This week in our Mautic Monday marketing news we have a wide range of interesting topics. In case this is your first week to join us: we take some time on Monday to look back on recent headlines related to marketing and maybe pick up a tip or two based on what others are doing right (or wrong).

We start this week with a reminder that honest and transparent marketing is always the best way to build a strong brand and consumer loyalty. Recently Ubisoft failed to do this and as a result are struggling with a bit of a PR nightmare.

Ubisoft accused of ‘deceptive marketing’ for Heroes of Might and Magic 7

“The CE Edition is advertised as coming with a PC DVD,” writes melchior1090 on Imgur. “But no game is even provided with the package. Buyers have to issue tickets to Ubisoft to have the game activated on their account. And are refused refunds.”

Read the full story: http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/10/12/ubisoft-accused-of-deceptive-marketing-for-heroes-of-might-and-magic-7

The Get-Rich-Quick Schemers Who Love the GOP

Donald Trump and Ben Carson, lack any experience in elected office. Much less attention has gone to something else the two men share: a history of entanglements with companies that have been rightly criticized for hawking get-rich-quick schemes to the broke and desperate. The business model, which is perfectly legal, is called multilevel marketing.

Read the full story: http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_bills/2015/10/trump_carson_bush_all_benefited_from_multilevel_marketing_schemes.html

Square says its super-simple email marketing tools are paying off for small businesses

Six months after introducing square marketing, the company has data that shows its digital coupons increase sales. If you pay attention to news coming from Square, you know that it's been a long time since all it did was process credit-card payments using its itty-bitty swiper. The expansion of its small-business services began in earnest back in 2012, with an app that transformed an iPad into a cash register. In May 2014, it turned receipts into miniature customer surveys and started fronting money to small businesses that they could repay a little bit at a time from their Square transactions. In April of this year, it launched Square Marketing, a service that lets businesses send digital offers such as discounts to their customers. And in August, it started to help businesses schedule appointments.

Read the full story: http://www.fastcompany.com/3052058/square-says-its-super-simple-email-marketing-tools-are-paying-off-for-small-businesses

Startups: Why Giving Stuff Away For Free Is The Best Marketing Tool

Startups – giving stuff away for free is the best marketing tool. This story demonstrates why. Austin has been named the best American city for startups, according to a report by the Kauffman Foundation and the surprising second is Miami. The data is part of an infographic exploring Factors that Influence Startup Success. It reveals interesting facts and statistics relating to age, professional background and sectors as influences on the success or failure of a startup.

Read the full story: http://www.forbes.com/sites/amyguttman/2015/10/11/startups-why-giving-stuff-away-for-free-is-the-best-marketing-tool/

Your time is limited, we find interesting and useful articles for you to quickly review the highlights of and how they affect marketers. Today’s stories covered everything form deceptive marketing, questionable multi-level marketing, the power of simple email marketing, and the best marketing tool ever: giving stuff away for free. We hope these articles help you as you plan and execute your marketing strategy.

Mautic, free marketing automation software, is a fantastic tool to help you build a transparent and simple email marketing system and help you give things away to your target audience. You’ll love all that marketing automation can do for you and do well.