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Dunnhumby gains fame in the US An article in the highlights the targeting work of dunnhumby for grocery giant Kroger Co. DunnhumbyUSA has signed other big clients, the Post reports, including Coca-Cola, Home Depot, Procter & Gamble, Macy's, General Mills and Kraft Foods. While there can be "a Big Brother feel to the targeting", Kroger says individual treatment builds loyalty by making customers feel appreciated. Washington Post, Tuesday 6 January
Google and Yahoo push use of search calls-to-action in ads Google and Yahoo are encouraging brands to include search calls-to-action within their offline campaigns, reports. Spencer McHugh, Orange's former head of DM and now its head of brand communications, said Orange intends to increase its use of search prompts in advertising in 2009 after it saw an uplift in online traffic from its 'I Am' campaign. nma.co.uk, Wednesday 7 January
Media agencies vie to get a slice of database-driven behavioural targeting action Interpublic Group's buying and planning shop Mediabrands is working on a tool that will include behavioural targeting to refine media buying, writes David Kaplan of paidContent.org in the . The system will gather inventory from ad networks and ad exchanges, then cull data from sites visited by consumers and match it to information in the marketer's own customer database. Washington Post, Tuesday 6 January
Channel attribution, part 1: don't get conned by ad networks Performance-based marketing campaigns traditionally meant direct mail, DRTV and telemarketing, but increasingly involve search and cost-per-action display ads. John Nardone, writing on , urges client marketers to ensure they understand channel attribution. Some online ad networks rig attribution by flooding the market with cookies carried by instant messaging, increasing the odds that their cookie will have "last view" and thus get credited with the sale. Mediapost.com, Thursday 1 January
Channel attribution, part 2: Direct mail success ‘under-reported' With a greater number of orders taking place online, it is becoming difficult to understand which marketing investment is driving ordering activity, US magazine argues. As a result, direct mail's success in driving sales is often underreported. BtoBonline, 5 January
Mobile marketing to flourish as a direct response, not branding, channel The debate over what mobile's best for -- direct response or branding -- may be solved by the woeful economy, an article in argues. The probable verdict: direct response. Mobile's ability to draw an instant response and identify highly qualified prospects through click-to-call and click-to-SMS makes the case for using mobile as a direct-response channel, the article states. Ad Age.com, 6 January 2009
UK e-mail law 'attack on rights' From March all internet service providers (ISPs) will by law have to keep information about every e-mail sent or received in the UK for a year. But this exercise, involving the building of , gathering details on every text sent, e-mail sent, phone call made and website visited, is a waste of money and an attack on civil liberties, say critics. news.bbc.co.uk, 9 January
BT gets ‘Wooden Spoon Award' from Daily Mail readers for call handling BT has been awarded the Money Mail Wooden Spoon 2008 by readers of the , for what they considered is poor customer service, notably through the telecoms giant's call centres. Abbey and Virgin Media were also cited as having poor call handling processes. Readers highlighted AVR systems and overseas call centres as their pet peeves. Thisismoney.co.uk, 31 December 2008
Hewlett Packard 'rejects experienced call centre agents in India' Hewlett Packard (HP) in India has stopped recruiting candidates with more than eighteen months of work experience for its call centres, according to. An India-based HP call centre is rejecting experienced candidates for non-revenue-generating processes, the magazine reports. www.itexaminer.com, Monday 5 January
Downturn makes customer databases vulnerable to theft Customer databases will be more vulnerable to hi-tech criminals in the downturn, an article on argues. Layoffs of people familiar with net technology could mean that the intellectual property such as customer databases are copied and walk out of the door when employees pack up and leave. news.bbc.co.uk, 30 December 2008
Postman burns direct mail in work row A stressed-out Royal Mail postman who burned direct mail in a dispute over working hours narrowly avoided a jail sentence, reports. Gary Lynch received a suspended six-month prison term after admitting criminal damage and delaying the opening of a postal packet. Scarborough Evening News, 7 January
Data security issues hit Wales Welsh Assembly officials have come clean and admitted that 16 items of lost or stolen documents from the Welsh Assembly Government have been recorded in the last three years, according to the . A spokeswoman for the assembly government said it has always taken data protection seriously, with all staff receiving training and regular briefings on information security and data protections. She added that policies and procedures were regularly audited. BBC.co.uk, 2 January