After 50 years and billions of customers, all 13,000 McDonald's restaurants in the United States are getting a McMakeover--half of them by the end of this year. Plasma-screen TVs, soft couches, coffee tables and wireless Internet access are just some of the new features. The iconic red or brown "double mansard" rooftops--designed to catch the eye of passing motorists--will be replaced by something more sleek and modern. Some things won't change, however, including the famous golden arches. McDonald's founder Ray Kroc wanted customers in and out quickly. The new relaxed interiors, on the other hand, invite people to linger. …

The Viking range, like the Harley-Davidson motorcycle and Martin guitar, is one of those rare U.S. brands that has evolved into a cult object. The three brands also share an aura of exclusivity that entitles their producers to charge premium prices. That, in turn, enables them to keep production in the United States. Viking ranges sell for between $3,000 and $10,000. Every range and other major appliance made in Viking's facilities in Greenwood, Miss. is made to order, which means the factories don't produce it unless there's a customer waiting for it. Boston Consulting Group's Michael Silverstein says …

Kellogg's, Kraft, Nestlé, Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble reportedly have all looked into a new technology that allows consumers to customize the scent or flavor of anything from soda pop to floor cleaner. Created by a Boston-area firm called Ipifini, the technology involves flavor- or scent-filled blisters that are added to bottles or cans. When the blister is pressed, the contents are released into the liquid, altering its smell or flavor. If applied to a carbonated beverage, for example, the bottle could carry several flavor blisters, such as cherry, vanilla and mocha. For a household freshener such as …

Maxim magazine, known for cover photos of sexy women, and China Grill Management will announce today that they'll open at least 15 Maxim Prime restaurants over the next five years, designed to appeal to customers in their 20s and 30s. The men's magazine has also put its brand on shower curtains, furniture and a soon-to-be-built casino. While the magazine features foxy females, the chain will not be an upscale version of Hooters. "Sexy but sophisticated," says China Grill Management's Jeffrey Chodorow. Maxim Prime will offer small portions as well as lighter fare. "The people who leave here are going …

Relationship marketing initiatives are on the rise this year among merchants planning holiday promotions--cutting into traditional price-based promotions, according to a report by Portland, OR-based online solutions provider WebTrends. Twice as many respondents to a WebTrends survey (23%) said they would not be using price-based promotions to generate online revenue from customers during the holidays, compared with 11% in 2005. Even free shipping has dropped in popularity, from 62% of retailers using it in 2005 to only 45% in 2006. Relationship-based tactics include e-mail search-engine marketing strategies that allow retailers to understand visitor intent and leverage behavior-based insights …

Courvoisier, the No. 3 selling cognac in the U.S. and reportedly the preferred sip of Napoleon, is launching an eau de parfum and an eau de toilette at the Tax Free World Association Exhibition in Cannes this week. Both will be available for purchase worldwide at high-end retail locations--mainly select upscale department stores with duty-free locations--starting in the spring of 2007. The first market is expected to be the United Kingdom, where Courvoisier is the No. 1 selling cognac, then other European countries and Asia and North America. The scent will be targeted to 25- to-35-year-old males who are …

PepsiCo will reposition Mountain Dew around the theme of "fueling the core," leaving its 13-year-old "Do the Dew" campaign and "extreme" positioning behind. New campaigns will focus on exhilaration, energy and the enjoyment of finding new passions, according to a Pepsi executive with knowledge of the matter. A Pepsi spokesperson declined to comment. Mountain Dew wants to update its image without alienating its core fan base. The move is particularly risky, since Dew was the only major PepsiCo soda label to gain market share last year. Its marketing, which dates to the 1940s, has been so successful that it …

Two men who prosecutors say conspired with a secretary in Coca-Cola's marketing department to sell Coke trade secrets to PepsiCo face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine after pleading guilty in Atlanta federal district court yesterday. Ibrahim Dimson, 30, and Edmund Duhaney, 43, will be sentenced Jan. 29, 2007. Joya Williams, the third defendant and former administrative executive assistant to a Coca-Cola global brand manager, has entered a not-guilty plea, and is set to go to trial Nov. 13. Her lawyer has filed a motion to push the trial to early next year, but the …

Whole Foods Market is about to launch a line of meats in its 186 stores that that will carry an "animal compassionate" label, signaling to consumers that the cows, pigs and chickens being sold were treated humanely before they were led to slaughter. A growing number of retailers are making similar animal-welfare claims on meat and egg packaging, including "free farmed," "certified humane," "cage free" and "free range." D'Agostino, a small grocery chain in New York, says sales of meat jumped 25% since it added a "certified humane" logo--although the products cost, on average, 30% to 40% more. …

Some designers think that the three or four chrome-rimmed rectangular holes on the front fenders of a new Buick Lucerne sedan are just plain ugly. But to General Motors executives, they are part of a heritage that goes back to the glory days after World War II, when legendary designer Harley Earl was a font of innovation. The holes are a prime example of automotive DNA--the enduring, often quirky flourishes that present "a strong statement of what the brand is," says Stewart Reed, chairman of transportation design at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif. …