Wal-Mart introduced a packaging scorecard for its more than 150,000 products to determine whether the company and its suppliers can conserve natural resources by reducing packaging and sourcing more sustainable materials.

Sixteen percent of Volvo Rents’ customers account for 89 percent of the company’s business. As a result, 89 percent of the marketing budget is devoted to that 16 percent.

Kodak began offering a high-quality printer that saves up to 50 percent on ink cartridge costs not long after it discovered that the cost of ink was the No. 1 consumer dissatisfaction with home printing.

One of the most common mistakes marketers make when trying to figure out how to reach Spanish-speaking newcomers is the assumption that there is a single Latino community, according to Veronica Torralba of insurer AIG American General.

Health care providers have learned that cheerful marketing ploys can also improve consumers’ attitudes toward medical care in general. But the humor must be relevant to a customer benefit, not just humor for humor’s sake.

One San Francisco retailer’s Web site steers customers to a national database where they can search for the closest recycle center that accepts their direct mail discards, like the retailer’s own glossy catalogs.