In an effort to bring sticker prices closer to what consumers eventually end up paying, Ford Motor Co. will employ "clear pricing" on all Ford, Mercury and Lincoln vehicles by 2008. Speaking at a Bank of America auto conference, Ford brand General Marketing Manager John Felice says the move will allow the automaker to "step away from the heavy incentives" that continue to plague the industry, while also helping to raise resale values. Detroit's dependence on incentives has led to lower vehicle profitability and lower resale values for a good portion of its cars. Ford has been gradually shifting …

People discuss about a dozen brands each day, according to new research from Keller Fay Group--and the ones they like to chat about most are media and entertainment products like movies, TV shows, and publications. But many people also discuss food products, travel brands, and stores. Target, K-Mart, Sears, J.C. Penney, Gap, Victoria's Secret and Wal-Mart rank among the retailers most frequently mentioned. Word-of-mouth marketing has grown in popularity in recent years. But most of it focuses on generating buzz among consumers--often by distributing free products. Keller Fay aims to understand what customers are saying on their own. …

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 …

Pontiac is sponsoring a contest to find an unsigned band that will appear on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and play on the Pontiac Garage in Times Square during this year's New Year's Eve celebration. Entrants upload an MP3 track to www.countdownto1.com and submit a short essay describing why they should be selected. A panel of judges from Pontiac and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" will pick the winner. At the site, consumers can rate the contestant's music and video submissions or view Jimmy Kimmel's daily personal selection of Top 10 videos and tracks called New Music of the Day. …

Sam's Club is breaking a new TV campaign that reaches out to everyday consumers rather than its core small-business customers. The ads will also highlight the fact that the warehouse club began accepting Master Card earlier this month. The 570-store chain with 47 million members is trying for a bigger share of the sales momentum in the $110 billion club and warehouse store segment, which continues to outpace growth rates in the rest of the retail industry by about 20% annually. "We've focused too much on small business and not enough on the general consumer," says …

The United States Potato Board is the latest marketer to open a temporary store that consumers can visit for only a limited time--a trend known as pop-up retailing. At the Healthy Mr. Potato Head Store, which has been open since Monday in Manhattan's Chelsea Market, consumers are treated to displays, exhibits, cooking demonstrations, visits from the Healthy Mr. Potato Head character and an activity area called the Potato Power Patch. The shop will close at the end of business on Friday. The retail experience coincides with the appearance of a Healthy Mr. Potato Head balloon in the Macy's …

VH1 has turned its logo red for 24 hours and occasionally adds a red wash over its content as a precursor to a media roadblock at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving that will include a 90-second commercial explaining the concept of Red--Bono and Bobby Shriver's campaign for AIDS awareness--across several MTV properties. The ad explains the Red mission, how it works to help buy and distribute anti-viral medications to AIDS victims in Africa, and urges consumers to "Choose Red." It features portraits of everyday people reciting a manifesto that appears on the Red Web site. "As first-world consumers, we …

The nation's wireless-service providers are getting ready to roll out a new targeting tool for marketers that will identify consumers not only by demographics but behavior. The Navy, AOL and Major League Baseball are among a dozen or so marketers who will experiment with Sprint Nextel's offer of ad placement on its "deck"--the landing page for customers accessing the Internet from cellphones. The deck lists Web sites that users can click to. Mobile carriers had balked at opening up their decks to marketing messages, but with fierce competition driving down carriers' revenue, carriers are looking to advertising to …

Analysts are watching retail turnaround artist Dawn Robertson closely to see if she can work the same magic at Old Navy, which continues to be an albatross for Gap, that she did for Myer, Australia's largest department store chain. Gap hired Robertson last month to replace Jenny Ming, who had been with Old Navy since it launched in 1994. During her tenure at Myer, Robertson integrated edgy designer labels such as Stella McCartney and Viktor & Rolf; improved store layout, making it easier to navigate; introduced the "Basement," a young-fashion area, complete with a Virgin Megastore and cafe; …

Nokia expects to reach a global TV and Internet audience of 150 million and live audiences of 1.3 million people by hosting New Year's Eve music events in five cites this year. The festivities will begin on New Year's Eve in Hong Kong's Ocean Terminal and then travel west to Mumbai's Andheri Stadium, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro before the grand finale in New York. Each event will treat music lovers to performances from international artists, including The Black Eyed Peas and Scissor Sisters. The performances can also be viewed online at …