On Black Friday last year, Syntax-Brillian of Ontario, Calif., slashed the price of its 32-inch Olevia brand liquid-crystal display TV sets selling at Circuit City to $475--almost half the regular price. While they lasted, the Olevias outsold Sony and other brands and forced the premium brands to lower their prices throughout the holiday season. The Olevias almost certainly lost money for Syntax-Brillian. But chairman and CEO Vincent F. Sollitto Jr.--a 21-year veteran of I.B.M. who later worked at a succession of other high-tech companies--predicts that Olevia will become a top-tier brand. Jonathan Dorsheimer, vice president of equity research …

Heinz--which pulled the plug on its ketchup advertising in 2004--says it will launch "one of the largest TV campaigns behind the flagship Heinz Ketchup brand since the "Anticipation" spots of the 1970s this July. Heinz, which redesigned its bottle last year, has been relying on in-store promotions. The new model bottle--in the familiar 48- and 64-oz. sizes--is shorter and fatter than the slender-shouldered shape baby boomers remember from their youth, but it fits into fridge doors more comfortably. After the Fridge Door Fit hit stores in June 2006, ketchup "consumption" went up 78% because shoppers were …

Future advertising for Trim-Spa, the weight-loss supplement company whose ads had featured the late Anna Nicole Smith, will focus on "your neighbors, friends, family members," according to Trim Spa president Tony Azzizzo. Smith died suddenly on Thursday at 39. No cause of death has been determined. In a statement issued Saturday night, TrimSpa CEO Alex Goen said that while Smith's dramatic weight loss from the product had "helped to catapult the brand," its success "is not simply the result of Anna Nicole Smith." Earlier this month, Smith and TrimSpa were named in a class-action lawsuit alleging …

Daniel M. Snyder--a self-made millionaire at 19 who then created and sold an advertising company that made him even wealthier--will announce today that his RedZone Capital private equity firm is acquiring the Johnny Rockets restaurant chain. Johnny Rockets provides an opportunity for Snyder to leverage his marketing prowess and expand the chain across the nation, if not beyond. He has ambitious plans, anticipating opening 1,000 new restaurants in the next five years. One of the first steps will be establishing a series of smaller restaurants, called Johnny Rockets Express, in airports, malls and urban areas. The chain--which was …

The rejuvenated Care Bears--a concept of the Eighties that has racked up $1.8 billion in worldwide sales since being relaunched by American Greetings Properties in 2001--are being redesigned. The bears, with their motto of caring and sharing, are targeted to 3-to-5-year-olds. The new look will be unveiled Monday at the American International Toy Fair in New York. The main goal of the redesign is to differentiate the bears from one another. After two decades of looking like androgynous clones, the core characters--Cheer, Share, Funshine, Grumpy and the newbie Oopsy Bear--will differ in more than their signature "belly badges" …

The Walt Disney Co. is thinking about creating smaller theme parks, as well as stand-alone hotels, retail, dining and entertainment centers in urban areas where families already travel. The ideas are "blue sky concepts" that will not be executed unless the new businesses could achieve a high return on invested capital, says Jay Rasulo, chairman of Disney's Parks and Resorts. Disney could locate versions of its Downtown Disneyland--a high-end retail, dining and entertainment district--in urban areas far from its parks. They would give Disney the chance to reach out to parents who feel their children are still too young …

Apple, which has lagged behind its competitors in hard-core gaming software, recently introduced titles for its iPod digital-music players. Most of the titles have lush graphics and multiple game-play options and work intuitively with the iPod's scroll wheel. And just like song files, the games can be downloaded from Apple's iTunes store for $4.99 each. The target is aficionados of casual games, often played in short duration on mobile phones and other handheld devices. Apple is mum on gaming plans for the iPhone or Apple TV, but Stan Ng, senior director of iPod Product Marketing, says his company is …

Octagon Marketing North America has signed a deal with the National High School Athletic Coaches Association that could put product samples in the hands of 50,000 coaches in 18,000 U.S. schools to distribute to their players--a combined 5 million students in all. "Given the influence student-athletes enjoy among their peers, programs directed to them have the potential to reach a larger segment of the student body," says Octagon vice president Janet Nicolini. Norwalk, Conn.-based Octagon recently began sampling Playtex Sport tampons through women's athletics programs in high schools and colleges. An accompanying on-line promotion awards student scholarships and …

Reflecting widespread thinking in the beauty industry that department stores' customers can be poached, Walgreen is stocking up on European products packed with ingredients like caviar and seaweed. Its high-profile experiment--dubbed the European Beauty Collection--tests whether Walgreen's shoppers will pay $10 to $60 for creams, scrubs and lotions, some of which are sold in upscale department stores and spas in Europe. In October, it introduced seven skin-care lines from five countries--France, Spain, Greece, Germany and Switzerland--at nearly 1,000 of its stores. Walgreen has been reporting solid sales and profits, but it wants to counter rivals such as CVS …

Now that Altria Group is distributing its remaining 88.6% stake in Kraft to shareholders, Kraft CEO Irene B. Rosenfeld concedes that the packaged-food giant needs to slip into a higher gear. She says. "We've got some fundamental work to do." Among other things, Rosenfeld will have to hike outlays on marketing, R&D and information technology to make up for inadequate spending in the past. Rosenfeld was brought in last June from PepsiCo, where she was CEO of its Frito-Lay division. Kraft has a lot going for it. Look through the kitchens of 200 U.S. households, and you'll …