Somewhere, a Yahoo Marketing Exec Dances on Spitzer's Grave
May 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Ken Magill
Four years before he became infamous as Client No. 9, disgraced former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's utter lack of integrity was on full display during ...

Nobody Left to Blame
Apr 1, 2008 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
It happened again last month: Another JupiterResearch e-mail buyer's guide, another round of press releases from all the service providers congratulating ...

Stupid E-mail Watch
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
Recently I received what has to be one of the most ignorant e-mail campaigns in the short history of the medium. It came in the form of spam from Bing ...

Barracuda Needs a Swift Kick
Feb 1, 2008 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
Marketers should bury their collective foot in the rear end of Barracuda Networks' communications department. The Internet security firm certainly deserves ...

Privacy Crackpots Are at It Again
Jan 1, 2008 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
Just when you thought the privacy crackpots couldn't get any wackier, they call for a contraption that would kill the Internet economy as we know it: a national do-not-track list. ...

Those Wacky COOs
Dec 1, 2007 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
Is there a school somewhere teaching chief operating officers how to come up with zany marketing ideas? I once worked for a small business-to-business ...

This Jellyfish Deserved to Drown
Oct 1, 2007 12:00 PM, Ken Magill
This summer the United Kingdom's National Magazine Co. NatMag killed online-only teen magazine Jellyfish after a 20-week trial, saying the e-zine's business ...

What the Heck Did He Just Say?
Sep 1, 2007 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
Man, the bureaucratledygook coming out of the Direct Marketing Association was sure thick this summer. ...

Work E-mails That Say I am Lame
Aug 1, 2007 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
At the risk of offending some readers and others who hold the power to adversely affect my standard of living, it's time to point out some e-mail writing ...

Journalists Strut Anti-DM Bias
Jun 1, 2007 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
The most blatant recent example of the rampant media bias against direct marketing surely was the lopsided coverage given to the more than two-year-long ...

Put a Lid on This Can of Worms
May 1, 2007 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
Anti-marketing critics have mindlessly derided the Can Spam Act of 2003 since before it was even passed as the “You Can Spam Act.” Now it looks as if Congress may be listening. ...

Anti-Spammers Get Personal
Apr 1, 2007 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
Ralph Penton is one of the angriest people I've ever interviewed. And if the story he tells is remotely true, he has every right to be as outraged as ...

You Wouldn't Treat Your Most Productive Sales Rep This Way
Mar 1, 2007 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
For those DMers who are still unconvinced that e-mail's a different animal than direct mail, look no further than the following pitch that arrived in ...

Another Ignorant J-Word Attack
Feb 1, 2007 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
When a column in a consumer newspaper is headlined Beware the menace of junk mail, you know you're in for a regular ignoramus-o-rama. ...

Some Really Stupid PR Tricks
Jan 1, 2007 12:00 PM, Ken Magill
Why are direct marketing firms so often so bad at press relations? No one is saying every DMer must have a PR rep, but if a professional communicator is part of a company's marketing, is it too much to ask that they be at least competent? ...

An Anti-Ad Complaint Straight From Booby Hatch U
Dec 1, 2006 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
AS THE OLD SAYING GOES: If you'eve taken an intellectually bankrupt position in a debate but want to stack it in your favor, change the definitions of ...

In Utah, the Sheriff of Doodyville Takes on the World
Nov 1, 2006 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
Are Utah's government officials evil or just stupid? That question comes to mind every time the state's so-called child-protection do-not e-mail registry ...

Oh It's OK if He Spams
Oct 1, 2006 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
FOR THIS ISSUE'S MOST SELF-important, empty-headed gasbag activist argument, look no further than a recent commentary piece from Doug Moss, publisher ...

On the Phone or Away From Your Desk? Don't Tell Us About It
Sep 1, 2006 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
A while back, the United Nations estimated that spam cost the world's economy $25 billion the preceding year in lost productivity and money spent protecting ...

D'oh! Those Zany Government Bureaucrats and Data Security
Aug 1, 2006 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
FROM THE THIS-IS-JUST-TOO-rich-to-pass-up file: The Federal Trade Commission noted recently that two of its laptops, containing the personal information ...

AOL to Customers and Mailers: And You Are?
Jul 1, 2006 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
IN THE 12 MONTHS PRECEDING April the most recent period for which figures are available AOL lost subscribers at a clip of 258,000 a month. That's twomonth. ...

Shed No Tears for Blue Security
Jun 15, 2006 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
THE ENTIRE DIRECT MARKETING industry should stand up and applaud the mid-May demise of anti-spam concern Blue Security. And not just because the company's ...

Overheard at the Authentication Summit
Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
SURELY ONE OF THE MOST ridiculous phrases to surface in business-speak lately is deep dive. It came up a few times at the recent E-mail Authentication ...

Kia Dealer Mailing Is a Real Clunker
May 1, 2006 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
FOR WHAT MUST BE THE worst direct mail campaign in the history of the craft, look no further than a recent effort from Kia of Paramus, NJ, aiming to get ...

This Little Piggy Went to Utah
Apr 1, 2006 12:00 PM, KEN MAGILL
AND THE AWARD FOR THE most parasitic, calculated, industry-killing company that cynically plays on parents' fears to get business goes todrum roll, pleaseUnspam! ...