Almost two years ago, L.L. Bean began to move investments from infrastructure and staffing to prospecting and advertising. The results are just now coming in

By Reported Donna Loyle

In January 2002, we centralized marketing and made initiatives to reinvest in our housefile and in prospecting. We’ve looked at new-buyer promotions, mailing more to them, less to other customer segments; sharpened our advertising; and we’ve been aggressive in our e-mail marketing.

CS: Are you doing a lot of testing?