More news is seeping out concerning Coca-Cola Co.'s new product plans for next year. Last week it was revealed that the giant beverage marketer is seeking to expand its product base beyond soda with the launch of several new coffee, tea, juice, and energy drinks. Among those are Coke Blak, a coffee cola targeting adults over 35, a black tea brand called Gold Peak, and a ready-to-drink coffee brand dubbed Far Coast. Now comes word that the company might team up with the gourmet chocolate marketer Godiva for a new line of ready-to-drink coffee products under the Godiva brand name. …

Viral marketing techniques are all the rage, but they can be tricky. Just ask Sony Computer Entertainment, whose use of a viral marketing campaign that uses graffiti to push its PlayStation Portable video game console might be backfiring. The effort involves hiring local artists to spray-paint ads on outdoor spaces (which Sony has paid for) in urban areas. The ads are graffiti-like illustrations of kids playing with the hand-held PSP unit. But critics on blogs and other Internet sites say the campaign uses a grass-roots art form solely for commercial purposes. "Stop cynically exploiting graffiti artists, for profit!" wrote one …

Panasonic is extending its current TV ad campaign into a new promotion that involves a computer game on its Web site that lets users find clues about a mysterious "woman in red." In the TV ads, the woman appears to be walking in a funeral procession behind a hearse. She is wearing dark sunglasses and a bright red dress under a black coat. If players go to the marketer's Web site, they can play with a variety of Panasonic products to help find information about her. In one scene of the game, players are asked why this beautiful woman wears …

Many marketers face a dilemma over how to distribute their e-mail newsletters. For example, what do you do when only 30 percent of the recipients on your list open it? Do you risk alienating the 70 percent who failed to open it by resending it to them?, Marketing Sherpa examines the issue in a case study of a U.K. marketer who faced this problem. The company is Mouse2House, which sells digital imaging supplies like laser printer cartridges and had a house e-mail list of thousands of customers who'd opted-in to get site news. However, the marketing team hadn't sent anything …

In an apparent response to the growing debate among health-care professionals about fat intake, one of the nation's biggest cereal marketers will begin using a newly developed soybean oil in its products in place of trans fatty acids. The soybean oil is low-linolenic and will be developed by Monsanto, but is currently in low supply as farmers transform their production methods and capacities. "Kellogg has a long-standing history of innovation, which is why we are among the first to invest in low-lin oils to reduce or eliminate trans fatty acids in our products," David MacKay, company president and COO, said. …

The audience is small and the ads are even smaller, but now even banner ads for cell phones have rules to follow. Last week the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) issued a new set of guidelines, specifications, and best practices covering graphical banners, text "banners" and ads that combine the two on cell phones. The rules also discuss the appropriate use of landing pages and direct response features. "It's about ensuring the right guidelines are in place before it gets out of control," said Laura Marriott, executive director of the MMA. "We're coming out with these guidelines to protect the consumer …

Food marketers looking to capitalize on the trend toward healthier foods might benefit from a rule change being considered by the Food and Drug Administration. The rule would allow marketers to use the word "lean" on packaging for smaller products. Present rules say companies can't use the "lean" label on packaged sandwiches, pizzas, burritos, egg rolls and other "mixed dishes not measurable with a cup" that weigh less than six ounces--unless those products contain seafood, meat or poultry. Nestle SA requested the change last year in a petition that said, "At no time have the benefits of foods with controlled …

Marketers who use uninvited adware popups on computers, beware: a Federal Trade Commissioner is keeping an eye on you. Commissioner Jon Leibowitz, a Democrat, wants marketers using pop-ups to voluntarily clean up their act. If they don't, he says he will mount an effort to publicly identify and embarrass them in future FTC cases. "A lot of consumers have stuff in their computers that's generating pop-up ads that is hard to uninstall that they didn't consent to and some [of the ads] are for major advertisers," said Leibowitz. He has been talking up some self-control in various meetings of marketer …

More evidence has surfaced that national marketers are looking for out-of-the-box, innovative, media-neutral advertising strategies. In another chapter of a growing trend, automaker Mini Cooper has picked a small, creatively driven boutique agency to handle its $40 million account. The agency is Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners in Sausalito, Calif., which is known for its offbeat campaigns for marketers like Converse footwear, Leap Wireless and Ubi Soft Entertainment, all of which utilize new media extensively. For example, a recent Converse effort invited consumers to enter a contest by sending video clips they created to a special Web site--in effect, having …

Brand extensions are a risky business. For all of the success stories, like the Febreze Scentstories air-freshener system and Mr. Clean windshield wash and wiper blades, there are just as many duds. Does anyone recall Budweiser’s Be energy beer or the Everlast fragrance and grooming line? A new survey from brand consultancy TippingSprung, New York, in conjunction with Brandweek magazine, examines the pitfalls of brand extensions and lists those marketers whom respondents considered winners and losers in this highly competitive game.  The survey also queried respondents about the concept of co-branding. It found that Motorola’s ROKR phone with iTunes …