Direct response is gaining ground - with email marketing leading the charge, according to a new survey of large US corporations by Direct Partners, New York. More than 1/3 of the companies surveyed indicated email is their primary direct marketing channel, compared to 25% who use postal mail. And almost a quarter of those surveyed plan to increase their DM budgets by more than 10% in the next year.

Read the full story at brandweek.com.

With summer finally here, it’s just too nice outside to do much heavy mental lifting. So why not spend a few moments with these entertaining marketing news items - you can even call it research!

• White Rock BC having an identity crisis - Yup - White Rock thinks it’s confused with Surrey. So much so that it hired a California-based branding firm to help it “find itself” for a cool $70,000. Makes sense really - I mean it’s not as though the GVRD actually has any real marketing talent right? No local firm would ever have suggested the brand “Island of White Rock”. Clearly money well spent. (Peace Arch News)
• The Worst Social Media Ad Campaigns of 2007 (SXSW Coverage) - with all the hype about social media marketing come a few spectacular failures. (One Degree)
• In-window advertising - renting your retail window space to other advertisers? (AdAge video)
• BlogsCanada - a starting point for all things Canadian in the blogosphere; blogs by Canadians on every subject you can imagine. (BlogsCanada)
• When all else fails - pull out the Crayons.

Kinetix Media Communications is proud to announce the launch of a new online contest called “Where is KC?” for The Fair at the PNE. Enter online and win daily prizes; when you enter you will also be put into a Grand Prize draw for an all-inclusive luxury trip for 2 to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Replublic. Enter online at WhereIsKC.com.

Email marketing is a key component of today’s marketing mix yet Canadian trend information is just not available. Benchmark statistics and trend data from the United States is traditionally used for gauging the success of email marketing initiatives.

Kinetix has put together some statistics on email marketing trends in Canada. Take a quiz and recieve an executive summary of the report.

Massive 2007, Canada’s largest technology show, is coming to Vancouver March 28th at the Vancouver Exhibition & Convention Centre and Kinetix will be there!

Massive connects you with new technologies that can benefit your company in an inviting, jargon-free environment. Enabling your company with technology often means simply knowing what’s available and being empowered to use it. That’s where we come in.

Drop by our booth to pick up your copy of the 2006 Canadian Email Marketing Trends Report – our first annual study of email marketing trends and response patterns focusing exclusively on Canadian lists. We’ll be releasing the first copies of this report at the show.