Marketing Tactics

Mars Chocolate has rolled out the M-Ball, a peanut M&M's-shaped twist on the traditional soccer ball. The vibrant ball started making the rounds in the United States on April 15, and it comes at a time when soccer fandom is reaching an all-time high, the company said.

It may not rival the FIFA World Cup, but there’s nothing bigger than the Dr Pepper Dallas Cup when it comes to international youth soccer tournaments in the United States.

Now in its 35th year, the recently concluded youth tournament crowned winning teams from throughout the world who competed in eight age classifications. Other big winners at the event were eight U.S.-based community organizations who each received donations of $5,000 in sports gear on behalf of the winning teams.

Austin, Texas - RetailMeNot, Inc. has reached a strategic partnership agreement with General Growth Properties Inc. (GGP), a real estate investment trust focused exclusively on owning, managing, leasing and developing retail properties throughout the U.S. RetailMeNot will be the preferred digital coupon provider across GGP malls.

Leading Midwestern retailer Shopko has reopened its garden centers and has reiterated its commitment to environmental sustainability as the world marks this year’s Earth Day.

RetailMeNot has some interesting plans in store for mall goers following an agreement with General Growth Properties allowing it to serve as the mall operators preferred digital coupon provider.

Plans call for RetailMeNot to test new marketing formats and beacon technology in select malls that will allow RetailMeNot mobile app users to be served hyper-targeted offers. In addition, the company said it will work with General Growth Properties on various undefined initiatives to enhance the shopping experience at its 120 malls, increase traffic and drive sales for tenants.

Atlanta - InReality, a customer experience strategy and design firm, is offering a retail customer experience measurement tool called Reality Gap Analysis. Reality Gap Analysis delivers a quantifiable assessment of the gaps between a brand's self-perception and a customer's reality.

Hoffman Estates, Ill. - Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores Inc. has remodeled a Sears Hometown store in Helena, Mont. The store now has a fresh look.

Mountain View, Calif. – Google is reportedly piloting a service known as In-Store Attribution Transaction Reporting in AdWords that lets retailers compare how their AdWords Internet search campaigns affect in-store sales. According to the Wall Street Journal, the service matches data from anonymous tracking cookies to in-store sales data provided by technology providers including DataLogix, Acxiom, LiveRamp, and Epsilon.