General Motors is working on a new electric car. It would use an onboard internal-combustion engine as a generator to produce electricity to extend the range of the vehicle's rechargeable batteries. GM won't talk openly about the vehicle, but a knowledgeable person within the giant automaker's technology division confirms that GM has developed a prototype. Unlike the initial GM electric vehicle, the discontinued EV1, the new offering will not be emissions-free. Environmental activists still seem intrigued by the idea because the car would consume far less fuel than a vehicle that relies on a larger, thirstier gasoline or diesel …

Philips Norelco's humorous word-of-mouth campaign to spread the word about a men's razor designed to shave anywhere but the face generated great returns. Sales results exceeded the company's already "lofty" goal by 300%, according to Zdenek C. Kratky, brand manager, shaving and beauty, Philips DAP North America. With a limited budget--less than $1 million--the campaign for The Philips Norelco Bodygroomer included a humorous video on ShaveEverywhere.com as its central component. "I feel very comfortable talking about this, but most of our consumers don't," Kratky says. The site has received more than 1.7 million visits to date. …

The resignation of Volkswagen CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder is "a shock wave that will take a while to travel through the industry," says Todd Turner, principal analyst at Car Concepts in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Pischetsrieder--who had been given a contract extension through 2012 last May--is stepping down at the end of the year in favor of Martin Winterkorn, the head of VW's luxury car unit Audi. Based on his accomplishments at Audi, Turner projected that Winterkorn "will be fantastic. He's a hard driver who simply will not accept status quo." One source said Pischetsrieder's departure stemmed from an internal …

If you think that Cyber Monday--the Monday after the Thanksgiving weekend--is going to be the top day for online sales during the holiday season, you're wrong, according to Coremetrics, a San Mateo, CA-based provider of Web analytics. It says that online merchants should expect their greatest traffic on Cyber Monday--but that they'll see their greatest sales the following Monday, Dec. 4, which it has dubbed eDay. Coremetrics predicts that the second-busiest day in terms of online sales will be Dec. 11, followed by Dec. 6, Dec. 5 and Dec. 12. To maximize sales during these peak days, the company …

Special K, which has become Kellogg's leading brand in the five years since it embarked on a diet positioning, is being aggressively extended. The scarlet K will appear on everything from protein meal bars to Personal Trainer watches that calculate calories burned and are already sold in the U.K. Its new Special K20 Protein Waters will appear in the pharmacy and diet and nutrition aisles, where consumers are not used to seeing the brand. Kellogg will also launch Special K Chocolatey Delight this January to help assuage consumers' cravings come diet season. Advertising for the new lines will …

Consumer-goods manufacturers should take a harder look at repositioning products for new segments, uses and occasions--particularly when innovative products seem rare, according to a new study of 480 product launches by McKinsey & Company. When the repositioning of products in new categories was paired with incremental innovation--the use of an existing technology to enhance a current product--revenues improved as much as they did for breakthrough products. For example, General Mills' Yoplait modified an existing yogurt item (primarily by whipping air into it) and repositioned the resulting product, dubbed Whips, as a dessert. Likewise, the company launched a vitamin-enriched …

A new holiday campaign for Visa includes a sweepstakes that will award 10 people grand prizes of $100,000 each. Anyone using a Visa card between Nov. 1 and the end of the year will be automatically entered in the "$100K Holiday from Visa" contest. Jaye Hersh, owner of the celebrity clothing store Intuition, has been named Visa's "Chief Shopping Officer" for the campaign. In TV spots, Ebenezer Scrooge will be seen performing "selfish" acts of charity that allow him to use his Visa card and thereby earn a chance to win money for himself. The campaign is also being …

Callaway Golf Co. is finally moving into direct-to-consumer online sales, but it will do so by fulfilling orders through brick-and-mortar retailers that stock the company's gear. Golf equipment is widely available online through sporting-goods and other chains, but most manufacturers have avoided direct online sales for fear of alienating retail partners. The new Web site will sell nearly the entire line of Callaway products, including merchandise from company subsidiaries, like Top-Flite and Odyssey. Here's how it works: When a consumer decides to purchase a Big Bertha driver on Callaway's Web site, retail shops are notified of the order through …

The holidays have long been a big deal at Starbucks, but with the company celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, it looks like the 2006 season will be its biggest ever. A massive marketing blitz kicks off tomorrow with a bright, festive red as the campaign's primary color. The overarching theme is "On With the Tradition." Hints of the coming effort have been unfolding in Chicago, one of Starbucks' major markets. Teaser ads have been popping up at bus shelters that show a piece of the iconic red cup that is a key aspect of the holiday season at …

They are the bobblehead dolls of the marketing world: Brand icons like Staples "easy" buttons that have turned into novelty items or collectibles. The buttons, born out of a Staples ad campaign and available at its stores for $5, were handed out by Pittsburgh Steelers' coach Bill Cowher prior to his team winning the Super Bowl. Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper has been filmed with one on his desk. About 1.5 million have been sold. Similarly, Travelocity has sold more than 20,000 of its 8-inch gnome statues at $19.99 a pop. Last month, it added an 18-inch version …