Believing that brand recognition will lure affluent clients, Richard Branson's Virgin Group will spend as much as $500 million developing hotels in as New York, San Francisco, Miami, Boston and Los Angeles, and plans to eventually expand globally, Nadja Brandt reports.

Virgin Hotels will cater to "high-income, well-educated, metropolitan 'creative class'" customers, according to a Web brochure that invites property owners and developers to partner with it. Virgin plans to have as many as 25 hotels within a decade.

"It is a competitive market with very savvy competitors," says Anthony Marino, an executive director of the new venture. "But if you look at Virgin's history, we have come into markets with big powerful players, where customers are generally satisfied but not in love, and we have been able to cut through that." Read the whole story...

Starbucks says it has to raise prices on some of its larger and more labor-intensive drinks just a month after resolving to absorb the rising price of high-quality Aribica coffee beans due to two poor harvests, Julie Jargon and Paul Ziobro report. The prices of some other beverages, including its $1.50 12-ounce house coffee, will stay the same or even drop in some markets.

"Over the last six months, a highly speculative green coffee market and dramatically increased commodity costs have completely altered the economic and financial picture of many players in the coffee industry," according to CEO Howard Schultz.

For now, prices will remain the same for Starbucks coffee sold in supermarkets. Retailers have been reluctant to raise prices in the face of the economic slump. Read the whole story...

Dean Crutchfield, chief engagement officer at brand experience agency Method, asks whether the Tiger Woods fiasco has finally convinced marketers that endorsement dalliances with celebrities just aren't worth all the glam and glitter. Turns out there's good reason it probably hasn't: Not only do studies indicate that sales can rise by as much as 20% for some brands, a Harvard Business School associate professor reports that some companies have seen their stock increase by .25% on the day a deal was announced.

Crutchfield goes on to list seven "sound criteria" for a celebrity endorsement strategy. Bottom line: "Even C-listers like Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi of "Jersey Shore" can lead to little marketing triumphs," he points out.

Then he raises a challenge that is admittedly "fraught with dander." CMOs will have to start integrating social media into their celebrity-endorsement strategies because "they make up marketing's most powerful media: recommendation," Crutchfield writes.

By the way, according to Millward Brown, more than 15% of advertisements in this country have a celebrity within. It could be worse: The figure is 24% in India; 45% in Taiwan. Read the whole story...

Teenagers "engage in a significantly higher level of word of mouth about all categories than the total public," according to data compiled by the Keller Fay Group between July 2009 and June 2010.

Mark Dolliver reports that the brands that generate the most buzz among the young 'uns are Coca-Cola, Apple, Verizon, iPod, Ford, Pepsi, McDonald's, AT&T, Sony and Nike. Many of those brands pop up in conversations their elders conduct, too, where the Top 10 are: Coca-Cola, Verizon, Walmart, AT&T, Pepsi, Ford, Apple, McDonald's, Sony and Dell. Read the whole story...

Hans Greimel reports that Nissan aims to strengthen its global branding efforts by creating a Global Marketing Communications division that combines product planning, marketing, advertising and public relations.

An inside source tells Greimel that the company wants to break down silos between departments and promote cross-communication. The goal is to create a clearer and more consistent brand image.

Andy Palmer, currently svp in charge of global planning and program management, will oversee the division; Simon Sproule, who now heads global communications for the Renault-Nissan alliance in Paris, will lead the new unit and report to Palmer. Design chief Shiro Nakamura, meanwhile, will also become "Brands Champion" and report directly to Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn. Read the whole story...

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