Kohl's Department Stores will increase its investment in digital media by 25% this holiday season. The chain will also boost the amount of mailings to Kohl's Charge Card users, including distributing a men's holiday gift guide in select markets.

Chicken fast-food franchise El Pollo Loco conducted a 24-hour-long contest on October 26 that gave one customer free chicken for a year. The promotion was developed on short notice after the company heard about rival KFC's plans to give consumers a free piece of chicken the same day, said Julie Weeks, VP of communications at El Pollo Loco.

Extrovertic and Virilion announced a joint venture on October 28, called EV Healthcare, to help healthcare companies implement digital and social media marketing campaigns. The service, based in New York, has just begun marketing to prospective clients, said Pfizer veteran Dorothy Wetzel, co-founder and executive marketer at Extrovertic.

Colin Kinsella, currently the chief innovation officer at Razorfish, was appointed president for North America at Digitas, effective January 1, 2010. Both agencies are owned by Publicis Groupe. He will oversee the company's North American operations and report directly to Laura Lang, CEO.

The Institute of Management Accountants awarded Infocus management of its member list October 27. The previous list manager was Aggressive List Management.

Julie Petroski, VP, group creative director at Targetbase talks about the latest campaigns from Supershoes.com, Rubbermaid and Inkubook

In this week's Toolbox entries, Philip Delong of Daz Media covers using social media to generate leads. Also,Greg Osenga, of Hawkeye discusses a popular personalization tactic in the recession.

Omniture is a data company that works with hundreds of technology vendors, including ExactTarget and Silverpop to help combine data with digital channels. It recently partnered with ComScore to help media planners have better audience measurement tools. DMNews chats with Matt Langie, senior director of product marketing at Omniture, about data integration, behavioral targeting legislation and the new partnership

New list — Vegas Lights Casino Gamblers File — Accudata — This file contains consumers who have expressed an interest in casino gambling by completing a survey or purchasing a gambling-related item. Suggested usage includes sweepstakes and travel offers.

New list — Training Online Masterfile — West List Brokers — This file contains people who are looking to improve their skill set online. These prospects tend to be young and/or highly educated professionals.

New lists — Champions of the Conservative Cause — Political Fundraising Lists — This file contains people who have contributed support to ultra-conservative causes, donating both their time and money in this manner. Many are multidonors who spread their charitable contributions among various causes.