Disney Store says it plans to speed up the opening of its interactive stores, announcing more than 40 new locations for this year. The new store type, first unveiled in July of last year, includes plenty of places for hands-on play, including the chance for kids to build toy custom cars, see themselves as princesses in magical mirrors, and follow trails of pixie dust throughout the merchandise Based on the expanded plan, Disney now says it expects to have 60 new concept stores in 16 major markets in North America, as well as eight countries. Disney isn't …

European digital agency powerhouse LBi, looking to up its U.S. footprint, has tapped online ad industry veteran Kate Thorp to head its U.S. board of directors. Thorp's background includes top positions at AKQA, Carat Interactive, Lot21 and, most recently, Real Girls Media.

Local online marketing company Yodle has acquired Austin, Texas-based search engine optimization company ProfitFuel for an undisclosed sum. The company's main service called Outrank is designed to generate inbound phone calls and emails by delivering prominent rankings for clients on top search engines. Yodle, which has typically focused on providing marketing services to small businesses with budgets of $1,000 or more and national brand advertisers, said the acquisition would help it reach a much broader set of clients. "With ProfitFuel, Yodle is doubling down on its approach of providing a clear ROI to the local advertiser, delivered through a …

Pabst Brewing Company (PBC) has hired Bryan Crowley for chief marketing officer. Crowley most recently was vice president of marketing and sales for Mars Food, Inc. where he led the global rice brand Uncle Ben's. Crowley led the brand to industry-leading sales and profit growth.  During his tenure, he launched Uncle Ben's Ready Rice and grew the brand from the #4 to #1 brand in the flavored rice category. Also during his tenure, Crowley successfully architected a complete brand revitalization project for Uncle Ben's, putting the brand'l icon, Uncle Ben, at the center of all communications.   He …

This campaign by Y&R Not Just Film, won the Gold at the Clios as best OOH campaign.

Gap Inc. is the latest partner in Goodwill Industries' Donate Movement, a drive aimed at creating jobs and environmental awareness. Consumers who bring clothing donations into their local Gap store through May 29 earn a 30% discount on purchases that day, including both regularly priced and sale merchandise. Gap is also supplying volunteers for Goodwill's volunteer initiatives in communities nationwide, Lauren Lawson-Zilai, a spokesperson for Goodwill, tells Marketing Daily. To market the program, Gap is running radio ads in select markets, she says, as well as using grassroots efforts and social media. (Participants are also asked to donate …

As retailers gain confidence in the strength of the economic recovery, their worries are shifting, according to a new study from BDO. Consumer confidence, which worried them last year at this time, dropped way down on the list. But dependency on consumer trends—figuring out what shoppers want to buy—jumped up, and was mentioned as a concern by 87% of stores. "Worries about external factors, like economic trends where retailers are basically helpless, have subsided," Doug Hart, partner in the retail and consumer product practice at BDO USA, tells Marketing Daily. "They know consumers are spending. The concern now is, …

Mobile shopping startup shopkick will expand its service to all of the nearly 1,300 Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores as of Sunday, the company said today. That will make consumer electronics chain the first retailer to adopt the skopkick system at all of its stores nationwide. Until now, it’s been operating in about 260 Best Buy outlets. The shopkick app lets users earn “kicks” or points toward purchases just for walking in stores as well as for browsing or interacting with products within. Shopkick has also partnered with other large retailers including American Eagle Outfitters, Macy’s and …

Location-based service Loopt in March began pushing out alerts for deeply discounted goods and services nearby to keep up with daily deal services like Groupon. But now the company is teaming up with Groupon to add its stream of real-time deals to Loopt's own “Reward Alerts’ program for users in the Chicago area. Instant deals from the newly launched Groupon Now service will appear on place pages within Loopt application for the iPhone and Android devices. Users will receive a once-a-day deal alerts that they can use existing Loopt features to share with friends to take advantage of. "If …

Hear that? That's the sound of a new Internet bubble inflating. Shares of professional networking site LinkedIn earlier today surged past $100—more than double the $45 opening price on its first day of trading as a public company. And that was up from the $32 to $35 the company initially priced shares at for its IPO. The current price values LinkedIn at about $10 billion. Even assuming its revenues double this year to $500 million, that would mean LinkedIn is trading at 20 times revenues on a forward-looking basis. In a blog post yesterday, The New Yorker's John …