The Big Apple is getting into merchandising in a big way. The city that never sleeps says it is creating a new Web site to market official NYC products and will expand the number of items available to include everything from snow globes and mouse pads to key chains and golf balls. The items will be available at www.shop4nyc.com, which currently directs uses to the city's existing Internet "store," where only a limited number of items such as coffee mugs and baseball caps are sold. With the new site, the list will get much longer. The plan is part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's vision to promote the city around the world and crack down on souvenir counterfeiters. "The city wants to offer customers from Beijing to Brooklyn the chance to buy officially licensed merchandise on the Web," said Lloyd Haymes, vice president in the city's marketing department. Read the whole story...

Small companies are discovering the power of buzz marketing, once the province of major marketers. Now smaller companies are experimenting with word-of-mouth campaigns in which people known as "buzz agents" are hired to spread the word about a product to friends and acquaintances. It's yet another tactic in a bulging bag of tricks all marketers are using (or at least considering) to supplement traditional advertising, which marketers fear has lost much of its power. "Word of mouth is the lifeblood for most, if not all, small businesses," says Ben McConnell, a marketing consultant based in Chicago and co-author of churchofthecustomer.com, a marketing blog. "It's something that should be part of the DNA of any small company." One company that specializes in such efforts is Boston-based BzzAgent, a word-of-mouth marketing firm that recently engineered a 12-week campaign for Hahn's Yogurt & Cream Cheese Spread that used 2,000 volunteers from a roster of about 120,000 people who registered online to participate in BzzAgent campaigns. Hahn's declined to say how much it paid BzzAgent, but the marketing firm says it generally charges its clients $95,000 for a full-service campaign with 1,000 agents. Read the whole story...

Anheuser-Busch is launching a second seasonal draft brew that will be available in bars and restaurants through February in an attempt to take advantage of holiday revelers. Called Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale, it's brewed with dark roasted caramel malts and imported hops, and it ages on toasted bourbon oak casks and Madagascar vanilla beans. A-B previously introduced Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale, a beer spiced with the "aroma" of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. The company's other specialty beverages include the Michelob Marzen and Michelob Pale Ale. Read the whole story...

Being viewed as a "goody two-shoes" apparently has its advantages. At least that seems to be the case for figure skater Michelle Kwan, who has never won an Olympics gold medal but nonetheless has secured a number of lucrative endorsement deals usually reserved for athletes who bring home the gold. In an age when many contracts for celebrity endorsers contain "behavioral clauses" stipulating that if the athlete does anything to damage the brand, the company has the right to terminate the contract, Ms. Kwan enjoys a sterling reputation that makes her attractive to marketers. "I never have to worry about her making a bad decision that would embarrass us," said Dominic Ng, the chairman, president and chief executive of East West Bank, just one of the many companies who have signed deals with Kwan. Other major advertisers on the list include Coca-Cola and Visa, all of whom are hoping she will enhance her reputation even more in her performance at the upcoming Winter Olympic in Turin, Italy. Read the whole story...