The Big Fat Marketing Blog

OK, so it wasn’t much of a surprise last week when a federal judge dismissed porn trade group the Free Speech Coalition’s lawsuit against Utah’s comically misnamed child-protection do-not-e-mail registry.

What was disconcerting, though, was a vow Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff made in the press release touting his victory.

Read the rest here.

This morning, after I posted a reply to Bill Bass (a DMA board member), I asked myself: why in the hell am I doing this? We are unbelievably busy and I don’t have time for drama. As much as I like hearing from all my old friends, clients, vendors and far-too-many people named Anonymous, I have to ask myself…

Is the DMA as relevant as the fax machine, the 8-track or the CB radio? Is any of this really worth it?

Why I am supporting this organization when there are so many others that I really like? (Here’s looking at you ACMA.)

Why am I even bothering to defend an organization that puts out a Voice of a Customer (VOC) survey and then apparently suppresses it? How much did the DMA pay for it, and why — and at whatever the cost was — did management not either take advantage of it, or allow members — whose dues paid for this research — know about it and benefit from it? more

Coupons.com, which offers members digital discount offers via Web and mobile phone, has expanded its platform with a new portfolio of services, including the ability to save discount offers to selected retailer loyalty cards, the company announced today.

The Mountain View CA-based company also unveiled enhancements to its popular Grocery IQ shopping list app for the iPhone, as well as an iPhone app version of its Coupons.com Web site and a new optimization of the http://www.Coupons.com site for other feature phones. more

Did you realize that October 5 to 9 was National Layaway Week? Value retailer Kmart did—after all, they called the holiday– and celebrated by launching an online center where customers can find, hold and make installment payments for the items they want to pick up in-store and give this holiday. more

Retailer Sears is showing its “softer side” in more than its ad slogans: It’s getting into social marketing in a big way, first with two back-to-school initiatives designed to get high schoolers and incoming freshmen engaged with each other as much as with the brand, and now with a new community site for home and appliance repairs called ManageMyHome.com.

Sears Holdings (parent to the Sears retail chain) launched the site in August as a central stop for all home projects. But the site was for several years in what Jim Hilt, vice president of divisional holdings for Sears, calls a “public beta”, open and being used by selected groups of consumers. “We were learning the nuances of what people wanted to do online relating to taking care of their homes,” he says. “It was a way for us to experiment live in the marketplace.” more