The Saab Automobile division of General Motors filed for creditor protection this morning after both the Swedish government and GM refuse its request for additional funding, Steve Goldstein reports. "Pending court approval, the reorganization will be executed over a three-month period and will require independent funding to succeed," it said. It will continue to operate as usual in the meantime.

Saab's plight has put Sweden's center-right government in a tight spot, write John Reed and Robert Anderson in the Financial Times. Saab employs 4,100 people in Sweden, and an estimated 15,000 domestic jobs would be at risk if the company closed. But the government has consistently refused to inject state money into Saab.

The government is accusing GM of failing to make the investments in Saab needed to create attractive models and maintain its technological edge. It has also criticized GM for threatening to cut the nameplate adrift and pass on shutdown costs. Any buyer would need to conclude long-term licensing and supply agreements with GM for components such as engines, further complicating a sale. Read the whole story...

"The power of the brand remains persuasive," writes Carol Lewis. "Coca-Cola, Lego, Hoover, Oxo and Google have all seeped into everyday vocabulary."

Oxo? Well, if you lived in Great Britain, you'd get the reference. The Marketing Society there has named it the top brand of 1983, when the Oxo family -- which was to become one of Britain's most popular "soap operas" in a series of 42 ads over 16 years -- was introduced. Now the Marketing Society is asking its members and readers of The Times to vote on their "most loved brand" from the ones it has chosen for each of the past 50 years. (It has also asked accountants to calculate the most valuable brand "in pounds and pence.")

Other questions for Times readers (which apparently means you, if you'd like) include "the brand I would most like to manage" and "the most successful brand in the next 50 years." The winners will be announced at the Marketing Society's annual conference on Nov. 16. Nice package. Read the whole story...

Procter & Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley reasserted yesterday that his company does not plan to cut prices despite pressure from retailers to do so, Ellen Bryon and Anjali Cordeiro report. "We are not after mindless share and volume growth at any cost," Lafley said, adding that most P&G brands are maintaining or expanding their market share, even while being "nicked" by competition from lower-priced private-label goods.

Other CEOs speaking at a conference at Boca Raton also defended their higher prices. "We haven't had any gunfights with retailers," said Clorox CEO Don Knauss. "They weren't easy conversations but everyone accepted the price increases."

Nestlé, whose brands include Gerber and Purina, cited higher prices as a factor in the 70% increase in net profit it reported Thursday for 2008. And Kimberly-Clark, known for its Scott, Kleenex and Huggies brands, said it would maintain its prices, at least for now, after hefty increases in 2008. Read the whole story...

Amidst all the gloom about stock prices reeling and shelf prices ratcheting, Jeremy Mullman has found a novel marketing story about the Minneapolis Police Department, which is cleaning up its image in an effort to improve minority recruiting.

The effort by Kazoo Branding, a local firm, has turned into a brand makeover, in fact, replete with a new slogan ("Be looked up to") and redesigned squad cars.

When rank-and-file cops got wind of a new emphasis on "compassion" in department communications, a fairly rough pushback ensued, Mullman reports, particularly among the "grizzled veterans." "I'm used to dealing with business people, who are politicians," says Kazoo account director Tom Dupont. "Cops are not politicians." Adds Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan: "If cops think something is silly or frilly, they let you know." We can only imagine. Read the whole story...

Roy Colton, 67, and Harry Bernard, 78 -- whose fashion and retail consultancy clients included Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton, Fruit of the Loom, VF, Levi Strauss, Gap, Ocean Pacific and Perry Ellis -- committed double suicide on Feb. 7. Their bodies were found in the San Francisco apartment they shared. They had been life partners for 43 years, as well as business partners.

Friends and colleagues say the two may have been planning the suicide for some time because of health issues, Lisa Lockwood and David Moin report. Operations of the company have ceased, according to its Web site, which notes that there will be no memorial service. Contributions may be made in their memory to the charity of the donor's choice, it says.

Colton and Bernard recruited top executives and other managers, but their services also involved consumer research, brand building, management assessments and market analysis. Colton was the firm's president and CEO; Bernard was EVP and CMO. "They formed a relationship with you," Dawn Robertson, president of Sean John and former president of Old Navy, tells WWD. "They were warm, wonderful guys, and great communicators." Read the whole story...

Read the whole story...

Read the whole story...