Outside the Box: Getting Creative with Product Fulfillment

New Wave
There’s the left vs. right brain debate; there are those who take the arts and humanities route while others do math, sciences, or trades; there are the people who go out of their way to break policy and those who actually function well within it.
When all is said and done, working at any job is a bit of a high-wire act between conforming to certain ideals and trying to incorporate one’s own ideals, effectively breaking certain conventions. We often look to those times in history where certain luminaries in various fields took on certain established influences and began to construct their own creations using their original ideas. One famous instance was the French Nouvelle Vague (“New Wave”) of the 1950s and 1960s, which combined established movie trends with others outside their genre, like combining documentaries with the romanticism of literature and art. This style would come to influence a lot of movies in the decades later.
Read More : http://www.apsfulfillment.com/creative-direct-marketing-2/outside-the-box-getting-creating-with-product-fulfillment

EcoFoil Expands Blog Format to Connect with Customers and Provide Expert Advice

EcoFoil.com, a leading supplier of reflective insulation, is expanding its blog categories to share a wider range of content with its customers.
The EcoFoil blog was initially developed to show customers the benefits of eco-friendly building. However, a recent sales and service initiative to expand the blog has resulted in several new categories, including answering some of the more common questions that the company’s sales staff receives from customers.
“The blog has been evolving quickly for us, as we’re realizing what a great tool it can be to communicate with our current customers, and also reach potential new customers,” said EcoFoil product and sales specialist, David Arnold.
Read More: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/9/prweb11175227.htm

News Byte: Publicis Groupe Acquires POKE

Publicis Groupe expanded its global digital offerings by acquiring UK digital agency POKE from its four founding shareholders and Mother Holdings Ltd, the holding company announced today.
“POKE is a company that we have admired for some time,” Jean-Yves Naouri said in the release. “This acquisition will further strengthen our Publicis UK offering by adding a new level of digital expertise, creativity and innovation to the Publicis UK group of agencies.”
Read More : http://www.dmnews.com/news-byte-publicis-groupe-acquires-poke/article/312322/

Handling the Big Boy Peers in Product Fulfillment

Big Leagues
Ah, to go big. You slug it out playing college basketball, and then a scout from the Miami Heat starts chatting you up. Perhaps you’re a lowly repertory theatre actor, and then comes the deal to appear in a big budget movie. Or maybe you’re a small-time inventor and a major company wants to buy your patent.
Even if the above situations sound like silly daydreaming to you, they’re not so hard to imagine in real life. A lot of people pay a lot of dues for a long time before finally having the opportunity to go big. We have to remember that, as clichéd as it sounds, people like Steve Jobs, Morgan Freeman, and Stephen King were once what would otherwise be defined as common people. It was their commitment to their trades that took them from walking the Earth to the heights of the professional stratosphere.
Read More: http://www.apsfulfillment.com/b2b-direct-marketing/handling-the-big-boy-peers-in-product-fulfillment

John Lewis plans marketing push for new click-and-collect service

The ads will incorporate radio, online, mobile and email, as well as door drops, using geo-targeting to reach customers living in regions where the test is running. The trial will initially be available in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and the South West of England.
The service, offered in partnership with CollectPlus, means that customers who order goods through the John Lewis website will now be able to pick them up from 1,500 of the 5,250 convenience stores in the CollectPlus network, including Spar, CostCutter and Martin McColl. The service will cost £3.
The deal is aimed at expanding John Lewis’ customer base into areas where it might not have a store. There are only around 30 John Lewis shops in the UK, although people can opt to pick up their purchases from participating Waitrose stores. The company claims that 88 per cent of people in towns in the UK live within a mile of a CollectPlus store.
Read More: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/sectors/retail/john-lewis-plans-marketing-push-for-new-click-and-collect-service/4008067.article

Reshaping a Marketing Organization for Education in the 21st Century

Education isn't changing, it has changed. After centuries of staying more or less the same, education in the U.S. has evolved, finding ways to be more efficient, effective, and innovative through technology. It may have taken longer than some areas of life, but education is finally having its digital moment.
One of the primary reasons why I left an edtech startup in the summer of 2012 to join McGraw-Hill Education was the transformational opportunity. It wasn't so much a personal one (though it was that, too) but a bigger, organizational one. Here was a company that, despite its iconic brand reputation as a stodgy “textbook publisher,” actually did have a portfolio of digital products capable of delivering more engaging, personalized learning experiences. What it didn't have was a marketing organization fully equipped to tell that digital story
Read More:http://www.dmnews.com/reshaping-a-marketing-organization-for-education-in-the-21st-century/article/312600/

5 Tips from the DMA/Neopost Effective Guide to Direct Mail Campaigns

Neopost and the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) released today “A Practical Guide to Creating Effective Direct Mail Campaigns.” Here are five key tips on how to create an awesome mail campaign.
Budget – This is fundamental. It will help you determine exactly what kind of mailing you can afford. Expenses will likely include data purchase or rental, creative development, postage, production costs, the offer, and response handling.
Tell your coworkers – Customer-facing employees will need to know about the mailing campaign, so be sure to brief them. Make sure any digital assets are up-to-date and that the sales team is prepared to follow up if need be.

Read More :http://www.dmnews.com/5-tips-from-the-dmaneopost-effective-guide-to-direct-mail-campaigns/article/307656/

How Understanding Legal Matters Leads to Good Product Fulfillment Services

Over the Line
So, what are your real feelings about the law?
Most people have a knee-jerk reaction to this. They think about the fact they can no longer enjoy a cigar in public or grumble about the recent tax hike. In fairness, sometimes new laws can be a valid source of debate about if they actually accomplish what they are imposed for.
But a few minutes of consideration can reveal how useful laws can be. Law, order, and policing can keep us safe, while judicial penalties help potential criminals maintain some semblance of communal respect. While not all laws bring smiles to our faces, quite a few more serve their purposes well.

Read More: http://www.apsfulfillment.com/fulfillment/how-understanding-legal-matters-leads-to-good-product-fulfillment-services

Bang for Your Buck: The Real Savings in Product Fulfillment

Cutting Quarters in Two
Penny pincher, hustler, moneygrubber, cheapskate, hoardasaurus—the insults go on and on. There’s no getting around the negative terms used for people that seem to like money more than anything; such names are even applied to folks that simply take savings seriously. Sometimes the bad terminology is warranted, as such folks may buy discount Halloween cards for Christmas gifts or stock up on diapers long before they ever get married.
Read More : http://www.apsfulfillment.com/product-fulfillment/bang-for-your-buck-the-real-savings-in-product-fulfillment

To the Letter: Knowing All the Ins and Outs of Professional Printing in Product Fulfillment

Magic Ink
 The publishing world appears to be getting a little more technical—or rather, technological. There seems to be a shift from the old printing services we’ve grown accustomed to since days gone by to electronic print media. Now, we’ve got pop-up ads online and e-books with complete novels that are easier to carry in your back pocket than a paperback. It seems like the microprocessors have conquered another landscape, and the printing business is its new terrain.
Well, not quite.
The publishing world might be getting swallowed up by technology, but marketing and product fulfillment may not necessarily be also. You can’t do e-flyers yet and some catalogues just look better in paper form, all bound in a handsome, glossy book. Some say print is dead, but most product fulfillment pros would agree is that printing is still around and working hard.
The magic of ink is strong, and in product fulfillment, you need to grapple ink’s catalyzing mechanism: the printing process. Without it, your product fulfillment business would diminish, or perhaps even fail outright. Printing is still relevant in the world, and product fulfillment pros that understand it can not only make their business more efficient, but create great success for themselves, too.
Speaking the Language

 Understanding professional printing services in product fulfillment is like a checklist of your knowledge base. Right from the get-go, you need to understand that most printing companies today are digital and operate using templates for styles and for business purposes. The lead-and-ink printing days are gone, replaced by print-on-demand companies that can produce a large amount of print material in a flash by using computers to easily design, format, and then run off the print materials you need.

Read More : http://www.apsfulfillment.com/lettershop-services/to-the-letter-knowing-all-the-ins-and-outs-of-professional-printing-in-product-fulfillment-2

Full Conversion: Adapting to the Electronic Route for Product Fulfillment

Brave New World
Today, it seems like the sci-fi writers of decades gone-by were actually on to something. While aliens haven’t colonized us all, laser guns have yet to hit the commercial market, and the milkman service to the moon is still in development limbo, some technological dreams have finally come true. Really fancy touch screen technology is available, there’s automatic GPS for traveling, and video screens are darn near everywhere. It’s incredible.
Depending on your point of view, this is either fantastic or fear-inspiring. If you miss the days of Olivetti typewriters and butter churns and hold the philosophy that society is being corrupted by all these gizmos, then you probably think the latter. But if you’re head over heels for your new smartphone and tablet with all of their hidden innovations, you likely couldn’t be happier. It’s all a matter of degree.
Like it or not, you can bet technology is here to stay, regardless of its necessity. And with so much of this stuff appearing everywhere you turn, there’s no question that you need to be up-to-date on it if you are in the business world.
In product fulfillment, this means going the route of e-fulfillment services. Some pros are still not up on this, often out of fear or a devotion to their old, faithful methods. But adaptation to the digital age in product fulfillment should not arouse fear, nor require you to toss away the methods you love—just supplement them to access a brave but professionally exciting new world.

Behind the Screens

Read more : http://www.apsfulfillment.com/fulfillment/full-conversion-adapting-to-the-electronic-route-for-product-fulfillment

Mailers in Talks with Postal Unions to Forestall Rate Increase

During their conference call last week, members of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors brought up the issue of an exigent rate increase, but chose to table it until their meeting in Kansas City on September 24-25. It was a small, but important, victory for the Affordable Mail Alliance (AMA), which had sent a letter to the Board asking it to consider the effect a rate hike might have on 8 million private sector jobs and annual related revenues of $1.3 trillion.
“The governors gave us two weeks to see if mailers and postal employees could rally to push for postal reform,” says Jerry Cerasale, SVP of government affairs at the Direct Marketing Association, a member of the AMA. “So we have been talking with all four unions and we hope that, if they see some movement in the right direction, the governors will ask for an increase based on the Consumer Price Index and not file for an exigent increase.”
Read More: http://www.dmnews.com/mailers-in-talks-with-postal-unions-to-forestall-rate-increase/article/311184/

Go-To and Go-Between: The Beauty of Being a Third Party Product Fulfillment Pro

Remove Yourself from the Equation

In product fulfillment, things can get pretty hectic, and everything can become hard to handle. And if you’re operating your own business, it can be a huge responsibility to hold it all together.
There might come a time when you decide enough is enough. Doing all the cataloging, processing all the orders, and managing all of the lists among other jobs might wear you down so much that you find yourself in need of a different sort of job. You love product fulfillment, but need work that’s a bit less stressful.
Well, you’re in luck. Product fulfillment is one of the few fields that you can remove yourself from a bit without removing yourself from the industry outright. This can be done when you become a third party fulfillment professional, offering specialized assistance services to other product fulfillment pros—but with less of the stress.

Read More: http://www.apsfulfillment.com/uncategorized/go-to-and-go-between-the-beauty-of-being-a-third-party-product-fulfillment-pro

New Government Affairs Chief Joins DMA

Peggy Renken Hudson, an experienced lobbyist and former BP global affairs executive, joined the Direct Marketing Association's (DMA) Washington, D.C., office, where she will take over for longtime SVP of Government Affairs Jerry Cerasale. He brings nearly two decades at DMA to a close when he retires at the end of the year.
During her career, Hudson led lobbying for several noteworthy initiatives, including three comprehensive energy bills, legislation on airport and highway construction, and a bill supporting the Alaska Gas Pipeline. She is an accomplished public speaker and has made several appearances on C-SPAN and CNN.

Read More: http://www.dmnews.com/new-government-affairs-chief-joins-dma/article/311250/

Direct Hit—Bringing Life to Your Direct Marketing Business in This Day and Age

Separation of the Two

When you tell people you’re in direct marketing or that you have a direct marketing company working for your own product fulfillment business, you might get a few puzzled looks. A lot of people think direct marketing isn’t as effective today or that it’s not something product fulfillment professionals should use to yield success. These people who look down on direct marketing often ride the high horse of digital business and tout themselves as the new slick business pros today.
Well, good for them. In the meantime, you’ve got work to do. Contrary to what the high horse riders think, having a direct marketing service today is just as necessary for consumers as it was in the past. It might not be the same format as it was some years ago, but it’s still got something to offer people looking to buy good products from great businesses.
Read More: http://www.apsfulfillment.com/b2b-direct-marketing/direct-hit-bringing-life-to-your-direct-marketing-business-in-this-day-and-age

News Byte: Twitter to Buy MoPub and Sell Mobile Ads

Twitter VP of Product for Revenue Kevin Weil announced in a blog yesterday that the company would acquire mobile ad exchange MoPub to aid app publishers in selling ads.
“MoPub's technology lets mobile app publishers…optimize multiple sources of advertising—direct ads, house ads, ad network, and real-time bidding in a single product,” Weil wrote.
The acquisition signals Twitter's eagerness to compete with AOL, Facebook, and Google as a full-service provider of both mass and direct marketing vehicles. "This could make significant waves in how advertisers decide to allocate their budgets," said Marc Poirier, cofounder and EVP of business development at Acquisio, a multichannel media platform."Quality mobile ad inventory is in high demand and Twitter would arguably be one of the top-three sources for such traffic after Google and Facebook.”
Weil stressed that the move fits with Twitter's mission to present relevant marketing to users. “We plan to use MoPub's technology to build real-time bidding into the Twitter ads platform so our advertisers can more easily automate and scale their buys,” Weil wrote. “Our approach is to show an ad when we think it will be useful or interesting to a user, and that isn't changing.”
Read More: http://www.dmnews.com/news-byte-twitter-to-buy-mopub-and-sell-mobile-ads/article/310997/

New Statistics on Why Businesses should Get a Toll-free Telephone Number, from TollfreeNumber.ORG

Tollfreenumber.ORG released information about toll free numbers in the from of new statistics from the TollfreeNumber.ORG website today. They have also released an accompanying article entitled Why Get a Toll-free Number.
Tollfreenumber.ORG has been a major player in the toll free number industry for over a decade, and is stating that 800 number supplies have actually reached an all time low, but that their value as a business tool has reached an all time high.
“Many people mistakenly believe that toll free number supplies are abundant, and that there isn't any hurry to secure a toll free number,” says Logan Marshall, “However, this couldn't be further from the truth as the stocks of 800 numbers are dwindling, and just a small fraction of them actually remain. Therefore, many are having to choose an alternative number when registering, as their first choice has already been taken. If you want the most benefit from your toll free number it's wise to select one as soon as possible so that you can choose a number that best fits your business and suits your needs.”
Read More : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/9/prweb10602672.htm

6 Trends That Go Beyond the Buzz of Big Data

It seems that there's as much substance as there is hype around Big Data. According to the study “Big Data Executive Survey 2013: The State of Big Data in the Large Corporate World,” by consultancy and analyst firm NewVantage Partners, 91% of Fortune 1000 senior executives report that their organization has a Big Data initiative in place, or is planning one. Of those respondents, 60% say that they've implemented a Big Data initiative. And 32% of executives note that their firm's Big Data initiative is already operationalized across the organization. NewVantage Partners defines Big Data as “new database management and analytical approaches developed for analyzing, storing, and manipulating large or complex data.” 
Read More:http://www.dmnews.com/6-trends-that-go-beyond-the-buzz-of-big-data/article/310805/

Friendly Ghost in the Machine—Delivering the Best Kind of Product Fulfillment through E-Commerce

Digital Age

This is the modern world—are you ready for it? That’s the question all professionals have been asking themselves, especially over the last few years. With the rise of digital technology and the decline of easy business techniques for success, today’s business pros have had to adapt to a lot of modern practices, whether they wanted to or not.
Product fulfillment pros are no exception. Up until the last decade or so, product fulfillment worked off of very traditional business practices—mail orders, cash on delivery (COD), and similar kinds of practice. Today, such practices seem almost antiquated. There’s a lot of debate over whether or not the new digital mechanisms have in fact created a better business environment; but in the end, product fulfillment pros have to accept that these new methods are facts. There’s no way around it, the digital age is here to stay.
Read More:http://www.apsfulfillment.com/uncategorized/friendly-ghost-in-the-machine-delivering-the-best-kind-of-product-fulfillment-through-e-commerce

Halloween Express Announces Buy Online Pickup In-Store Program

With Labor Day over, the 2013 Halloween season is underway. This year, Halloween Express is leading the industry by announcing the introduction of its Buy Online Pickup In-Store program. Customers now have the added convenience of shopping for their Halloween costumes online, but with the new addition of quick, easy and convenient in-store pickup after the online selection is made. “Customers love the ease and convenience offered by online shopping. Adding the ability to pick up their purchases at a local Halloween Express store makes it even better,” said Brad Butler, Chief Operating Officer of HalloweenExpress.com. “This program offers customers the best of both worlds and we expect many folks will take advantage of this unique shopping service.”
Read More:http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/9/prweb11098436.htm

7 Ways to Liven Up Your Branding

It's hard not to take marketing seriously—especially if you're a brand with a reputation to uphold. As a consequence, some brands choose to play it safe, often using more traditional approaches to their communications, even within digital channels. Others, like South Park Studios, allow their brand personalities to shine through in the most unexpected ways, creating memorable experiences, and adding depth to the brand.
Here are seven often-overlooked places that brands can take add character into their marketing:
Unsubscribe pages. Most unsubscribe pages simply inform the customers that they no longer belong to a particular mailing list. Not so with HubSpot. “Unsubscribes typically mirror a breakup: they are highly unlovable, often awkward, and can be really frustrating for all parties involved,” says HubSpot CMO Mike Volpe. “We decided to double down on the breakup concept and leverage Dan Sally, a HubSpot employee who happens to moonlight as a stand-up comedian, to work on camera trying to make sense of the 'breakup.' The result is a short, funny video that aims to leave the prospect or customer with a positive, lovable impression of HubSpot even if they no longer want to receive our emails."
Read More:http://www.dmnews.com/7-ways-to-liven-up-your-branding/article/309027/

Putting It All Together—The Kitting Process in Product Fulfillment

So, is product fulfillment really a multitasking operation?
Most product fulfillment pros would roll their eyes and say, “Duh.” Of course product fulfillment is a multitasking job—you’re shipping products, designing promotional material, and warehousing stock among many other jobs. Multitasking is the name of the game in product fulfillment.
Since that’s the case, product fulfillment pros should take comfort in the fact that their clients trust them to complete all of these tasks the right way and that those clients will in turn compensate them for the work. Sure, it’s a tough task wrangling all of those jobs into one professional corral, but when you assume a professional stance to execute these jobs like no one else, you can build a distinctly positive reputation.
Read More:http://www.apsfulfillment.com/kitting-services/putting-it-all-together-the-kitting-process-in-product-fulfillment

Tesco and The Body Shop to use Apple's mobile wallet for marketing

Dubbed Passbook, Apple’s mobile wallet lets users store items such as receipts, boarding passes and voucher codes on their mobile device. But take-up by UK companies has so far been slow, with the few firms that use it doing so only for managing customer relations.
However, the two retailers, plus Seatwave and eFlorist, are now set to use Passbook as an affiliate marketing channel, letting users store vouchers for use later.
They have signed up to a service from Tradedoubler aimed at letting brands market to customers by nudging them towards an action. The retailers will be able to target customers that have stored vouchers with marketing messages using, for example, their location or if an offer is coming to an end.
Read More: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/tesco-and-the-body-shop-to-use-apples-mobile-wallet-for-marketing/4007840.article

Privacy Groups Bristle at Facebook's Proposed Privacy Changes

Facebook's announcement late yesterday that it will delay the rollout of a revised privacy policy and data use agreement until next week comes on the heels of unified outcry from consumer rights groups. The updates were originally scheduled to go into effect September 5.
When the social network announced the planned changes on August 29, six consumer privacy groups sent a letter on September 4 to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asking the agency to prevent those changes from happening, arguing that the prospective changes violate Facebook's 2011 settlement with the FTC.
Read More:http://www.dmnews.com/privacy-groups-bristle-at-facebooks-proposed-privacy-changes/article/310499/

Innocent in marketing hiring spree

The smoothie maker has created a number of new marketing roles including head of global brand and head of UK marketing.
The head of global brand will have responsibility for Innocent’s international juice and smoothie marketing and report into Franz Bruckner, group marketing and innovation director. The head of UK marketing will be responsible for marketing activity in the region and report into Dave Pickup, UK managing director.
An Innocent spokeswoman says: “We’ve created a number of new roles to keep up with Innocent’s significant growth in the UK and across Europe. These roles have provided opportunities for Innocent’s home-grown talent and also given us the chance to welcome brilliant new people in to Fruit Towers.”
Read More:http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/innocent-in-marketing-hiring-spree/4007827.article

".Anything" Goes

The Internet as we have come to know it will soon be dramatically changing. In a few months new domain extensions will be introduced and used alongside the ones everyone is already accustomed to, such as .com, .net and .org. The Internet's governing body, ICANN, has accepted nearly 2,000 applications for new “generic Top-Level Domains” (gTLDs), which include terms like .shoes, .music, and .app, as well as brand-specific applications for extensions like .Nike, .Ford and .Macys.

While .com web addresses will likely remain most popular for the foreseeable future, gTLDs are uncharted territory—no one knows exactly what the ultimate outcome will be. Will these new gTLDs become more popular than .com?  Will they fail to capture interest? Will they catch on in specific areas or industries? (It's not a stretch to think of the entertainment industry jumping at the chance to use .movie or .music addresses.)
Read More:http://www.dmnews.com/anything-goes/article/310341/

Under Lock and Key—Offering Great Warehousing Services in Product Fulfillment

More Than a Roof Overhead

As you’ve probably realized over the course of your product fulfillment travels, there are a lot of things involved in offering great product fulfillment services to today’s clients. Everything from printing services to brochure design to online promotions—there are a ton of services out there. It’s simple enough, though; you just need to decide which of these quality services you want to offer your clients, right?

Well, then there’s the warehousing thing.

A lot of product fulfillment pros look at the provision of warehousing services to the public as a walk in the park. The assumption about warehousing is that you just have to keep products and stock for other product fulfillment pros underneath a roof, turn a key in a lock, and bill them for the expense. It sounds so simple.

Read More:http://www.apsfulfillment.com/warehousing-solutions/under-lock-and-key-offering-great-warehousing-services-in-product-fulfillment

Whither Twitter in E-Commerce?

Is Twitter looking for new ways to monetize its ubiquitous, global digital communications network? That's what most wags read into the company's hiring of ex-Ticketmaster president Nathan Hubbard as its first head of commerce last week, and most expect Twitter's journey into e-commerce (or media, or data-selling) to be as circuitous and suspenseful as Facebook's.
“I think there's a lot of potential with e-commerce and Twitter, because it is such an easy and fluid way to message to specific groups of people,” says Chris Marentis, CEO of Surefire Social, which helps e-coms create websites and social strategies. “Today, media is about the right place, the right message, and the right time. I could see where companies might want to use proximity-based signals to tweet offers to someone who's following Panera Bread, for instance, between noon and 1:00.”
Read More:http://www.dmnews.com/whither-twitter-in-e-commerce/article/310254/

Telefonica: 'Apple imposing itself on the mobile web'

The mobile operator, owner of the O2 brand, kicked off the campaign yesterday (3 September) dubbing it ‘The Open Agenda’ with representatives of the pair of companies openly criticising Apple’s dominance of mobile web usage.
Speaking at Campus Party yesterday, hosted by the operator’s digital arm Telefonica Digital at The O2, Daniel Applequist, Telefonica’s open web advocate, argued app store owners such as Apple as are “imposing themselves on the value chain”.
Speaking on a panel session, he said: “There’s some more forces working towards a closed future – particularly with apps – at present. We’re launching a campaign to promote a civil discourse for a more open internet and how it can have a positive impact on government and people.”
Read More:http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/telefonica-apple-imposing-itself-on-the-mobile-web/4007811.article

Carnival investing $180 million in clean-air technology

Carnival Corp. is pouring more than $180 million into new technology to clean fuel exhaust on roughly a third of its fleet in an effort to meet strict air pollution standards off North American coasts that go into effect in 2015.
The Miami-based cruise ship company will announce the plan Thursday along with the Environmental Protection Agency, which along with the U.S. Coast Guard and Transport Canada is supporting Carnival’s efforts to develop and install dual filtration and scrubbing devices on 32 ships. The EPA will allow Carnival to use standard fuel at sea while it tests the equipment rather than forcing the company to burn cleaner but more expensive fuel on the ships included in the program.
Read More:http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/05/3606178/carnival-investing-180-million.html

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/05/3606178/carnival-investing-180-million.html#storylink=cpy

zChocolat, premier online retailer of luxury chocolate gifts, launches 3 new collections for the 2013-2014 Holidays, decked out in the ever-famous French Jacquard style.

This year, zChocolat has decided to slip on its haute-couture dress and wear the stylish Frenchy Jacquard pattern on all of its Holiday gift boxes.
1/ zBox Holiday Collection: “Chic & modern”
Celebrate the spirit of the season with this ultra-chic line of holiday themed ballotin boxes. A fashionable, ivory Jacquard style snowflake silhouette set against a vivid crimson backdrop accords these chocolate gems an "haute-couture" look. This fine and frosty collection has emerged from one of our most popular vessels to deliver the wonders and magic of zChocolat during the holidays. Each box can be adorned with a personal message, diamond laser-engraved on a black plate for further year-end joy.                        
2/ Basswood Holiday Collection: “Elegance and simplicity”
This holiday season, treat your family, friends or customers to a gift of elegance and simplicity made of 100% natural basswood: a token of friendship, affection and loyalty. Each box is neatly decorated with a hip-chic Jacquard designed snowflake carving - a powerful and fashionable symbol of the winter season. Selected for its naturally light toned timber, basswood is ideally suited to accentuate the laser etched snowflake and personal greeting on the lid of the box. Each holds an assortment of our most delectable zChocolat treats, assuring a gift that will be warmly received and savored by all.
Read More:http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/9/prweb11082666.htm

Credit Card Processing Reviews Draw Attention to Industry’s ‘Black Eye’ – Hidden Fees at RateCreditCardProcessing.com

Seeking to reduce the unnecessary expenses, and bad feelings, caused by unexpected fees, RateCreditCardProcessing.com has released a list of the most common hidden fees reported by consumers in 2013 charged by payment processors. In addition the company has released advice on how to avoid incurring unnecessary fees, to learn more visit: http://www.ratecreditcardprocessing.com.
“Nobody likes to get charges they didn’t expect,” said Greg Wong founder of RateCreditCardProcessing.com.
Wong explained that hidden charges in the payment industry usually amount to unexpected merchant account fees, charges a customer may not have been informed of properly at the time of signing with their chosen company.
Read More:http://www.prweb.com/releases/hidden/fees/prweb11027997.htm

Acxiom Gives Consumers Access to Data

Data services company Acxiom will launch AboutTheData.com “overnight,” a website that allows consumers to access their personal data and edit inaccurate entries.
This is in line with frequent requests made by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has been asking so-called data brokers for more transparency. In a March 2012 FTC report entitled “Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change,” the FTC called upon data brokers to create a centralized portal where data brokers could identify themselves, describe how they collect and use consumer data, and detail access rights.

Read More:http://www.dmnews.com/acxiom-gives-consumers-access-to-data/article/310025/

Microsoft buys Nokia's handset business for £4.6bn

The deal will see Microsoft purchasing Nokia’s services and devices business, which includes the Finnish company’s smartphone and feature phone business; its marketing, operations, sales and design teams; and its manufacturing and assembly facilities. Microsoft will license some of Nokia’s patents for use across all Microsoft products, including the ability to use its Nokia HERE mapping system - although this will continue to be owned by Nokia.
Microsoft is also acquiring the “Lumia” and “Asha” brand names that Nokia has used for its most recent smartphone and feature phone ranges respectively. It has licensed the use of the Nokia brand on current products and on feature phones under a 10-year agreement, although Nokia will retain ownership of the brand, which has led to early speculation the Nokia brand will disappear from future smartphone devices.
Read More:http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/microsoft-buys-nokias-handset-business-for-46bn/4007794.article

5 Ways to Build Brand Advocacy and Magnify Customers' Passion

Customers love to share their enthusiasm for their favorite brands. Marketers who ensure that their brand is at the center of these conversations can gain a competitive advantage and spend less on reach, according to analysis of a study by Social@Ogilvy and partners CIC, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, and Visible Technologies.
The study is based on analysis of nearly 7 million brand mentions of 23 brands and eight feature films from customers in four countries: Brazil, China, the UK, and the United States. According to the study, the number one driver of customer advocacy across all four countries is product features. Advocacy mentions comprise about 15% of all brand mentions; the remainder was neutral and negative mentions. 
Read More:http://www.dmnews.com/5-ways-to-build-brand-advocacy-and-magnify-customers-passion/article/308848/

A Plus Warehouse Announces Lewisbins Parts Bin As Product of the Day

It is time for A Plus Warehouse to discuss its product of the day. Every day, A Plus Warehouse changes these items. Some days it may be a type of locker and the next day a type of conveyor. A customer never knows what the product of the day may be. This is the fun of it all. Change is exciting. This is also why A Plus Warehouse is constantly updating the website. Todays product of the day is the Lewisbins parts bin. According to Ed Stairman, president of A Plus Warehouse, “We often talk about Quantum bins, and often forget about Lewisbins bins. Lewisbins is a great manufacturer that deserves to be recognized.”
Read More:http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/microsoft-buys-nokias-handset-business-for-46bn/4007794.article

Infographic: Spice Up Your Marketing Mix

Multichannel marketing is a lot like cooking. It requires trial and error, and each company has its own acquired taste. But consumers have a broad palate when it comes to devices. According to “The Mobile & Cross-Device Study” by ValueClick Media and Greystripe, the average American uses three or more devices to access the Web. Hence, marketers need to integrate their channels, rather than serve them à la carte, to satisfy consumers' tastes.
But cooking up new multichannel strategies doesn't scare marketers. In fact, 77% of marketers surveyed deem cross-device targeting as important, and 89% say targeting the same user across different devices is critical. Likewise, 75% of media buyers say they've seen an increase in effectiveness with cross-device campaigns, according to the study. This sweet success has lead marketers to dedicate 30% of their 2013 digital media spend to cross device, compared to 24% last year.
Read More:http://www.dmnews.com/infographic-spice-up-your-marketing-mix/article/309535/

EBay: 'Marketers cannot afford to miss out on Xmas long-listers'

The ecommerce giant’s advertising arm has published a study showing there were more than 150,000 UK searches for “Christmas” on its site between May and June this year, as consumers  begin contemplating their seasonal gifts ahead of the holiday, a behaviour eBay Advertising calls “long-listing”.
The study also shows that from September to December 2012, there were over a quarter of a million searches for the generic term “Christmas presents”, plus 170,000 searches for “stocking fillers”, with eBay adding that marketers “can’t afford to miss out” on influencing these “long-listers” as they start to finalise their purchase decisions.
EBay also recommends marketers begin tailoring their messaging for the ‘gifting market’ as early as October, as this is typically when they start to research purchases for others.
Read More:http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/ebay-marketers-cannot-afford-to-miss-out-on-xmas-long-listers/4007760.article

E-commerce and the Sales Force, Enemies No More

Anyone who has spent time working in B2B industries will tell you that the sales force is king. Sales owns messaging, promotions, product mix and, often, even pricing. CMOs and marketing directors are extremely hesitant to rock the boat if they know sales won't like the changes. In fact, many B2B companies choose not to invest substantially in e-commerce because the sales force thinks of e-commerce as the enemy. They think e-commerce steals their commissions, reduces the size of transactions, turns their customers away from the strong relationships they have cultivated, and inevitably eliminates critical sales positions.
Read More:http://www.dmnews.com/e-commerce-and-the-sales-force-enemies-no-more/article/309536/