A group of marketers in the entertainment, software and computer industries have formed a new trade organization dedicated to spreading the gospel about high-definition digital-video discs (HD DVD). Dubbed North American HD DVD Promotional Group, it includes Universal Studios, Warner Brothers Entertainment, Inc., Paramount Pictures, Hewlett-Packard Development Co., L.P., Intel Corp., Microsoft Corp. and Toshiba America among its members. Its goal is to educate consumers on the quality and value of HD DVDs, which can hold high-definition videos such as movie or other data. The technology debuted in the U.S. in April and has been pushed by consumer electronic companies …

Disappointing sales have led fast food marketer McDonald's to drop its spicy chicken sandwich from the restaurant chain's menu less than six months after it was introduced. The item, called the Hot 'n' Spicy McChicken sandwich, was touted as the spiciest item ever offered by McDonald's when it was launched in January nationwide. However, company spokesman Bill Whitman said that the results from a half-year in the restaurants do not "meet those hurdles that we have for products to stay on our core menu." He said the sandwich, which is still available in some markets, would be brought back periodically …

Talk about hands-on experience. A Boston marketing firm has developed a new concept in marketing in which companies can put their products directly into the hands of editors and stylists who cover them in their pages. It's called "The Summer House," and it's an actual vacation house on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts that is packed with products from 30 different companies the editors can see, hear, smell, taste and feel while they stay at the house for free on a glorified junket. The Boston firm, CerconeBrownCurtis, describes the initiative in brochures as an '"experiential marketing opportunity"--a place to position products …

Storytelling has been a primary method of communication for centuries, and two authors say marketers need to find a true, compelling story about their brands in order to succeed.Christian Budtz and Klaus Fog are top executives at Sigma, a European-based branding agency, and co-authors of  Storytelling: Branding in Practice. Their thesis is that unless companies can dig into their past and find a real story to tell about their brands to distinguish them from the competition, they will be forced to compete on price alone and will never establish a strong identity. “Today's traditional brands are under growing pressure …

Unilever is taking a unique approach in introducing its new Sunsilk shampoo in the U.S. by running an ad campaign featuring three actors who play a girl’s best gay friends.  The effort supports the company’s Sunsilk shampoo brand and is one of the consumer-product company's biggest launches.  In the ads, the three gay friends will be positioned as style experts who write advice columns in magazines like Cosmopolitan and Star, and appear as commentators on television where they diagnose consumers' hair problems. Unilever settled upon the characters as the best way to target 20-something women after quizzing hundreds of …

Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light is teaming up in a new promotion with a magazine that fits perfectly into the brew’s strategy of targeting young, male beer drinkers: Maxim.  The initiative calls for Bud Light and the magazine to be among the sponsors of the Real Men of Comedy Tour, which will visit  20 cities this fall, beginning in A-B's hometown, St. Louis.  Featured performers include Joe Rogan of “Fear Factor,” Charlie Murphy from “Chappelle's Show” and John Heffron of “Last Comic Standing.” The tour moniker is a play on A-B's popular and award-winning "Real Men of Genius" radio campaign.  The …

Volkswagen of America is throwing a block party this weekend and is inviting African-Americans to take a ride in a VW and maybe win a ticket upgrade to the National Basketball Association's All-Star game. The party is part of the 10th Annual Tyson Foods Zo's Summer Groove (ZSG), a five-day charity event that leads up to the game on Sunday in Miami. The automaker's promotion, which has been dubbed VWIP (Volkswagen Important People) Karneval, will take place from at the American Airlines Arena. Some 2,500 branded premiums will be distributed, including branded key chains, Frisbees, yo-yos and other items. Consumers …

A sales decline at Snickers, one of America's most popular candy bars, has cost a leading executive at parent company Mars Inc. his job. The confectioner this week dismissed Martyn Wilks, a 20-year Mars veteran who for the past 18 months had served as president of the company's snack food unit, which generates most of the company's profit. Wilks' ouster was the latest move in a series of changes instituted by Mars North America President Bob Gamgort, who is now taking the reins to repair Mars' ailing confection portfolio. "Mars didn't hit its sales and profit goals last year and, …

Viral e-mail marketers are discovering what traditional TV, print, and radio advertisers have known for years: humor, like sex, sells. So a handful of them are trying to tickle consumers' funny bones with e-mail jokes that they hope will be forwarded from friend to friend. Such viral marketing has been growing for several years, but recently it has taken off thanks to rising penetration of broadband high-speed Internet services. New digital technology has helped marketers craft even more elaborate and entertaining pitches, according to ad experts. One successful example was launched earlier this year by the jobs Web site CareerBuilder.com, …

General Motors has turned to the state of Indiana to help it market its so-called "flexible fuel vehicles," or ffvs, as the company calls them. To gain awareness of the vehicles and the company's "Live Green, Go Yellow" campaign, GM has given several ffvs to state government officials, including a Chevy Tahoe bearing the name of Indiana Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman. Perched in a parking space next to the statehouse, the black SUV is covered in "Live Green" marketing tattoos, shouting "flex-fuel," "E85 ethanol" and "Live Green, Go Yellow." The goal is to not only to attract attention, but to …