Media Advertising

As holiday promotions heated up in November and shoppers hit the Internet, there was a 44% surge in traffic to Walmart.com when compared with October, according to the online measurement firm comScore. The growth propelled Walmart to the 20th spot on comScore’ November ranking of the top 50 U.S. Web properties. The nearly 52 million unique visitors Walmart.com attracted in November 2010 was 5% more than in November 2009, according to comScore’s data.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Marketing communications firm Duffy & Shanley has been hired by Staples to manage its 2010 public relations efforts for the holiday shopping season. 

For the last two years, Duffy & Shanley said it has worked with Staples on its holiday marketing and public relations efforts in some capacity.

NEW YORK - Pop music phenomenon Justin Bieber has launched a new line of headphones called "Justbeats by Dr. Dre" exclusively at Best Buy stores in the United States and on BestBuy.com. According to Best Buy the headphones come in Bieber's favorite purple color and are priced at SRP $199.95 for the Justbeats by Dr. Dre Solo Headphone and SRP $119.95 for the iBeats by Dr. Dre Justbeats Edition. Both versions feature ControlTalk, a technology which lets users answer a phone call while listening to music.

Chicago - According to accounting firm BDO USA, LLP, 63% of chief marketing officers at leading U.S. retailers said their 2010 holiday advertising and marketing budgets have remained flat, a continued trend from 2009 (55%) and 2008 (43%).

BDO’s survey found that 20% of CMOs cited a decrease in their holiday marketing and advertising budget, signaling some flexibility, compared with 2009 (26%) and 2008 (32%). Seventeen percent of CMOs cite an increase, only slightly less than 2009 (19%).

DALLAS - Blockbuster has announced the launch of its first national television advertising campaign in three years. For the first time since 2007, the company will promote itself on every major network and cable networks with its campaign, "Less Waiting. More Watching." The 30-second spot debuted Nov. 22 on programs like NBC's "Today" show and ABC's "Dancing with the Stars: Finale."

Bentonville, Ark. — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will match competitor prices beginning on Thanksgiving Day and running through the Black Friday weekend.

Customers can bring in competitors ads and Walmart will match the price of any identical price at the register. The offer does not apply to online purchases.

Wal-Mart is also offering 150 online-only specials on Thanksgiving Day as well as "Black Friday" specials on electronics, home and apparel items in stores throughout the rest of the weekend.

By Julius C. Dorsey Jr., [email protected] and Roy T. Bergold Jr.[email protected]

Aside from maybe the eccentric billionaire who on a whim decides to open a shop to sell hand-whittled tumbleweed sculptures, probably not many. For the rest of the owners and managers in the real world, sales and profits are the only reasons they’re in business.