Even as cities are luring people back to downtown neighborhoods with their melting-pot appeal, suburban and exurban "lifestyle communities" are emerging with attractions in ever-narrower niches, including private racetracks, horse stables and airstrips. The market is aging baby boomers who find themselves with the time and money to pursue a singular passion. Developers in recent years have tried to lure home buyers with branded communities with mixed success. A home in a John Deere community, for example, offers a garage full of John Deere gear. Niche developments take the idea of associating a brand with a neighborhood step further, …

Procter & Gamble took out full-age ads in 59 newspapers yesterday that describes employees as "heartsick that any of our Iams and Eukanuba products were involved" in the nationwide pet-food recall believed to have killed or sickened thousands of pets. The ad reassures pet owners that food remaining on the market is safe and that, none of the brands' dry food ever contained wheat gluten or were affected by the recall. The FDA and veterinarians at Cornell University have found melamine--a substance used in various consumer products, as well as fertilizers in Asia--in the affected food, in wheat gluten …

A new brewery in Foshan that is expected to be completed by late next year will enable Anheuser-Busch to double distribution in China to an additional 100 cities, making it potentially available to 150 million more beer drinkers. Anheuser-Busch also said it will introduce Harbin premium brands to 33 new markets in China. Anheuser-Busch began brewing in China in 1995 with a facility in the city of Wuhan. In 2004, it edged out London-based rival SABMiller in a bidding war for north China brewer Harbin Brewery Group. It also has a 27% stake in Tsingtao, China's biggest brewer. …

Reebok will unveil its new $30-million "run easy" marketing campaign today intended to urge runners to have fun rather than take a "no pain, no gain" approach. One of the poster ads, for example, takes direct aim at Nike's "Just Do It" mantra. Showing a runner near collapse, it asks: "What are you just doing? Run easy." The new Reebok message doesn't make it a slacker brand, says Reebok marketing chief Uli Becker. Rather, it reminds runners to enjoy the sport at a pace that's right for them--a comfortable pace Reebok calls "running at the speed of chat." …

Heritage rock acts such as Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones are the cornerstones of the live-music economy because of their appeal to the mammoth boomer population. They pack arenas consistently with above-average ticket prices. But how do new, deserving rock artists get wide exposure when fans are buying seats to see Rod Stewart at Denver's Pepsi Center for $29.50 to $95, affecting their interest in--and ability to buy--tickets for shows by lesser-known artists? The average price of a concert ticket more than doubled from 1996 to 2006, from $25 to $61, according to touring industry …

Pfizer has admitted that a company it acquired--Pharmacia--improperly promoted the human-growth hormone Genotropin for anti-aging purposes, improved athletic performance, and enhanced appearance. It agreed to pay $34.7 million to end an investigation by the Department of Justice, but the settlement requires Pfizer executives to cooperate with any ongoing grand jury probes. The company also said it will plead guilty to a single count of making kickbacks to an unnamed outside vendor to increase sales. The agreement describes how Pharmacia awarded a contract to a pharmacy benefit manager in return for that company recommending that its customers purchase other …

Three dads with young children have launched a pay-as-you-go cell phone service called Kajeet that has no contracts or cancellation fees. Parents can deposit money into an account that also allows their children to purchase features such as ring tones, games and text messages. Parents also can set monthly allowances, which Kajeet says will help them teach kids about budgeting. They can set up "wallets"--so, for example, money for calls to family members comes out of the parents' pocket, but the child pays for calls and text messages to friends. Parents can also block calls during certain times …

Looking to tap into the small- and medium-business market, Xerox yesterday agreed to buy office-machines distributor Global Imaging Systems Inc. for $1.5 billion. At present, Xerox doesn't get a chance to bid on about 80% of all deals in that market. As it has developed more competitive color laser printers and multifunction copiers, Xerox has wooed more dealers that sell to small business, with only limited success. "It's hard to organically build distribution," says CEO Anne Mulcahy. Global Imaging currently sells the machines of Xerox competitors, including Canon and Ricoh. Xerox said that over time it …

To find out what's going on in the world of marketing and advertising, BusinessWeek surveyed 121 top marketing and advertising executives who gathered last month to judge the Effie Awards--the advertising prize awarded by the New York American Marketing Association to the year's most effective campaigns. More than 42.4% of the largest advertisers (clients and agency-side executives on accounts larger than $750 million) who responded say TV spending will take the biggest hit in their budgets this year. Then again, despite the talk of commercial-skipping DVRs and new opportunities online, a full 18% of respondents say TV will …

General Motors is in the very early stages of investigating whether there is a market in the U.S. for mini cars, which are significantly smaller than the sub-compact cars currently sold in the region by several automakers. Mini cars are capable of achieving as much as 50 miles per gallon of gasoline. At the New York auto show Wednesday, GM plans to show three different models of mini cars based on the tiny Chevrolet Matiz and Spark that are sold in several markets and in hot demand internationally due to space constraints and high gasoline prices. In coming …