Mobile Version / Subscribe / Back Issues / About Us / Contact Us / Advertise

Thanks for choosing DMNews.com! Sign up for your FREE account now and join the thousands of other marketing professionals who rely on us for all the latest industry news and innovative ideas for direct and digital strategy. Simply fill out the fields below.

Keep me logged in Forgot your password?

Please wait...

Please wait...

Texas town launches QR campaigns

The Convention and Visitors Bureau of New Braunfels, TX., announced two campaigns that leverage QR codes, one centered around environmental awareness and the second geared to tourists.
 

Yahoo! searches for market share with Axis

Yahoo has released Axis, a new cross-platform browser extension that allows users to continue searches from one device to another.
 

Coca-Cola targets teens with celebrity-branded Tumblr templates

In an effort to reach out to the teenage demographic, The Coca-Cola Company has partnered with digital agency 360i to create celebrity-designed Tumblr blog templates.
 

24/7 Media partners with Microsoft Advertising

Nicole Spector

Marketing technology provider 24/7 Media, a subsidiary of holding company WPP, will partner with Microsoft Advertising, said Ari Bluman, president of 24/7 Media division Real Media Group.
 

Ned Brody named CEO of Advertising.com

AOL announced May 23 that Ned Brody had been named CEO of Advertising.com, a position that was created for him.
 

Google places "big bet" on mobile computing with Motorola Mobility acquisition

Google closed a $12.9 billion deal to acquire Motorola Mobility Holdings.
 

'House Beautiful' becomes first Pinterest-enabled print magazine

'House Beautiful' readers can now pin images directly from the print magazine to Pinterest using a new solution from Digimarc Corporation.
 

Facebook IPO goes public, company faces new challenges

Facebook shares began trading at more than $42, raising enough to make it one of the largest tech IPOs in history.
 

Pinterest lands $100M investment led by Japanese e-commerce giant

Nicole Spector

With a $100 investment in Pinterest by Japanese conglomerate Rakuten, Inc., the social site is now valued at $1.5 billion.
 

Study: 70% of consumers welcome mobile ads

Convenience and mobile advertising are key drivers of mobile shopping, according to a new IAB study.
 

Silverpop launches Social Pull, an online form builder for Facebook

Silverpop, the digital marketing technology provider, has released Social Pull, an app that helps marketers build online forms for Facebook Timeline pages, said Adam Steinberg, segment marketing director of social media for Silverpop.
 

Yahoo announces big data solution amid CEO departure

One day following the news that Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson will step down due to controversy over his resume embellishments, the company announced the scheduled debut of a solution called Genome in July.
 

Twitter hires RestEngine team

Twitter has hired most of the team of employees at San Francisco-based RestEngine, an email marketing company that describes itself as a "social marketing automation platform," said RestEngine cofounder Joe Waltman.
 

Gap launches digital and social campaign

Gap launched a digital and social marketing campaign May 10, said Rachel Tipograph, global director of digital and social media at the Gap. The "Be Your Own T" campaign accompanies the launch of a new t-shirt collection and includes several digital experiences, including a Facebook initiative.
 

Allied Integrated Marketing to launch African-American division

Allied Integrated Marketing launched May 10 an African-American marketing division called Allied Moxie, said company president Clint Kendall.
 

Study: 42% of Americans use social media to shop

A new study from Leo Burnett found that 42% of Americans ages 18 to 49 used social media sites like Facebook and YouTube as part of their shopping experience within the past year.
 

Myspace reaches settlement with FTC

Myspace has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the company misrepresented its privacy policy to consumers.
 

ComScore enhances mobile behavior measurement with Mobile Metrix 2.0

ComScore has launched an enhanced version of its mobile behavior measurement service.
 

Dressbarn leverages social media for Mother's Day campaign

Chandler Smith

Women's clothing retailer the dressbarn partnered with digital advertising agency Conversation LLC to launch on May 4 "Share Your (MOM)ent," a national Mother's Day campaign enticing customers to interact with the brand using social media, said Dressbarn's senior manager of marketing at the company Donna Baccollo.
 

Facebook valued at $95 billion

Facebook's fifth amendment to its IPO filing on May 3 revealed the company would be selling 180 million shares of Class A common stock between $28 to $35 per share, a range that values the company at around $95 billion. The company has set its IPO for May 18.
 

Men's Wearhouse campaign uses Facebook to gather customer insights

The Men's Wearhouse launched its national campaign "Suit Yourself," incorporating a revamped website, social media engagement and national TV spots, with the aim of gauging the perception of men and women about modern fashion styles, said Joseph Nolan, the company's director of new media.
 

Responsys introduces tool to leverage social data

Cross-channel marketing services provider Responsys today introduced the Interact Social Data Cloud, a tool that will let marketers access the social profile and behavioral data of customers and apply it to cross channel marketing platforms at the Responsys Interact conference in San Francisco.
 

Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company launches mobile app

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company today launched a mobile app that features QR codes that are designed to provide users with special in-hotel information and experiences, said Allison Sitch, the company's VP of public relations.
 

BLITZ hires David Maharaj as VP of technology

David Maharaj has been hired as digital service agency BLITZ's VP of technology, a recently-created position, said Ivan Todorov, the company's CEO.
 

Citibank launches first-ever branded group on LinkedIn

Citibank launched today the first branded group to appear on LinkedIn, said Vanessa Colella, managing director and head of North America marketing at Citi.
 

T.G.I. Friday's launches mobile app

T.G.I. Friday's launched its first mobile app, designed to allow customers to use their phones to keep track of their tabs and interact while inside the restaurant, said Trey Hall, SVP and CMO at Friday's. The app was developed with Tabbedout, a mobile wallet company based in Austin, Texas.
 

Hiscox launches integrated ad campaign

Hiscox, an insurance provider for small businesses, launched an integrated ad campaign to promote its range of online insurance products, said Philip Thorn, head of marketing US direct, Hiscox USA. Tribal DDB, its agency of record, developed video, direct response, online and search elements for the campaign.
 

Ad network Adfonic releases latest version of software development kit

Adfonic, a European mobile advertising network, has introduced a new version of its Adfonic software development kit for Apple and Android devices, said James Macdonald, Adfonic's US general manager.
 

Report: Clicks and impressions don't correlate with conversions

Measuring ads by viewability and hover time had a stronger correlation with conversions than measuring with clicks or total impressions, said Andrew Lipsman, VP of industry analysis at comScore.
 

Chirpify launches digital music platform

Chirpify, a seven-week-old social commerce company based in Portland, Oregon, today launched Twitter Commerce for Digital Content, a platform that will allow musicians to sell their music on the social media site, said Chris Teso, the company's founder and CEO.
 

Facebook ad revenue up 37%

Facebook ad revenue increased 37% to $872 million in the first quarter of 2012, compared with $637 million in the first quarter last year. That represented 82% of Facebook's total first quarter revenue. Total revenue rose 45% to about $1.1 billion in the first quarter.
 

YouTube rolls out Google AdWords for video

Google subsidiary YouTube rolled out to the general public Google AdWords for video, a self-service and pay-per-view video ad platform, said Lane Shackleton, product manager at YouTube.
 

ZenithOptimedia announces global brand repositioning

Agency ZenithOptimedia announced its repositioning as a "Live ROI" company, said Dave Penski, president of Zenith, a division of ZenithOptimedia.
 

Infosys announces launch of BrandEdge

Infosys announced the launch of BrandEdge, a cloud-based digital marketing platform, on April 23. The technology is intended to help marketers manage customer relationships and analytics, and organize marketing across digital properties, said Sanjay Purohit, SVP and global head of products, platforms and solutions at the company.
 

Report: Internet ad revenues hit $31 billion

Online ad revenue for 2011 reached a historic high of $31 billion, according to the International Advertising Bureau's (IAB) Internet Advertising Revenue report, published April 18. That number is a 22% increase over 2010's full-year figure of $26 billion, which was also a record-topping figure.
 

Facebook launches marketing developer program

Facebook debuted its Preferred Marketing Developer (PMD) program, designed to help brands find providers of marketing software and services, vetted by the social network, that can help them develop and deploy Facebook marketing campaigns, PMD Manager John Yi wrote on the company's developer blog.
 

ELLE launches e-commerce initiative on Facebook

ELLE magazine, published by Hearst Digital Media, has launched its first e-commerce campaign for Facebook, said Kevin O'Malley, senior VP, publisher and CRO at ELLE.
 

Google revamps audience measuring analytics

Google introduced the Brand Activate Initiative, designed to promote an alternative way of measuring the audience for online media by implementing metrics similar to those used in television, said Neal Mohan, Google's VP of display advertising, at Ad Age Digital Conference in New York.
 

SAP takes b-to-c approach to b-to-b marketing campaign

Business software provider SAP launched a global b-to-b advertising campaign with a b-to-c approach, which incorporates digital and mobile marketing elements, said Costanza Tedesco, SAP's global VP of brand experience.
 

Twitter acquires analytics startup Hotspots.io

Hotspots.io was acquired by Twitter, the social analytics startup said on its website. The company officially joined Twitter's revenue engineering team on April 16 to focus on developing analytics tools for Twitter's advertising and publishing partners, Hostpost.io explained on a web post.
 

Hulu revamps ad pricing model

Online television network Hulu will charge advertisers only when a video stream is fully delivered, said Jason Kilar, Hulu's CEO, during his keynote at the Ad Age Digital Conference in New York City.
 

AOL offers guaranteed audience delivery for video campaigns

AOL will guarantee audience delivery for online video marketing campaigns across AOL's properties, said Charles Gabriel, VP of sales at AOL Video.
 

Report: Facebook's average CPM increased 41% since Q1 2011

Facebook's average cost per thousand impressions (CPM) increased 41% since Q1 last year, said Simon Mansell, CEO of social media marketing company TBG Digital. The findings, detailed in a TBG Digital's "Global Facebook Advertising Report", was designed to identify trends and measure performance of Facebook campaigns.
 

Triton Digital launches targeted mobile advertising platform

Triton Digital, a digital services provider for radio, launched an advertising platform designed to allow companies to target a mobile-only audience and monetize content, said Patrick Reynolds, EVP of marketing at Triton Digital.
 

Despite Google's growth, CPC revenue drops

Although Google reported net income of $2.89 billion for the first quarter (Q1) of 2012, an increase from $1.80 billion for the same period last year, its cost-per-click (CPC) revenue decreased 12% in Q1 and 6% in Q4 2011 quarter-over-quarter.
 

Google outlines three online advertising trends

Brand investment in the digital channel, the move to solution suites and demand for cross-media measurement are the three biggest trends affecting the online advertiser space, said Nikesh Arora, Google's SVP and Chief Business Officer, during the company's quarterly results call.
 

Pardot enhances software for keyword monitoring

B-to-B software provider Pardot introduced upgraded SEO and search tools, intended to help companies monitor their competition and optimize keyword searches, said Adam Blitzer, the company's COO.
 

Time Out New York expands digital, e-commerce strategies

Time Out New York launched an e-commerce business as well as iPad and iPhone applications as part of a strategy to expand its reach as a digital media group, the company said in a statement.
 

Point Inside launches network targeting in-store consumers

Point Inside, a provider of mobile engagement solutions, launched nSide, a private ad network designed to allow retailers to send targeted advertising messages to in-store consumers, said Point Inside CMO Todd Sherman.
 

LinkedIn launches targeted marketing features

LinkedIn has launched two tools, Targeted Updates and Follower Statistics, that enable businesses with LinkedIn Company Pages to pinpoint specific individuals and groups that will receive messages and updates, the social network said in a release.
 

Amazon launches in-app purchasing API

Amazon has launched its In-App Purchasing API, intended to turn one-time app buyers into repeat customers, the company said in a YouTube video.
 

Report: Earned media most trusted form of advertising

Ninety-two percent of consumers trust earned media, including word-of-mouth and recommendations from friends and family, above other forms of advertising, Nielsen revealed in its "Global Trust in Advertising Survey."
 

Microsoft buys 800+ AOL patents for $1 billion

AOL's shares shot up roughly 37% following reports on April 9 that the ink is drying on a deal to sell Microsoft Corp. more than 800 patents for $1.056 billion, AOL confirmed to Direct Marketing News.
 

Report: Online ad spend hit $84.8bn in 2011, says GroupM

GroupM, WPP's media investment management company, said online advertising reached $84.8 billion in 2011, confirmed John Wolfe, GroupM's communications director. The company also expects digital ad spend to reach $98.2 billion in 2012, according to its "This Year, Next year: Interaction 2012" report.
 

Facebook to acquire Instagram for $1 billion

Facebook announced it reached an agreement April 9 to acquire Instagram, a popular mobile photo sharing app, for $1 billion in cash and stock.
 

Report: Pinterest third most popular social network

Photo-sharing site Pinterest is now the third most popular U.S. social networking site after Facebook and Twitter, said Experian's PR manager of marketing services Jennifer Marshall.
 

Twitter sues spammers for $600,000

Twitter filed a $600,000 lawsuit yesterday against two companies and five individuals for violating Twitter's terms of service (TOS) by spamming users, the company stated in a filing with the District Court of the Northern District of California in San Francisco yesterday.
 

Google enhances AdWords

Google introduced two capabilities and enhanced an existing feature to its AdWords Product, said Richard Holden, a Google product management director. The optimized AdWords provides more precision via advanced targeting by zip code, enables advertisers to create a single ad for multiple locations and improves on the existing Advanced Location Targeting feature.
 

Yahoo to lay off 2,000 employees

Yahoo will immediately begin laying off 2,000 employees, the company said in a statement.
 

Demandbase launches Strategic Services Group

Demandbase, a company that helps B2B companies target consumers online, today launched its Strategic Services group, which is designed to help its clients navigate it's Real time ID Platform, said Greg Ott, CMO of the company.
 

TRUSTe launches mobile ad privacy tool: ad:tech San Francisco

Online security firm TRUSTe has launched "TRUSTed Mobile Ads," a tool allowing consumers to opt out of mobile ads from participating companies, confirmed the firm's CEO Chris Babel during ad:tech San Francisco.
 

Facebook makes Timeline mandatory for businesses

Facebook today moved all brand pages onto the Timeline, the profile layout the company unveiled last year, the company said on its website.
 

Neiman Marcus hosts bigger Foursquare challenge

Neiman Marcus is hosting its second in-store Foursquare challenge in which customers who check into store locations can win a Manolo Blahnik coffee table book, said Ginger Reeder, the retailer's VP of corporate communications.
 

Yahoo to launch Do Not Track feature

Yahoo users will be able to opt out of third-party website tracking beginning this summer by implementing a "Do Not Track" (DNT) header feature, said Shane Wiley, VP of privacy and data governance at Yahoo.
 

Pandora founder talks targeting, advertising in keynote address

As internet radio content becomes increasingly targeted to individual musical tastes, marketers and advertisers can capitalize on that trend, said Tim Westergren, founder and CSO of Pandora Radio, during his March 27 morning keynote address at Re:Think, The Advertising Research Foundation's annual convention in New York City.
 

Report: Many digital ads not delivered to right audience

Ryan Joe

A large number of digital ads are not optimally delivered, said Andrea Vollman, marketing director at analyst firm comScore's Advertising Effectiveness practice.
 

Arby's joins Facebook loyalty program Plink

Arby's today became the latest member of Plink, a loyalty program that gives restaurant consumers Facebook credits for their real-life purchases, said Peter Vogel, Plink's cofounder and head of sales and business development.
 

Twitter rolls out ad service for SMBs

Ryan Joe

Twitter and American Express today launched Promoted Products for Small Businesses, a service allowing small- and medium-sized businesses to advertise on the microblogging site, said Twitter in a statement. The service, announced in February, is available to select American Express cardholders and merchants and will gradually roll out to an increased number of businesses.
 

Report: Consumers more likely to engage with mobile ads

Consumers are significantly more likely to click through a search ad on a smartphone or tablet than they would on a desktop computer, said Matt Lawson, VP of marketing and partnerships at Marin Software, a provider of paid search management services. Consequently, Marin Software's study "State of Mobile Search Advertising in the US 2012" anticipates 25% of Google's US paid search clicks will come from smartphones and tablets by December 2012.
 

Ford launches gamification campaign

Ford Motor Co. has launched a gamification campaign to promote its new prime-time reality TV show "Escape Routes," airing March 31 on NBC, confirmed Aaron Miller, Ford product communications coordinator. The campaign includes a microsite and social media elements.
 

Companies need to showcase vulnerabilities to build authenticity: Adobe Digital Marketing Summit

Consumers are more likely to like and trust a brand if the company's marketing efforts are authentic, said Twitter co-founder Biz Stone during the opening address at the second day of Adobe's Digital Marketing Summit in Salt Lake City. To do that, companies would do well to show their vulnerable side, he added.
 

The term "integrated marketing" is "loosy goosy": SES Conference

The term "integrated marketing" is "loosy goosy", said Dana Todd, SVP of marketing at Performics, during a panel discussion at the SES Conference on March 22.
 

Marketers must make sense of digital conversations: Adobe Digital Marketing Summit

Changes in marketing strategy are being propelled by what Bradley Rencher, Adobe's SVP and GM of digital marketing, coins "the digital self." Speaking during the opening session of Adobe's Digital Marketing Summit in Salt Lake City, Rencher defined the digital self as an individual's online persona, which is composed of a person's online social networks, shopping transactions, listening habits and comments, among other things.
 

Google launches social media reports tool

, JoAnn DeLuna

Google Analytics launched Social Reports, a set of five reports that apply key business-related metrics to branded social media sites and marketing campaigns. Social Reports tracks more than 400 international social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Hyves in the Netherlands, VKontakte in Russia and Mixi in Japan, to help marketers measure the value of their social media efforts, said Phil Mui, group product manager at Google Analytics.
 

EBay taps Digitas as digital AOR

EBay, the US online consumer-to-consumer company, has chosen Digitas as agency of record (AOR) for its digital media and digital creative business, a source familiar with the deal has confirmed to DMNews.
 

GlaxoSmithKline implements a cloud-based digital marketing platform

Healthcare and pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has developed a new digital marketing platform designed to easily build and deploy digital communications and analytics, said GSK's manager of product communications Jennifer Armstrong. GSK tapped technology companies Infosys and Fabric Worldwide to implement the platform.
 

Starbucks promotes insider to chief digital officer

Starbucks has promoted Adam Brotman to chief digital officer, the company confirmed on March 9. In his new role, Brotman will oversee Starbucks' digital businesses, which include online, loyalty cards, mobile and social media development. He will report directly to Starbuck's chairman and CEO Howard Schultz.
 

Salesforce vet named president of Buddy Media

Susan St. Ledger, former Salesforce industry vertical SVP, has been named president of social media technology provider Buddy Media, confirmed Joe Ciarallo, Buddy Media VP of communications on March 8.
 

Google privacy changes are a question mark for marketers

Ryan Joe

Google's privacy policy changes, which go into effect on March 1, unify its terms of service across its major Web products — including YouTube, Gmail and search — allowing for greater sharing of user information with advertisers.
 

Valpak redesigns smartphone app, launches iPad app

Couponing company Valpak redesigned its iPhone and Android apps and launched its first-ever iPad tablet app, said Nancy Cook, the company's VP of digital business development.
 

Facebook to launch upgraded ad product

Facebook will release a new, upgraded ad product on February 29, the company confirmed today to Direct Marketing News. The social network is expected to introduce these new ad products at the fMC event for marketers.
 

AmEx cardmembers get first crack at new Twitter ad platform

Twitter will soon be offering ads to small- and medium-sized businesses, and American Express cardmembers will get early access to it, the companies said on Feb. 17. The new self-service ads, which are scheduled to launch in late March, will allow small businesses to run their own promotional campaigns and access Twitter's more than 300 million users.
 

Reports: Apple to tighten app privacy rules

Apple will require application developers to obtain explicit permission from iPhone and iPad users before they can store the users' contact lists, according to several media reports.
 

Badgeville integrates Klout scores into gamification offerings

Gamification company Badgeville will now be integrating scores drawn from Klout, the social media influence platform, for marketers looking to reward users in brands' online communities.
 

Social Media Week panel looks at women's buying behavior

Even as their means for sharing product information grows, female consumers continue to seek out relevant reviews and simple ways to access them, said members of a panel discussing "Insights and Predictions on Women's Buying Behavior."
 

Report: 90% of consumers worry about online privacy

Ninety percent of U.S. adults worry about online privacy, while 41% do not trust most companies with their personal data, according to a Feb. 13 survey from TRUSTe. The report, the Consumer Confidence Edition, is the first installment of a quarterly index from the privacy management company.
 

JetBlue launches iPhone app, redesigns web and mobile sites

JetBlue Airways redesigned its website and mobile site, and has also launched an iPhone application, all with the intent of personalizing and simplifying the customer experience, the airline said on Feb. 6.
 

Facebook hires first CMO

Facebook has hired Rebecca Van Dyck, SVP and CMO at Levi's to join the social network as its first head of global marketing, according to reports.
 

Facebook files for $5 billion IPO

Facebook filed for a $5 billion initial public offering (IPO) just after 5 p.m. on Feb. 1. The company said in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it will use the ticker symbol "FB" and detailed its offerings for advertisers and marketers.
 

Facebook expected to file for IPO today

Facebook is widely expected to file a prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after the markets close on Feb. 1, the first step in going public, according to multiple reports that cite sources familiar with the matter.
 

Google's new privacy policy will share user data across products

Google's new overarching privacy policy will allow the company to share user data gathered from services including YouTube, Gmail, Picasa and the Google search engine, the company said in a new privacy statement.
 

Twitter buys Web security company Dasient

Twitter has acquired a Web security startup company called Dasient, in a deal whose terms were not disclosed.
 

Verizon Wireless revenue up

Verizon Wireless reported record growth in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2011, with a 7.7% year-over-year increase to $28.4 billion compared with Q4 2010, the company said in a Jan. 24 earnings statement. Revenue for the year rose 4% to a total of $110.9 billion, compared with the same period in 2010.
 

New RIM CEO appointed following executive shuffle

Company insider Thorsten Heins has been named president and CEO of Research In Motion, Inc. (RIM), the company that markets the Blackberry, said Paul Carpino, RIM's VP of investor relations, on Jan. 23 in a conference call. Heins said RIM is currently in the process of recruiting a new CMO.
 

DAA debuts consumer education campaign for online behavioral advertising

The Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) debuted on Jan. 20 the first phase of a multistage campaign designed to educate consumers about online behavioral advertising.
 

Google revenue up 29%, marketing spend increases 62%

Google generated $37.9 billion in revenue during 2011, a 29% increase compared with the previous year. Revenue from advertising also increased 29% year-over-year to total $36.5 billion, contributing 96% of Google's overall revenue. The company increased its spending on sales and marketing by 62% compared with the previous year to $4.5 billion.
 

Volkswagen centers Golf R campaign around iPad app

Volkswagen has launched a campaign and an iPad app to drive sales for its 2012 Golf R model, said Charlie Taylor, the car company's general manager of digital marketing, on Jan. 19. Volkswagen worked with digital agency AKQA to create the app.
 

Survey: 75% of marketers to grow social spending in 2012

Three-quarters of marketers plan to increase their marketing spending on social media this year, according to a global survey of more than 700 marketers conducted last November by social marketing firm Wildfire.
 

Adobe: Tablet users spend 54% more than smartphone shoppers

Tablet users who visited e-commerce websites in 2011 spent 54% more per purchase than smartphone visitors and 21% more than desktop or laptop visitors, according to a Jan. 19 report by Adobe Systems.
 

Twitter hires ex-Google ad sales exec

Twitter hired Rob Goulding as its national inside sales manager, Twitter spokesperson Matt Graves confirmed on Jan. 18. The hire took effect yesterday.