Like a nimble professional driver navigating a multi-car crash on the racetrack, some brands are making slick moves through the troubled economy. And as they slip past the wreckage, they are hitting the branding accelerator hard to put distance between themselves and their rivals.

Simply put, Ronald McDonald is an American icon. He was created in 1963 and first portrayed by none other than (hang on to your McGriddle) the future Hailer of Centenarians himself, Willard Scott.

Ronald is a cheerful brand mascot known by 96 percent of all school kids in America, according to stunning-stuff.com. He is second only to Santa Claus. But other than the bizarre McFactoid of the link to the unbearably cheerful Mr. Scott, Ronald just isn’t that interesting to today’s adults.

In the 1970's, he took his industry by storm with a brash campaign featuring him, the chief executive officer, as chief spokesperson. In a squeaky voice and with quirky demeanor, he listed the reasons his product was superior and worth more than those from dozens of other companies in the category.  His company soon grew to be the first real brand in the field and was far more profitable than any of his competitors.

Business executives say that the World Wide Web is the most important marketing tool they have, but many aren’t quite sure how to use it to their advantage. Some are even still a little confused as to what constitutes online marketing. Online marketing is done exclusively on the web or through e-mail. It’s not as scary as it seems and should be supported with offline marketing to create effective campaigns.

Look no further now that InfoQuest offers an easy-to-use email campaign and list manager—one of those Web applications that can make your life a little simpler. Send email to your customers just like we do here at InfoQuest.  We offer detailed reporting, unsubscribe and bounce-management features and an open API that even allows you to integrate with your own applications.