In a new campaign from the Marine Corps, a print ad shows a female striking a martial arts pose in front of a crowd of men who are looking to her as their leader. The tag line: "There are no female marines. Only marines." The campaign is a big departure for the Marines, which until last year advertised to women only fitfully.

Jay Cronin, management director of the Marine Corps' agency, JWT, says that for the first time everyone involved took the time to "understand the psychographics"--that is, figuring out which women might actually want to join the military, and why. That is why the campaign aims at athletic women, not just all women graduating from high school.

Women are not the only ones being courted specifically. The Marines Corps is reaching out to Latinos with ads that emphasize family and honor ("Each unit in the Corps is a family, and each member knows they never stand alone"), and to Arab-Americans with a message about nationality and identity ("I am American. I am Arab. I am a Marine ... I know where I stand"). Read the whole story...

Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren is ditching a nationwide cookie-cutter approach instituted about a year and a half ago in favor of tailoring merchandise at the world's largest department-store chain by sales to local tastes. The localization strategy--called "My Macy's"--is a dramatic reversal for the retailer and Lundgren, who set out to end the slide of department-stores by creating a huge national chain that had more clout with vendors and stronger marketing, with fewer expensive local TV and print ads and more national ones.

"What the consumer wants in the Galleria of St. Louis is different from what the consumer wants on State Street, Chicago, or what the consumer wants in Portland, Oregon," Lundgren now says. He wants 15% of the merchandise in stores to reflect local preferences.

In going local, Macy's is adopting an approach that big chains like Best Buy and Ross Stores have come to view as imperative today. Retail giants like Wal-Mart Stores and Gap once prospered by opening identical stores around the country, but with almost everything now available on the Internet, retailers need to give shoppers a reason to make the trip. Read the whole story...

Big oil's branding pushes are beginning to pay off. Marking a turnaround after a decade of decline, consumers now more often cite product performance as a reason to buy a given brand of gasoline, according to NPD Group analyst David Portalatin. Given record prices, it's "a little surprising," Portalatin says.

Earlier, oil companies were distracted by a flurry of massive mergers, which created giants such as ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips. "Now they're advertising the quality of their differentiated products," Portalatin says, "and the ad messages are working."

That's not to say the gasoline giants don't still have a way to go. Collectively, they commanded a 40% share in the U.S. through 2007, but discount outlets such as Wal-Mart and Costco and supermarkets such as Kroger have experienced a significant jump in recent years in retail gasoline share, reaching a combined 13% at year's end. Read the whole story...

As sales for SUVs and pickup trucks have taken a steep turn for the worse, automakers are scrambling to tailor their marketing and incentive efforts region by region.

In areas of the country where truck sales remain relatively strong-- like Texas--additional advertising and marketing money can be a better investment than in depressed markets. Demand in down markets is limited to people with a practical need to replace a worn-out vehicle and who may need help with financing. Advertising could have little effect.

The truck markets that are hardest hit are those most affected by the burst housing bubble, like Florida and California; plus regionally depressed areas, like the Gulf Coast or industrial Michigan. In response to falling trade-in values for pickups and SUVs, Ford, for example, has redirected its incentive money into cash-back incentives, as opposed to low interest rates. The cash is aimed at helping customers who owe more on the trade-in than it's worth. Read the whole story...

In 1996, filmmaker Spike Lee contacted Christopher Koch, the fourth-generation president of New Era Cap, about making a New York Yankees hat in red instead of the traditional navy. Producing a cap in anything but a team's original colors was considered sacrilege, but Koch recognized the potential marketing bonanza of his company's hats on the head of the trendsetting Lee.

New Era made a small batch of red caps for Lee, who was later seen wearing them at the 1996 World Series. Almost immediately, the company, which has the official license to make hats for Major League Baseball, was deluged with requests for the cap, and it soon began churning out dozens of color and style variations for other popular teams, too. An urban fashion accessory was born.

Now CEO, Koch has been transforming New Era from a conservatively run family business into a major apparel maker and style setter, with projected sales of $350 million this year. New Era's revenues doubled from 2002 to 2005. Koch opened a flagship store in London, near Piccadilly Circus, last summer, and plans to open stores in Birmingham, Paris, and Amsterdam, later this year. Read the whole story...

When the fourth installment of the "Indiana Jones" franchise starring Harrison Ford comes to the big screen nearly two decades after the third, it will be accompanied by a frenzy of marketing pitches from an all-star lineup of brands.

Mars' M&M's has launched limited-edition M&M's Mint Crisp Chocolate Candies that are white and green to reflect the "jungle feel" of the movie. Kraft's Lunchables Maxed Out will feature images of Indiana Jones on 15 million packages. Working with Expedia, Kraft also will sponsor a giveaway of 10 adventure trips to the Southwest and Mexico. Dr Pepper will offer prizes such as movie tickets, Indy T-shirts and, with Expedia, Indy-themed vacations as part of a "Passport to Explore" sweepstakes. And starting May 12, BK will offer an Indy Whopper.

An online poll of more than 5,000 users of movie ticket-selling site Fandango.com, voted "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" as the summer's "most anticipated" movie. It opens May 22. Read the whole story...

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