How can I effectively measure the results of a consumer product email marketing campaign? ___________________________________________________ By Jennifer Manocchio Prior to starting your email marketing campaign, set specific and measurable objectives. For most consumer packaged goods companies, email marketing objectives often include: increasing company/product awareness, increasing web site traffic, and increasing product trial and sales among current and prospective customers.

Over the holiday weekend I managed to catch about five minutes of A Christmas Carol on TV. It wasn't the classic movie starring Reginald Owen or even the 50s favorite starring Alastair Sim. And it wasn't the new Jim Carey animation.

Retailers and manufacturers would likely consider me their ideal holiday customer. I spent 8 hours with my mom and sister shopping for deals on Black Friday, and the day after Christmas I was at it again. To my surprise, I didn’t find much at all the day after Christmas and was rather disappointed.

I received a call from the company that produces The Balancing Act on Lifetime Television. They wanted to feature our products on their show, but there was a pretty significant cost associated with it. Should I consider this opportunity? ____________________________________________________ By Jennifer Manocchio It is not uncommon for Sweeney to receive calls from production companies that want to feature our clients’ products on their television show.

Once upon a time (in the early 1980s) I was an account executive with Burson-Marsteller/Chicago. One of my accounts was the National LP Gas Association and gas prices were soaring, which was good for the propane industry. So good in fact that Ford Motor Co.

This morning I opened my Retailing Today Email Newsletter and was shocked to find the following headlines: “Target extends store hours in areas hit by blizzard” “Borders extends store hours in snow-affected cities” “Online retailers extend shipping date in wake of snowstorm” “Kmart to open for 64 hours, celebrities offer gift ideas” “Macy’s to open 12 stores 24/7 for holiday shopping” Certainly this is not an extension of hours and online shipping dates to help consumers snowed in.  Rather it is a way for retailers to bring in some extra sales during what was expected to be a fair holiday shopping season.

What is the best day and time to distribute new product news releases to the traditional media?

What is a web site “bounce rate”?  And should I be paying attention to these numbers?

So how's that $100 million advertising investment to launch Bing working out for you Microsoft? And what about that billion-dollar-a-year investment you are making in your Yahoo partnership?Well, according to data from Experian Hitwise, as reported in ClickZ, Bing lost ground during the four-week-period leading up to and ending November 28, while Google continued to gain.