"Most people think of direct response television as the old-school Ginsu knife commercial. But that's 20th century thinking. The new DRTV is different, although it still doesn't abandon some of the tried and true approaches. That said, more and more large companies are incorporating direct response techniques into their marketing mix. The result is a cost savings to the company, and a revenue increase as well."

Brent Kuhn, Partner, BKV

"Brands are among a company's most valuable assets. While most executives recognize this, few view branding as a strategic means of generating growth. A formal assessment of the brand portfolio will reveal which branding options are best pursued under certain situations. Those who manage their brands as actively as their product and financial portfolios will be best placed to harness this potential for growth."

Reshma Shah, Ph.D., Emory Goizueta Business School

TM

© 2008 The 60 Second Marketer

According to Jupiter Research, the average business person gets 304 work-related e-mails a week. But 54% of the population believes e-mail is irrelevant. How can you overcome this problem? There are 7 1/2 secrets that you should know about in order to help your e-mail campaigns. If you're not doing all 7 1/2 of them, you're not doing everything you can to ensure your success.

Lisa Cramer, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, FirstWave Technologies

There are four simple rules for talking to the press. Do you know them all? Some of them are easy, like staying on topic and resisting the temptation to go off on tangents. Others are a little more complex. If you don't know all of these simple tips, it would be a good idea to read How to Talk to the Press -- you never know when they'll come in handy.

Mark Shapiro, Founder, SRS-TechPR

Have you noticed recently that most hotels provide an assortment of pillows on the bed? If you’ve stayed at a Hampton Inn, you may be more aware of it than most. Why? Because Hampton Inn doesn’t believe in just providing value, they go to great lengths to make sure guests know it. They’ve sprinkled ads throughout guest rooms—in the form of little message placards—pointing out the value they deliver. That's good marketing and advice we can all follow.

Chuck Moxley is Vice President of Marketing at Varsity Gold

Solid media pitching skills are honed over time and with much practice. There are some aspects of pitching that are consistent for all media markets. However, there also are distinctions between local and national print media that require different tactics to land the big story. Click the orange button below to examine three ways in which local and national media pitching can be the same - and different.

Carol Rich is an Account Manager with communications 21

"I found this information fascinating when I first came across it. According to a series of tests done at a major university, when subjects did a blind test of Coke vs. Pepsi, they tied. But when they did a non-blind test and knew which brand they were drinking, Coke won 75% of the time. As a brand strategist, the fact that a brand's power could so definitively sway preference was very thrilling indeed."

Sex is a great attention-grabber – and it is disastrous for ad effectiveness.

Men and women alike are strongly attracted by sex in ads. However, men are so engrossed by the sexual imagery that it sucks up all their attention.  So if you want an effective print ad, don't use sexually-charged graphics -- research indicates that it actually makes the ad less effective.

Charles Boyar is Vice President, U.S. Operations, MediaAnalyzer, Inc

Andy Goldsmith, Creative and Brand Strategy, American Cancer Society

TiVo recently announced a partnership with Amazon that will continue to morph the device into a tool that links consumers to the products they see on television. TiVo users will see links to buy products like CDs, DVDs and books that guests are promoting on talk shows. The move highlights TiVo's attempt to shift from being a creator of DVRs to being an advertising innovator.

Businesses are beginning to use Twitter for customer service outreach (e.g. Dell, Comcast). Zappos is using Twitter not only to create stronger relationships with its customers but to build its internal culture. Yes, people are finding business leads and even jobs through tweets.

Are you using Twitter? The 60 Second Marketer is. As is Toby Bloomberg.

Toby Bloomberg is the Founder of Bloomberg Marketing.

Jamie Turner is the Editor of The 60 Second Marketer.

Advertisers can now create a closed loop marketing campaign that hits a consumer at three of the most impactful conversion points…in the mailbox, on their PC and now their mobile phone. Since consumers must opt-in to receive these offers from advertisers, they are far more likely to convert to a sale therefore significantly increasing the campaign’s ROI.

Steven Grey is the Chief Operating Officer of Money Mailer

Imagine this: You go up to a complete stranger on the street and start chatting about a company, a product or a person, without knowing who they are, or his/her perspectives or opinions. Crazy, right? Yes. Read a reporter's recent articles before you pitch them. Get a sense of their reporting style. If you pitch them without knowing their style, you will most certainly fail.

Jan Rasmussen, Senior Vice President, Fleishman-Hillard