Loyalty Marketing

Walgreens announced the new Balance Rewards for healthy choices initiatives, which is aimed at helping participants modify behavior risk factors associated with the nation's most pressing public health issues. The initiative marks the first community pharmacy program that includes training based on the methodology of psychologist Dr. B.J. Fogg.

The retail industry is awash with digital innovations, but traditional paid search programs continue to dominate retailers’ digital marketing tactics, according to the 2014 Shop.org/Forrester Research State of Retailing Online study.

GameStop customers can now exchange gift cards online for a GameStop e-gift card. The new offering is part of a partnership with Cardpool, a leading gift card exchange platform.

Consumers can trade in plastic and e-gift cards online by filling out the individual gift card information at https://gamestop.cardpool.com./ Once the information is verified and the transaction is complete, consumers receive a GameStop e-gift card via email that they can use at one of the more than 4,400 store store locations nationwide or online.

Target is leaving no digital stone unturned this year as its looks engage with shoppers in the lucrative back-to-college market.

Many teachers spend some of their own money on back-to-school supplies and to capitalize on the trend Walmart has introduced a 10% rebate program.

With back-to-school season in full swing, Lands' End Kids has enlisted seven PopSugar Select mom bloggers to curate a collection of "First-day Faves," each to be featured in a new digital popup shop every week at landsend.com/firstdayfaves.

Featured items will be offered at a 25% discount.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group has entered into a three-year sponsorship agreement with the San Francisco Giants that will give Snapple pouring rights and bring Snapple Tea and Juice drink flavors to AT&T Park.

Newegg has kicked off its back-to-school campaign for 2014, which features special deals, promotions and sweepstakes designed to help equip students for the upcoming school year.

Each week of the campaign focuses on a specific theme, highlighting sales on related products and rewarding Newegg customers with special deals through Twitter and Facebook.

Sam’s Club opened three new locations this month including locations near Chicago, Fort Worth and Wichita, Kan., that pushed its club count to 630 units.

San Francisco -- Search ad spend increased 25% year-over-year and 2% quarter-over-quarter, according to Kenshoo, a leader in predictive media optimization technology.

Among the key findings in the research:

• Search click-through rate increased 26%, driving a 15% increase in clicks year-over-year;

• Social ad spend increased 51% year-over-year and 21% quarter-over-quarter; and

• Social impressions increased 13% year-over-year.