IAR Bits and Bytes

MindArrow Launches Holiday Promotion

Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based rich media email firm MindArrow Systems is offering streaming video email cards, hoping to attract customers that want to substitute them for traditional corporate holiday cards, it said.

According to Scott Altman, vice president of marketing for MindArrow, the company launched the promotion due to requests from the marketplace for an alternative to snail mail holiday cards, for “a number of economic, environmental and safety reasons.”

Altman also said that the company found that “very few options” existed for corporate holiday card mailings.

As a result, MindArrow said that for the next month, it would offer a personalized, 30-second streaming media email message to companies for a flat fee of $2,000. Mailing to 10,000 email addresses is included with the deal. After Nov. 30, MindArrow said it would continue offering the special holiday package at a higher price.

Adtegrity Sees Increased Revenue

Grand Rapids, Mich.-based ad network Adtegrity.com said it’s seen a 15 percent increase in revenues and continued profitability in its third quarter.

The company said it posted a $48,000 net profit, on revenues of $1.5 million, compared to a net loss of $183,437 on net revenues of $1.3 million during the third quarter of last year. The firm said the improved results reflected the addition of new clients and stronger banner ad sales on its network of 200 sites.

Additionally, Adtegrity.com said its new client services unit, which launched during the quarter and which focuses on optimizing cost-per-action campaigns, has also begun bringing in revenue, though campaign activity was slowed in the quarter by the events of Sept. 11.

“Adtegrity.com continues to perform well despite the softening economy,” said president and chief executive Scott Brew. “Our ad network generated outstanding results for the period, though the September tragedy did reduce campaign management activities and in turn, our bottom line. That business is picking back up, and we expect campaign management to be an increasingly important revenue stream for us in the quarters to come.”

Brew added that he believed that industry consolidation was helping the company land new clients.

Luminant Cuts Staff

Interactive shop Luminant said it is laying off 90 employees, or about 14 percent of its workforce, in advance of its third-quarter earnings report.

The staff reductions, which are to take place over the next two weeks, come from Luminant’s Dallas headquarters and regional offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, New York, Washington D.C. and Seattle.

“We regret that these actions had to be taken,” said Jim Corey, Luminant’s president and chief executive officer. “The continuing weakness in the overall economy and weakness within our market sector have necessitated these actions. Following the completion of this reduction in staff, Luminant will continue to serve clients throughout the country in each of our established practice areas.”

Luminant is scheduled to report earnings on Nov. 14.

Interference Launches Campaign for Citigroup’s Women & Company

Guerrilla marketing firm Interference has been tapped by Citigroup to promote its new financial service offering, Women & Company, at womenandco.com.

Interference, headed by former Eisner Interactive founder Sam Travis Ewen, plans to use a street campaign to promote the site, which contains financial information and helpful tips for women. The marketing effort will involve the placement of actors at Citibank locations, who will encourage bank visitors to use the site.

Besides the hired evangelists, Interference also said it would distribute informational posters and packets about the new service.

The company said that conveying the service’s focus toward fiscally-responsible, working-age women required just the right touch.

“Working with Women and Company gave us the opportunity to develop a sophisticated and more personal campaign with a strong focus on women’s needs and desires,” Ewen said. “We know that just making things pink and pretty isn’t going to get the message across, so our choice of colors, language and how we trained the actors was critical to the campaign’s success.”