Marketing News Daily Digest - Tuesday, June 17
Take a closer look at what’s making news today in the marketing profession. Click on the hyperlinks in each item to read the original coverage.
-- A growing number of big companies are using contests—with prizes of cash, free goods and business services—to raise their profiles and expand sales in the giant small-business market. And while some who enter such contests do get real help, business owners should remember that these events are more about marketing than goodwill. Not only do the efforts allow the sponsoring companies to curry favor with small businesses, but they collect contact information for new customers. Moreover, the competition and the prizes often grab media attention, multiplying the sponsor's marketing message, the Wall Street Journal reports.
More news after the jump:
-- Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft Corp. is getting help from start-up YuMe Inc., which specializes in serving advertisements to online videos, as it tries new ways to gain a larger slice of the online ad market. The YuMe service will place ads in videos running on Microsoft Web properties.
-- Amid news reports of major Midwest cities experiencing record floods comes the story of Wisconsin’s Lake Delton, a chief draw for summer tourists in the Wisconsin Dells area. Heavy rains, however, created a breach that prompted the lake to drain entirely, leaving only cracked earth and fish rotting in the summer sun. Experts say the lake can be resurrected, but what marketing efforts can be done in the interim to get wary tourists to visit? The Chicago Tribune reports that marketing professionals are already making outreach – including full-page ads in the Tribune.
