Celebrating 10 million trees planted through One Print, One Tree

The self-regulatory privacy organization Digital Advertising Alliance on Wednesday plans to unveil a downloadable browser extension that will enable people to opt out of receiving behaviorally targeted ads -- meaning ads selected for web users based on their activity across sites or apps. The tool, which is still undergoing testing, initially will be compatible with the four largest browsers -- Google's Chrome, Mozilla's Firefox, Microsoft's Edge and Apple's Safari. The new mechanism eventually will also give users the choice between rejecting all behavioral targeting, or accepting targeted ads in certain categories -- such as automotive, travel or pets.

Harry Quadracci founded the company 52 years ago this month. Harry’s son, Joel, is now CEO. He took over in 2006, as print continued its slow decline and before the great recession upended the global economy. “I did everything my father told me not to do, which was go public and buy broken down printing companies,” Quadracci told Adweek during Cannes Lions last month. It was Quadracci’s first time at the Festival of Creativity where the intersection of creative, brand, platform and production merge. It’s also the intersection Quad aims to transect with a rebrand resulting from a 15-year transformational journey. “For us, it was we better become the consolidator, or the consolidating is going to be done to us,” Quadracci said. While its roots are indelibly in print, Quad now calls itself a marketing experience company that aims to rid companies of wasteful processes.

With mail volume down overall, marketers are reporting less competition and higher response rates with their direct mail and catalog campaigns. As more people stay (and shop) at home, each direct mail piece is being seen by more people in the household, and consumer catalog businesses are welcoming a significant increase in response, with many struggling to meet demand, writes Stephen Lett in Total Retail. Lett believes this favored status for catalogs and direct mail is likely to continue long after our current pandemic lifestyle is lifted. “Consumers are likely not to rush back to bars, restaurants, retail stores, etc., even when there’s a medically accepted vaccine. Many will remain cautious, adopting a wait-and-see attitude,” he writes. “Others will be set in new ways of functioning. They have adapted to a new and safer or more cautious way of living their everyday lives. The transition back to pre-COVID ways of doing things won’t be like flipping a light switch.”