to grow the company's e-mail and mobile databases.

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.