DMA announces new CEO Lawrence M. Kimmel
Direct Marketing Association
DMA, the leading global trade association of businesses and nonprofit multichannel marketers, announced it has appointed Lawrence M. Kimmel as its new chief executive officer. Kimmel is the former chairman and CEO of Grey Direct Global Network, a leading direct and digital agency, where he was responsible for up to 49 offices in 42 countries. He will begin Aug. 2 and be based in DMA's New York headquarters.More

DMA asks PRC to dismiss USPS request to increase rates
Direct Marketing Association
DMA and the DMA Nonprofit Federation asked the Postal Regulatory Commission to dismiss the United States Postal Service's request to increase postal rates by 10 times the rate permissible by law. The petition was filed by the Affordable Mail Alliance, of which DMA and DMANF are supporting members. The Affordable Mail Alliance's members are commercial and nonprofit organizations. Commercial mail accounts for 85 percent of the Postal Service's revenues.More

StrongMail acquires 2 firms to expand services
DMNews
E-mail marketing firm StrongMail has acquired two marketing services firms in a bid to expand services to its 500-plus clients. The two firms, Conversa Marketing and Magnetik, both New York-based interactive marketing agencies, will be combined and rebranded as ThreadMarketing under the StrongMail umbrella. The direct marketing industry has seen a slew of acquisitions in recent months, both by service providers desiring to carve out a piece of the market with their core offerings as well as by companies seeking to expand their range of services.More

Learning to speak on the social Web: For brands, it's not just what you say but where and how to say it
Adweek
Everybody keeps telling you to join the conversation online. But how do you do that without knowing the right tools and how to use them? It's like trying to speak without vocal chords or fingers to do sign language. Brands need to master the same social media tools their target communities use. That involves identifying the uses of each kind of digital platform by learning about them and experimenting with them. Most people on the Web don't use most digital platforms because they don't understand the functionality of their features.More

How to make social media initiatives effective
m-Travel.com
The full impact of social media has to support the brand's strategy, as does every marketing effort. Most companies are used to tying every aspect of business to an ROI. In this context, finding meaningful financial metrics with social media efforts has been one of the major challenges with this medium. But there are always challenges in integrating emerging customer channels into more established ones.More

What you should know to safeguard brands in an online advertising world
Online Strategies Magazine
Search advertising is a fast-growing marketing channel for brand advertisers and only is getting larger in 2010. According to the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization's annual "State of the Market Survey," search marketing spending will grow from $14.6 billion to $16.6 billion in 2010. The lion's share of this spending will go to pay-per-click advertising campaigns, staff and software solutions. Unfortunately for brand advertisers, there are thousands of online scammers who leech traffic and new customers from legitimate e-commerce brand campaigns.More

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Poll: Americans opt for generic products to save money
Drug Store News
Almost two-thirds of U.S. adults (65 percent) are purchasing more generic brands to save money, slightly up from 63 percent in February, a new Harris Interactive poll found. Harris Interactive surveyed 2,227 adults online between June 14 and 21, and found that among those who have purchased generic brands to save money, a person's age had no influence on his or her decision to forgo branded products for generic ones.More

Comeback brands: 10 famous brands coming back to life
DailyFinance
Building a valuable consumer brand is always a challenge. But in the last two years, with millions of Americans struggling financially while the Great Recession slogs on, the retail landscape has become something of a minefield. Some of the world's top companies have filed for bankruptcy, liquidated their merchandise and closed their doors. Yet brand loyalty is a strong force. For the 10 companies listed here, a combination of customer trust and management smarts have given them a second (or third, or fourth) life.More