Bigfoot Interactive Launches Holiday Jumpstart Email Program.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 1, 2001

Leading Email Marketing Firm Offers Full Service Solution

to Help Retailers Boost Bottom Line in Face

of Challenging Holiday Season

With a challenging 2001 holiday season looming for retailers, Bigfoot Interactive, the leading provider of strategic, ROI-focused email marketing technology and services, launched today its new Holiday Jumpstart Program.

Jumpstart is a customizable, turnkey email marketing solution that allows retailers and marketers to get an early start on maximizing their sales this holiday season through the efficient and cost-effective use of email marketing.

"Everything has changed this holiday season. The difficult economic and societal environment will require marketers to think differently to drive sales quickly and cost efficiently," says Al DiGuido, CEO of Bigfoot Interactive. "Email's proven effectiveness and efficiency, as well as its targeted capabilities, can be a key strategic asset throughout the fourth quarter. Properly executed contextual email promotions and messaging can provide astute marketers with the ability to pinpoint their best prospects and customers with the right offers during this critical buying period."

In addition to its recognized effectiveness and efficiency as a promotional, up-sell/cross-sell and brand reinforcer, email provides marketers with flexible and timely ongoing customer intelligence and the power to encourage sales right up until the last minute this holiday season.

The Holiday Jumpstart Program includes five critical components:

-- Creative - Bigfoot Interactive's creative services team will develop two
effective, eye-catching creative email templates along with two test cells per
template.

-- Preference/Survey Pages - Bigfoot Interactive will create a subscriber
preference or survey page including one month hosting, giving marketers the
opportunity to learn more about their customers' and prospects' needs for
future marketing efforts.

-- Modeling - Bigfoot Interactive will develop a custom, predictive model to
identify key prospects. Individuals will be selected with characteristics
similar to those of the retailer's best customers and may be targeted for email
and offline acquisition campaigns.

-- Lists - Bigfoot Interactive will test up to 100,000 opt-in names based on
modeling and select requirements. Offline prospects are available as well.

-- Delivery - Bigfoot Interactive will utilize its leading-edge technology
platform to deliver email offers to up to 100,000 prospects for a one-time
mailing.

According to the Jupiter Media Metrix Holiday Executive Survey, email marketing is gaining in popularity among Internet retailers and remains the most widely used marketing channel. Nearly 79 percent of Internet retailers utilized both retention-based and sponsored email last year (up from 72 percent in 1999), as opposed to portal advertising (which declined, from 72 percent to 58 percent) since the 1999 holiday shopping season.

"Customer intelligence and the ability to encourage sales right up to the very last minutes will be even more critical this holiday season," continues DiGuido. "Retailers are still assessing the impact of recent events on sales and their initial traditional marketing efforts. The Holiday Jumpstart Program was developed to cost efficiently drive new sales and possibly recoup lost sales through an effective and timely strategic program with email as its centerpiece."

Bigfoot Interactive encourages businesses to start planning their email marketing strategies now. The company also recommends aggressively testing and deploying targeted, relevant and creative email campaigns starting now and continuing through the last shopping day of the holiday season to achieve maximum results and return-on-investment.

For more information about the Holiday Jumpstart Program, please contact Peter Weedfald at 212-295-2866.

About Bigfoot Interactive

Bigfoot Interactive (www.bigfootinteractive.com) is the leading provider of strategic, ROI-focused email marketing solutions. Through its combination of innovative technology, professional services and vertical market expertise, Bigfoot Interactive helps marketers acquire, grow and retain profitable customer relationships through highly relevant and personalized email communications. The company's end-to-end suite of products and services includes scalable email delivery technology, strategic consulting, database management and integration, and creative expertise to produce email programs that generate measurable results throughout the customer lifecycle. Since 1997, Bigfoot Interactive has developed successful permission-based email programs for more than 100 top companies, including MCI Worldcom, The Washington Post/Newsweek Interactive, World Wildlife Fund, Unilever Cosmetics International, BMC Software, Alitalia, and TIME Magazine. The company also works closely with key strategic and channel partners, including Acxiom(R) Corporation, Grey Direct and DIMAC Marketing Partners. Privately held and based in New York, the company's investors include J.P. Morgan Partners, Flatiron Partners, Grey Ventures, Acxiom(R) Corporation (Nasdaq: ACXM), Axalon Ventures and HPJ Media Ventures.