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The article focuses on the BigHeads Network, a virtual agency/consulting firm created by promotion-marketing specialist John Palumbo. The article discusses the ways in which BigHeads Network offers a twist on work marketers traditionally do themselves, such as using non-marketers to generate ideas, and gives examples of companies that have used BigHeads Network to their advantage.

This section presents a listing of top advertising agencies in the U.S. by sales promotion revenue.

The article discusses the high volume of trade promotional activities launched by U.S. marketers in 1991. Trade promotion accounted for 49.5 percent of total marketing spending in 1991, 25.4 percent was allocated to consumer promotion and the remaining going to media advertising. Marketers have re-evaluated their strategies for reaching consumers. The number of sales promotion agencies rose during the 1990s to meet the demand for marketing services.

This article reports on the test marketing of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.'s Eclipse cigarettes in Atlanta, Georgia. Smokers would not be able to buy Eclipse cigarettes in Atlanta convenience stores, supermarkets or tobacco shops even though the city is R.J. Reynold Tobacco's newest test market for the low-smoke brand. Instead, the brand will be available only in an RJR-operated Smokers Lounge in that city's North Point Mall. The Smokers Lounge actually is RJR's second; it opened a similar lounge in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the initial test market for Eclipse.

The article examines the use of sales promotion techniques such as coupons by marketers of so-called packaged goods by the the retail trade or by manufacturers of those goods. Research is cited indicating that while the use of coupons by consumers and the amount of goods sold through price promotions declined significantly in the second half of 2010 on a sales volume per promotion basis.

The article reports on an advertising campaign which has been developed for the Gatorade brand of sports beverages by PepsiCo's Americas Beverage Group and its chief executive officer, Massimo d'Amore. A discussion of the goals of the campaign, which was developed in an effort to offset a 15.5% decline in sales which the Gatorade line of beverages saw in 2009, is presented.

The article focuses on location-based marketing in which web sites and services will be able to locate users and advertise products and services specific to that location. The utilization of mobile advertising may require companies to draw from the budgets of multiple marketing disciplines including advertising, promotions, and local print media used to find businesses.

The article evaluates a Super Bowl television advertisement linked to a sales promotion by the restaurant chain Denny's. The advertising promoted a giveaway in which Denny's offered a free breakfast to customers at its restaurants for an 8-hour period on February 3, 2009, two days after the game. Denny's executives estimate some 2 million persons appeared for the free meals. The advertising cost $5 million.

This article reports that Coke Journey, the global media and content hub of U.S. soft drink company Coke, will turn three years in November 2015. Topics discussed include the decision of Coke in 2012 to remove its staid corporate site and replace it with Coke Journey, the features of the site, including a front page and several sections, with a lead story and plenty of images and videos, and the publication of foreign versions in 18 countries, ranging from China to Sweden.

This article comments on the marketing strategy of retailer Gap Inc. Gap's campaign for the 2005 fall season, via Laird & Partners, which has Joss Stone, is the latest in a long-running series of celebrity-centric campaigns for the retailer. Season after season the retailer has featured celebrities such as Macy Gray, Sarah Jessica Parker and Madonna into their advertisements. And season after season, sales have declined, with Gap Inc. reporting the worst performance of the last three years earlier in November 2005--a seven percent decline in company-store sales. Other factors contributing to the decline include product range, store design and a fiercely competitive retail economy, but some experts believe the advertising strategy is a big part of the problem. To address the problem, Gap Inc. has decided to cancel all television advertising for the holiday season and will focus instead on an "It's my favorite gift" theme, including a 32-page magazine-catalog in which celebrities are notably absent.

Deals with the move of Masterfoods USA to take its spokescharacter for its M&M chocolate product to the red carpet of the Oscars. Information on the partnership deal forged by Masterfoods with television network ABC; Details on the marketing strategy of Masterfoods; Motion pictures where Masterfoods will take its M&M spokescharater.

Focuses on the marketing strategies done by Motorola on its Razr mobile telephone. Views of Geoff Kehoe, company senior director of brand communication, on the product; Sales promotions for the product; Marketing spending of the company for the first seven months of 2004.

Reports on the marketing strategy of Dreamworks in advertising its movies. Advertisement of the motion picture "Collateral"; Upcoming adult movies from different companies; Importance of talent combination to the success of a movie.

Reports on the latest marketing strategies of several companies in the U.S. in 2004. Plans of Nike to market basketball player Kobey Bryant's jersey and other apparel; Information on the advertisement of iPod products from Hewlett-Packard; Companies that will sponsor The Masters golf tournament in 2005.

Reports on the efforts of Kraft Foods Inc. to address the decline in its earning as of August 23, 2004. Percentage of decline in the company's earnings; Products to be launched by the company as part of its innovation efforts; Outcome of the trade promotion and pricing strategies of Kraft; Factors to be considered by Kraft in order to improve its earnings.

Interviews Thomas Ebeling, chief executive officer of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, about the company's marketing philosophy. Method of the company in learning marketing strategies from other industries; Difference of the marketing approach used by the company in Switzerland with methods used in Latin America; Plan of the company for more thematic promotions.

Reports on the effort of Snapple to boost sales by updating its personified-bottle advertising campaign. Decline in revenue in 2003 despite a boom in noncarbonated beverages; Collaboration between Snapple and ViacomPlus to set up a media roadblock across a variety of Viacom networks; Remarks from Maura Mottolese, vice-president of marketing for Snapple.

Reports on the overhauling of the marketing strategy for the Americas Beverages unit of Cadbury Schweppes with emphasis on its 7UP brand. Information on the portfolio review being conducted by Randy Gier, executive VP-marketing of Americas Beverages; Factors that influenced the move of the company; Competition faced by Cadbury Schweppes in the beverage business. INSET: Cadbury reshuffles.

This article deals with the second annual Xterra America Tour, an off-road competition offering from Nissan. This competition does not involve sport utility-vehicles bounding across rugged terrain, instead participants rely on their own strength in finishing extreme contests. The tour will start in April 2000 and will include 10 two-day festivals organized around trail running, mountain biking and open-water swimming, culminating in the Xterra World Championship on October 22 in Hawaii. A growing number of sponsors are becoming interested in off-road contests that they began distributing samples and sell related apparel and gear to participants. According to Tom Kiely, president of marketing agency Team Unlimited that created the Xterra America Tour, off-road events is a great environment for advertisers due to its popularity and ad campaigns that feature extreme outdoor lifestyle..

This article reports that Kraft Foods will unveil a shift in its coupon marketing strategy with a newspaper-distributed custom-published insert. The marketer has teamed with Meredith Corp. to produce an eight-page custom publication, Food & Family. The creation of Food & Family extends the strategy of Kraft to leverage its portfolio of brands as a way to help families connect over food. The first issue of Food & family features a mother and daughter on the cover instead of particular Kraft brands--a strategy the marketer hopes will set it apart from other inserts.

This article reports on the effort of Discover Financial Services Inc. to reposition its credit card brand with a heavy emphasis on events and promotions to differentiate itself from competitors in the U.S. in November 1999. The first salvo in Discover Card's attack plan is its biggest-ever holiday season promotion, an integrated millennium-theme push combining traditional and online advertising and promotions with on-site marketing at malls. The goal of the promotion is to sign up new cardholders, drive usage and lure people to Discover's revamped online banking and shopping site.

Presents news briefs on advertising in the U.S. as of August 23, 1999. Launch of Montgomery Ward's grand reopening promotion in its stores nationwide; Mobile marketing efforts of California Pizza Kitchen in California; Agreement entered into by Toyota Motor Sales USA with Sport & Social Clubs of the U.S.

Presents news briefs related to advertising in the U.S. as of April 19, 1999. Events launched by "Travel & Leisure Golf"; Sports and music festival hosted by Mervyn's California; Tour event to be hosted by "Architectural Digest."

This article discusses the marketing strategy for interactive media services by advertising agencies. In the frenzy to be interactive, advertising agencies, marketing communications companies and multimedia production shops are both competing and combining with each other. Agencies are fighting to keep control over client business; multimedia companies, meanwhile, spy big bucks from big marketers. Traditional agencies especially are trying to ensure their interactive bases are covered, for fear of losing a client's confidence--or worse--its business. INSET: In the big leagues.

This article focuses on the move by marketers in the U.S. to push sales promotion agencies to find ways to reverse their declining sales within budget. This drive is leading to sea changes in the sales promotion industry. Sales promotion agencies are adding direct response, database and micron-marketing services. Direct-response agencies, in turn, are buying promotion operations. And with promotion agencies also adding media advertising capabilities, general advertising agencies have taken on promotional marketing tasks--and also continue to buy promotion shops. Integrated marketing and promotional marketing better define the work of the more progressive sales promotion agencies of today's market.

This article discusses the use of infomercial as a marketing tool for major marketers in the U.S. as of January 1993. The infomercial industry demonstrated that long-form advertising can communicate a message in a way other forms of marketing and promotion cannot. Infomercials, if they work, pay for themselves and then some by generating new revenue from direct sales. In 1992, direct sales of all kinds are expected to gross more than $5 billion, according to industry estimates. Infomercial sales alone are expected to total $750 million. Infomercials have the potential to become the most powerful form of advertising ever created because they combine the power of advertising, direct response and sales promotion. INSET: Here's who is watching (and buying from) infomercials.

This article deals with the plan of Miller Brewing Co. to continue its advertising focus on its Lite and Genuine Draft in 1999. However, some question how well the strategy of the brewer and iconoclastic advertising are working. The sales trends of the brewer have improved from the crisis of 1996 when its focus was on new products and all lead Miller brands except Lite and Icehouse suffered declines. Despite hundreds of millions in advertising support and aggressive price promotion, the growth rate of Lite still lags its low-calorie rivals and Genuine Draft continues to languish. INSET: Uno agency wins Lite Hispanic ads..

This article reports on the decision of the bottlers of Dr Pepper/Seven Up to contribute to the brand's marketing budget for 1997. Bottlers will provide 25 percent of the funds for an ambitious advertisement push in national media which is aimed at regaining share for the lemon-and-lime flavored softdrink which has been showing signs of life in recent months. Unit sales of bottled and cans rose in June and July 1997 compared to year-ago periods, according to company officials. But the softdrink still trails Sprite, its fast-growing archrival from Coca-Cola Co. and it faces potential competition from a new Pepsi-Cola Co. product code-named Storm. For Seven Up, two transitional television spots and radio advertisement from Y&R Advertising is themed Refreshing Moments.

This article reports on the hiring of International Creative Management as the sales promotion agent for the computer and reference book brand called For Dummies from International Data Group (IDG). The move is part of IDG strategy to extend the brand to new topics, media, products and services. The company's brand For Dummies line has extended from one book in 1991 to more than 350 titles today, taking IDG Books Worldwide to the number two position in computer books behind Macmillan Computer Publishing of Viacom. IDG Books created its For Dummies line to provide non-intimidating, entertaining information about computers. IDG chose a daring name and ignored publishing naysayers by sticking to the premise that everybody would freely admit to being a dummy at something.

This article presents information on the fragrance marketer Coty Inc., which is contemplating a shift in media strategy. A shift in media strategy could see a sizable block of its estimated $77 million in magazine spending shift to television. Executives at Coty and its media buying agency, Robert J. Geller & Associates, New York, said nothing would be decided until 1998 brand planning sales and marketing meetings-scheduled are concluded. One publishing executive said that he believes as much as 75% of Coty's print budget might be moving to television.

This article praises the performance of Frankel & Co. with regard to the agency's working relations with McDonald's Corp. The agency handles the corporation's merchandising and in-store communication responsibilities. But that doesn't mean Frankel don't bring to the party other areas: sales promotion, crew motivation, crew incentive, things that are important, even if that is not what they are hired to provide. From the creative standpoint, the agency come up with innovative ways to put different messages in front of McDonald's consumers.

The article examines the attempted expansion of the Christmas shopping season by the retail trade. Advertising campaigns linked to Christmas shopping by major retail companies including Best Buy began on November 1, 2010, and several sales promotions for Christmas began in stores on October 29. The editor of a consumer protection Web site states that its readers are divided in their reactions to the lengthening Christmas shopping season.

The article presents an overview of risk intensive and innovative marketing strategies that were developed and implemented by several large corporations and resulted in financial success. Advertising strategies that were developed by several of the companies, including Anheuser-Busch, Volkswagen and PepsiCo Inc., are discussed.

The article examines an advertising campaign by the chain restaurant company Domino's Pizza. The campaign's controversial message that the company's pizza had been of questionable quality but had been improved is discussed in terms of a subsequent report by Domino's that sales increased 14.3 percent in the first quarter of 2010. Marketing analysts state that heavy advertising spending can achieve a temporary increase in sales, but that it would take more time to judge the campaign's real effect.

The article reports on an in-store marketing strategy that has been developed by global brand building officer Marc Pritchard of Procter & Gamble Co. A discussion of creative packaging initiatives which Procter & Gamble developed to improve its in-store marketing efforts is presented. Research on the importance and effectiveness of in-store marketing which was conducted in 2009 by Nielsen Co.'s Bases unit is discussed. INSET: FIVE WAYS P&G IS USING DESIGN.

The editorial describes what the author thinks Starbucks should to to increase their coffee business. The author's suggestions range from a Starbucks happy hour with two-for-the price-of-one deals and themed days, to buying pastries from local bakeries, and to get back into the habit of appealing to all senses instead of having drive-through windows. The author's advice for Starbucks is to be politically correct; think global and buy local.

In this article the author discusses the marketing strategy of Dow Chemical Co. The author notes that the company's strategy has been one geared towards gaining respect. This has involved a series of advertisements that stress the human element of the chemical company and relay the message that they are concerned with trying to solve the problems that the world faces. The advertisements are written and voiced by John Claxton, and the author claims they are the best corporate campaign in 2007.

This article discusses a marketing strategy by Green Label Art in partnership with Mountain Dew. The multimedia microsite greenlabelart.com features artists' portfolios, behind the scenes videos, event information, and the details on a bottle design contest. Consumers will get a chance to submit their designs to the site with consumer voting beginning July 1, 2007.

The article reports on a marketing strategy for Diesel underwear had on the company's website. Diesel created an ad in which two young girls steal an underwear collection, kidnap the underwear sales manager and lock themselves in a hotel room. The ad was streamed onto Diesel.com and was used as part of a 15 minutes of megabyte fame campaign which allowed site viewers to participate in the kidnapping. The campaign caused site viewership to increase from one million per month to five million.

The article looks at the handheld gaming device Nintendo DS Lite. According to the article, marketing for DS Lite, led by Nintendo of America Senior VP-Marketing and Corporate Communications George Harrison, has targeted demographic groups outside the traditional gamer space, with content such as Brain Age and Nintendogs pet-simulation. An advertising campaign and web initiative entitled "Touch Generations" further promoted inter-generational and family game play.

The article provides information on the marketing strategies of several snack foods makers in the U.S. Frito-Lay intends to shelve its line of baked, vitamin-fortified fruit and vegetable chips alongside the apples and carrots in supermarkets. Meanwhile, interested in winning its fair share of the portion-control phenomena, Procter & Gamble Co. will this fall launch Pringles Minis in individual bags intended for lunch boxes and folks on the go INSET: Pringles jumps into portion control.

The article examines several advertising campaigns launched in the U.S. Comments on The Bachelorette advertisement for car loans released in the country are included. Criticisms raised against Precious Moment figurines are provided. Arguments concerning the new campaign of The Learning Channel which was developed by the Martin Agency are stated.

This article offers a look at issues surrounding the total value promise marketing strategy of General Motors Corp. (GM) as of November 2005. As automobile sales plummeted to the lowest this month since 1992, GM is trying to give consumers, who now expect the employee discount, a reason to buy-while simultaneously saving itself off profit-killing incentives. The concept of total value promise is therefore intended to convey lower sticker prices, improved warranties, reconfigured models and added standard equipment to more than 50 models across the eight vehicle brands of GM. GM reported last week that its U.S. sales decline to 23 percent in October compared to a year ago, with truck sales off 30 percent and car sales skidding 12 percent. GM spent $1.42 billion in measured media in the first half of 2005, according to TNS Media Intelligence. The corporation reported a third-quarter loss of $1.1 billion, with its North American automobile operations losing $1.6 billion for the period.

This article focuses on the television commercials created for Marks & Spencer featuring 1960s model Twiggy. The television spots have created a buzz around the beleaguered British retail brand. The retailer claims that clothes are flying out of the stores following the September 2005 launch of the campaign by Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R in London, England. Once regarded as a classic British brand, Marks & Spencer has struggled for several years against consumer perceptions that it has become old-fashioned and dull. However, it has overhauled its marketing strategy following the arrival of a new management team, led by chief executive Stuart Rose and marketing director Steve Sharp.

Presents an interview with Michael Linton, chief marketing officer at Best Buy Co. Background of Linton; Challenges facing Linton as chief marketing officer of Best Buy; Competition facing Best Buy; Changes in the marketing strategy at Best Buy; Views about TV advertising.

Reports on the decision of large and small U.S. corporations to offer employee discounts since General Motors offered the pricing scheme. Advantage of regional stores over General Motors in terms of returns from the pricing scheme; Link between long-term discount and brand deterioration; Comment on the common perception of employee discount.

Reveals that the luxury division of Toyota Motor Corp. is asking several magazines in the U.S. to use Lexus vehicles to illustrate stories in groundbreaking ways. View of Deborah Wahl Mayer, vice president of marketing at Lexus division, on product placement; Result of the Lexus marketing strategy; Reaction of Samir Husni, chairman of the journalism department at the University of Mississippi-Oxford, to the Lexus initiative.

Offers observation on the consumer appeal of no-haggle strategy in the U.S. Information on educated buyers and consumers with above-average income; Difference between big box retailing and Internet shopping; View of Frank Luby, partner in global pricing consultancy Simon-Kutcher & Partners, on no-haggle strategy.

Focuses on the marketing strategy of Wendy's executive Aussie Ian Rowden. Emphasis of strategy on Internet advertising; Challenges of product development; Advertising campaign plans of Rowden. INSET: Tale of the tape: Wendy's (then) vs. Wendy's (now).

Evaluates Crystal Light on the Go low-calorie drink mix from Kraft. Key features and available flavors; Product sales as of June 2005; Information on the marketing strategy used for the promotion of the product.