DaimlerChrysler AG is cutting its financial ties to Mitsubishi, the company said. The move comes despite Mitsubishi's introduction of the re-designed Eclipse and the recently released Raider pickup truck, which edged the company up one percent in unit sales in October. Even so, Mitsubishi remains 26 percent down for the year to date. The Japanese automaker said the split with Chrysler would not affect Mitsubishi's current marketing plans; the brand is handled by BBDO, New York. In a statement, Mitsubishi said, "Although capital ties between Mitsubishi Motors Corporation and DaimlerChrysler AG will be dissolved as a result of the sale, …

General Motors' Hummer brand is not unlike a Timex watch. It takes a licking, but somehow manages on keep on ticking. Despite an ongoing barrage of complaints and criticism from environmentalists and various other anti-SUV activists, the Hummer keeps humming along. While other SUV sales have dropped, the Hummer's are up 87 percent in the U.S. this year and are expected to increase in Europe and Asia. That last point says a lot, considering gas prices are even higher overseas than they are here. Although the Hummer is not in a position to save its battered parent company, the Hummer's …

PepsiCo Inc.'s top marketing boss for North America is moving north of the border. The soft drink giant announced that Dave Burwick, chief marketing officer of PepsiCo North America since 2002, will become president of Pepsi-QTG Canada in early December. Burwick was known for his innovative strategies in building the company's Mountain Dew brand. There was speculation that his duties would be assumed by two executives. In Canada, Burwick replaces veteran Pepsi executive Tom Bene, who is returning to North America to lead Pepsi's sales organization and "the development of retail sales and customer strategies."

Design is becoming more important to marketers as consumers become increasingly accustomed to stylish products. As such, ad agencies are trying to play catch-up by establishing new relationships with design firms or hiring more designers for their creative teams. "[There are a] handful of iconic brands that have the most charisma," says Arnold Advertising Executive Creative Director of Design Robert Wong, who spent two years as creative director at Starbucks before joining Arnold in Boston last year. "They've all figured out that design is a strategic advantage. It's the smell of the coffee shops, the touch and feel of the …

It's not exactly Michael Jordan, Nike, and Spike Lee, but it'll do in a celebrity endorsement pinch. The legendary Harlem Globetrotters, the clown princes of basketball, have signed an endorsement deal with Pony International. The deal, which calls for the team to be outfitted with Pony footwear and apparel, goes into effect in a few months, when the team begins its European and world tours. "We wanted to partner with a brand that says both heritage and authenticity, while being stylish and forward-thinking at the same time," Killick Datta, CEO of GBMI, the majority owner of Pony International, Santa Barbara, …

While online marketing techniques continue to grow in popularity among tech-savvy clients and agencies, a new survey shows the general public has other ideas. The national survey, by Harris Interactive and the Public Relations Society of America, found that traditional marketing methods such as media advertising and corporate sponsorships are more acceptable than newer methods like Internet pop-up ads and text messaging. The survey targeted general consumers, executives and Congressional staffers. The survey also showed that from 50 percent to 65 percent of respondents in each of the three groups believe it's acceptable for companies to secure news coverage for …

In a new trend, food marketers are beginning to view health problems as lifestyles rather than diseases, and have created a whole new demographic group comprised of people suffering from chronic illness. The group includes mostly aging baby boomers suffering from diabetes, obesity, and other conditions who spend significant amounts of cash on products other than traditional pharmaceuticals to treat their conditions. One of the prime examples is people with heart conditions, who eat whole-grain breakfast cereals that are displayed in a special "heart-healthy" section of the cereal aisle of their local grocery stores. More than 70 million Americans have …

The Jolly Green Giant visited New York yesterday and took up residence in Times Square. After a ten-year absence, General Mills has brought the Jolly Green Giant back to life as part of an integrated campaign for its Green Giant food product line. In this incarnation, the giant play the role of a health-oriented sage who tells consumers they should follow federal health guidelines and eat more veggies. The effort, created by Saatchi & Saatchi, carries the tagline, "For the love of vegetables." According to Green Giant marketing manager Tammy Sadinsky, "Our marketing campaign will focus on the ways Green …

After more than two years of keeping its multimillion-dollar endorsement deal with scandal-plagued NBA superstar Kobe Bryant virtually under wraps, the shoemaker is preparing to trumpet the controversial player as a celebrity endorser. Bryant had faced criminal and civil allegations of sexual assault, but those cases have now been settled. While his legal struggles raged, Bryant disappeared from the celebrity endorsement scene as marketers ran from the scandal. Nike kept him under contract but kept its distance. Now the marketer is slowly reintroducing him as an endorser for a new shoe tentatively dubbed the Zoom Kobe I. It will debut …

Yahoo! is the latest big-name company to join the ranks of marketers who think the traditional focus group has had its day. The Internet firm's CMO, Cammie Dunaway, says she wants to trash the old two-way mirror observational format in favor of "immersion groups" of four or five people with whom product developers talk informally face to face without a moderator. Yahoo! isn't the only one to bash focus groups, as other marketers turn to new technology and the Internet to find out what consumers want. "There's peer pressure in focus groups that gets in the way of finding the …