Are focus groups a thing of the past? For a growing number of marketers, the answer is yes. Will “personas” take their place?

By: W. Eric Martin

Focus groups have been a staple of marketing research for decades, but Rodger Roeser, president of Eisen Management Group, …

Dimensional mail has emerged as a key to reaching out to the executive class

By Lekan Oguntoyinbo

Two years ago, Kaiser Permanente embarked on a difficult campaign: persuading C-level executives at several major corporations to switch health care providers. To seize the attention of the key decision …

Now embraced by even some of the most upscale brands, insert-media pieces are suddenly enjoying renewed popularity

By: Anne Stuart

When Jill Eastman Vidal was working for a catalog company back in the mid-1990s, she thought insert media seemed like a great marketing tool - but didn’t get why so …

Angie’s List lures customer referrals with a chocolate-covered incentive

By: Elaine Appleton Grant

It’s a chocoholic’s fantasy workplace.

Angie’s List, a company that reviews local service companies online and in print, is awash in M&Ms. Last year, the Indianapolis-based company mailed out 11,315 pounds of the crunchy treats as thank-you gifts to …

A prepaid cell phone provider offers one of mobile marketing’s most personalized loyalty programs yet

By: Linda Formichelli

The officials at Boost Mobile wanted to know who was on their phone lines.

With more than 4 million customers on the Boost cellular network, company executives knew their mobile phones were in use. …

Magazines turn to online social networking tools to keep readers involved

By: W. Eric Martin

For much of their existence, magazines have communicated with readers in what has amounted to a one-way conversation: Writers distill opinions and observations; readers sit back and absorb. Audience feedback has usually been relegated to …