SOME companies have engaged in affinity marketing, which usually entails selling discounted services through an umbrella organization.

What is affinity marketing?

In this era of "affinity marketing," that gives the design another commercial advantage: if the power bulge image has been explained to an outsider, no doubt that person will remember the car.

The campaign strategy is bringing in new measures, such as the creation of the Qualité France logo or affinity marketing, and is setting up tools for evaluating markets and campaigns.

CUC, based in Stamford, Conn., made the first consumer shopping transactions via computer nearly 20 years ago, but it has achieved its greatest success in an area analysts call affinity marketing.

But its highly effective "affinity marketing" program - using people with military affiliations to help promote its business - backfired in Jacksonville, where Pioneer had opened an office in early 2001.

These cities, along with thousands of other organizations, are part of a boom in the credit card industry known as affinity marketing, which took off in the early 1980's.

Most interesting in the search for new subscribers, so-called affinity marketing could grow in coming years as publishers line up corporate partners who have simpatico customers.

More and more long-distance carriers are using a similar approach, known as affinity marketing.

The company, which started affinity marketing in 1981, sees no end to the possibilities.