Strong product identities can create more excitement than weaker ones, even in areas generally perceived as dull (such as insurance), according to new research that uses magnetic resonance imaging to study the impact of brand-recognition on brains. The fact that brains respond just as powerfully to strong insurance brands as to strong automotive brands was a big surprise, says Christine Born, the German radiologist who directed the research at Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich. "Cars are a status symbol. Insurance is an abstraction." Born says the study, which received no industry funding, suggests that the psychological pull …

Wristwatches, cell phones and key chains are among the gadgets that MasterCard Inc. is evaluating as potential tools for consumers to load credit or debit card information to buy a cup of coffee, a hamburger, concert tickets or countless other items. The limited rollout of the new technologies is centered on a system called PayPass, which allows consumers to tap their card or device on a special merchant terminal. That eliminates the need for retail clerks to swipe a card through a card reader. Customers aren't required to sign if the transaction is less than $25. …

Pope Benedict XVI will lead a Vatican audience of 7,000 in watching the premiere of New Line Cinema's "The Nativity Story," which is intended to be a humanistic character study of Mary and Joseph, their journey to Bethlehem and Jesus' birth. It's the first agreement by the world headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church to host a premiere of a Hollywood film. The studio went through several rounds of screenings for Vatican officials, bishops and priests before getting the nod, just a few weeks ago, under the condition that it would be a more subdued affair than the …

El Pollo Loco, the restaurant chain that derives 85% of its sales from Southern California, opened its first restaurant east of Chicago at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn., this month. The franchise group that owns the location plans to develop 24 more restaurants in six Northeastern states. El Pollo Loco--"the Crazy Chicken" in Spanish--also recently announced franchise agreements to build 61 stores in Arizona, Georgia, Missouri, Virginia and Utah. Its fusion of flame-grilled, marinated chicken and Mexican fast-food has worked well in an environment where mainstream and ethnic food are blurred. But as the company attempts …

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday let stand an Illinois Supreme Court ruling that dismissed a $10.1 billion verdict against Philip Morris USA in a class-action lawsuit involving "light" cigarettes. The lawsuit claimed Philip Morris knew when it introduced such cigarettes in 1971 that they were no healthier than regular cigarettes. A judge in Madison County, Illinois, ruled in favor of the smokers in March 2003, saying the company misled customers into believing they were buying a less harmful cigarette. But the state high court overturned that ruling, saying that because the Federal Trade Commission allowed companies to …

Almost a thousand 2007 Kia Rondo crossover vehicles are being delivered to dealers in the U.S., but the Korean automaker is being strangely silent about the launch. An online search for the vehicle pulls up nothing official from the company, including no mention on the automaker's own Web site, www.kia.com. Instead, over the next 30 days, there will merely be some direct mail to targeted consumers, a presence on several search engines, and hopefully, some buzz. No print ads or broadcast spots are scheduled until the car is officially "out" in February. The Rondo has a base price of …

The position of Barbara Ford, Kraft Foods vice president-global advertising services, will be eliminated in January as part of the food giant's overhaul of its marketing services functions. The move, according to one executive close to Kraft, signifies the sea change afoot, where "once creativity, innovation and big ideas were thought to come from developing complex processes and now they realize it is in fact the opposite." In September, new Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld acknowledged that the company was paralyzed by centralized decision-making, and vowed to give more power back to individual business teams. She named a new executive …

The announcement last week that AARP--the organization for older Americans--would sponsor a national concert tour by Tony Bennett is just the start of a massive marketing campaign that the organization hopes will entice millions of baby boomers into its ranks. As the first kids weaned on rock'n'roll turn gray, it has plans in the works for an alliance with a major retail chain, a Web-based music recommendation service with Pandora, a music blog, and additional sponsorships. The assumption used to be that the spending habits of consumers over 50 had solidified, and their earning power had peaked. No longer. …

Smartphones--cell phones with a PC-like operating system that download and run computer programs--are coming down in price, and will make up about 8% of the market this year, according to research firm Gartner. Most smartphones carry advanced data features such as e-mail, instant messaging, and word processing. Palm, Samsung, Motorola and Nokia are among the companies that have recently launched products. Smartphones used to be bulky and cost about $500, but design and price "are becoming consumer-friendly," says Nokia spokesman Keith Nowak. Nokia's new, slim E62 smartphone sells for as little as $100 with a service contract. Carriers like smartphones …

Using an army of 14,000 sales agents to push an increased number of life policies, annuities and other products, Allstate Corp. wants to be a one-shop stop for middle-income baby boomers' financial planning. At the same time, it risks alienating consumers in catastrophe-prone coastal areas, where the insurer has stopped writing new homeowner policies and has dropped some existing customers altogether. Allstate has seen new sales of financial-services products by its agents soar from $334 million in 1999 to $2.8 billion in 2005. Allstate President Tom Wilson--who will step into the chief executive's office next year--ran the business from …