Opt-In Email Next Best After Family And Friends

The conclusion drawn in a new report from Merkle, View from the Inbox, 2009, is that Email continues to be a popular marketing communications channel in today’s challenging economic climate due to its low cost-per-contact and its ability to provide direct, measurable results. But, consumers’ attitudes and behavior regarding email continue to change.

Microsoft adCenter Analytics To Go The Way Of The Condor

Microsoft announced it has closed its analytics program – adCenter Analytics beta – and at the end of the year all current users will no longer have access to the program.

Microsoft is recommending that all current users download all their information prior to the December 31 closing. The adCenter Analytics blog stated this program was a success and gave them insight into the analytics process.

Direct Mail to Become More Targeted

According to a new white paper by Winterberry Group, with rising postage rates and growing marketer preference for low-cost digital communications, total U.S. direct mail spending declined 3.0% in 2008, and was accompanied by an even more significant cutback in mail volume.

According to the report, a rapid drop-off in financial services mail activity (brought on by the crisis in the banking and mortgage sectors) fueled the overall decline in mail spending, the channel’s first in a recorded history that began in 1945. Further decay in mail activity is expected to continue through the course of the recession, at which point the direct mail channel will likely emerge as a medium used more for precise targeting than “saturation mailing” as it has been over the last decade.

Kelley Blue Book Names Auto Kings

Toyota is No. 1 in value and family-friendliness; BMW in performance, exterior design and coolness; and Ford in truck ruggedness, according to research and sales Web site Kelley Blue Book.

The firm’s Brand Image Awards, which rates brands in 10 categories based on its yearly Brand Watch study, also found that consumers tap Cadillac as No. 1 for comfort and interior design; Nissan for exterior design among non-luxury vehicles, and Mercedes-Benz for prestige.