NBC Universal's new digital czar, Beth Comstock, and her staffers are offering key advertisers the services of its digital studios, blurring the lines between broadcaster, ad agency and marketer. Discussions have been going on for about three months, Comstock says, and the first deals could be done in a month. A direct relationship between networks and marketers could threaten ad agencies' middleman role. Comstock is quick to point out that NBC's marketing efforts will primarily be "adjuncts" to existing campaigns and that "most of the discussions" with marketers involve ad agencies. The unit working with advertisers is a …

The Lincoln MKZ sedan, MKX crossover and new Navigator will each have their own product pages on Amazon.com starting Monday. Prospective customers can initiate a purchase with just a single click that will connect them to a Lincoln page. Once there, they can select options, price their vehicle, and chat with a "Lincoln personal assistant," who will act as their go-between with a traditional brick-and-mortar dealer to complete the transaction. Some marketing experts say the strategy is poorly thought out. "The logic eludes me," says John Henke, president of Planning Perspectives Inc. and a professor of marketing at Oakland …

Mustaches are making a comeback this month in Australia and New Zealand, as 40,000 men have rallied to the call of putting their hairy-lip hatred aside for a laugh, a sense of brotherhood and a great cause: men's health. The third annual Movember campaign is based on the premise that no one grows mustaches any more. The Mo Bros--as participants are called--have to explain their "lip loungers," which raises awareness of men's health and attracts donations that go to testicular and prostate-cancer research and male depression awareness. The guys behind Movember--a young, hip quartet--realized that while women's …

In a departure from primarily delivering its namesake's products, Coca-Cola Enterprises says it will distribute new 34-ounce bottles of Arizona iced tea with lemon, green tea with ginseng and honey, and sweet tea. CCE is the world's biggest bottler of nonalcoholic beverages. A spokesman says the Arizona deal fits the bottler's strategy under new president and CEO John Brock, which is to sell "the top one or two brands in each category." Dan Schafer, a Coke spokesman, expressed the beverage giant's disappointment with the CCE deal. "Clearly, we would prefer that our bottlers distribute our brands," he says. …

Circuit City plans to offer a Compaq notebook for $299 after rebates, or $99 with rebates and a 12-month subscription to Vonage, according to Web site Black Friday Ads. Circuit City currently sells the Compaq notebook for $499; it says the computer usually lists for $680. To get to $299, Circuit City will give consumers a $280 instant rebate at the store and a coupon for a $100 mail-in rebate. The deals are seen as an effort to undercut Wal-Mart and Staples, which have come out with $398 and $399 Compaq notebooks, respectively. The Circuit City model comes …

In its latest bid to stave off Netflix, Blockbuster will become the exclusive rental agent for movies made by the Weinstein Co. Under a four-year deal--the first of its kind--the two companies will share in the revenue from rentals from the independent studio. Blockbuster is betting that the Weinsteins, who have released 21 films in 13 months at their new company, will again produce the kind of acclaimed films and hits they had at Walt Disney-owned Miramax Films. Some of their successes include Oscar winners "The English Patient" and "Shakespeare in Love," and the "Scary Movie" and "Scream" franchises. …

MasterCard Rewards Services is developing and will manage a loyalty-marketing service for banks that will be tailored to each institution's product portfolio and consumers. The service will leverage MasterCard's consumer spending data, loyalty-marketing experience and technology to enable the company to handle point scoring, tracking and fulfillment. Rewards can be based on deposit or investment balances; transactions, such as card purchases, online bill payments and direct deposit; the number of the bank's products that a customer uses; or one-time transactions, such as a mortgage application. MasterCard is working with banks now to roll out programs in early 2007. …

Nike beat Reebok and Pepsi pushed farther ahead of Coke in the quarterly Customer Satisfaction Index conducted by the University of Michigan's National Quality Research Center. Of the 38 named companies in the survey, Sara Lee, Kellogg, Pepsi and Reebok showed the most year-over-year gain in their scores--each up between 4% and 5%. Over the past decade, market share leader Nike and Reebok have never been separated by more than two points. But price increases likely eroded consumer satisfaction across the entire industry last year, says the center's director Claes Fornell--improving customers' perception of Reebok's value for the money, …

US Airways Group is proposing a merger with Delta Air Lines that would operate under Delta's name after its emergence from bankruptcy. Delta, the third-largest U.S. carrier by traffic, filed for bankruptcy protection last September. US Airways is the nation's sixth-largest carrier. The deal--which is valued at about $8 billion in cash and stock--would lead to a 10% cut in the combined airlines' capacity, reduce unprofitable flying, and improve the mix of traffic, US Airways says. The company believes the combination would generate at least $1.65 billion in annual synergies. US Airways Chairman and CEO Doug Parker telephoned …

Procter & Gamble's Charmin brand of toilet paper will operate a 20-stall public restroom in a converted bar in the heart of Times Square during the holiday shopping season. It will be stocked with Charmin Ultra, and staffed with attendants who will clean up after each use. There will also be a seating lounge, with its own photo-op: A 6-foot stuffed Charmin bear, just waiting to have its picture taken with a visitor. Charmin reps will be roaming the Times Square streets dressed as toilets, handing out fliers advertising the restroom's location. Electronic billboards at local airports will announce …