Candles that Procter & Gamble says can trap bad odors are the latest addition to its Febreze line of room sprays and plug-in deodorizers. The burning candles quickly fill a room with fragrances such as "Linen & Sky" and "Meadows & Rain." While P&G labels normally are tied primarily to specific products, Febreze is aiming to attach itself to a concept--freshness. That has allowed P&G to launch a wide range of products--from fabric sprays to discs that emit a scent when played on a machine--under the Febreze name. The candles are P&G's bid to make the …

MetroPCS and its smaller rival, Leap Wireless, are having a ripple effect across the $100 billion mobile-phone service industry by offering unlimited wireless calling plans for as little as $30 a month -- with no extra fees. Sales at MetroPCS are rising faster than for many other providers, and its margins are among the fattest. UBS analyst John Hodulik predicts that Metro will "have a similar impact on wireless as Southwest had on the airline industry." Leap and MetroPCS both target younger, lower-income users, many from ethnic groups. But to compete with the giants, MetroPCS and …

As part of an ill-fated campaign featuring dead celebrities, the London office of Saatchi & Saatchi recently featured an image of Kurt Cobain sitting on a cloud in the sky shod in Dr. Martens boots. Courtney Love, the widow of the deceased lead singer for Nirvana, grew angry when she heard about the ads, which ran in a small British music magazine, There were then submitted to an American ad industry Web site. In the U.S, the estates of dead celebrities are allowed to control the use of their images; in Britain, however, lawyers say no approval is needed. …

Citing research from Booz Allen Hamilton, Lindsay, Stone & Briggs CEO Marcia Lindsey says that the brands that will survive and thrive in the new economy will be those that give up illusions of massiveness. They will figure out how to excel at attracting and keeping as narrowly focused a niche as is economically feasible. As every market matures, choice increases. Then competition drives up quality and convenience to the point at which offerings become commoditized. The businesses that thrive are those that move beyond "me-too" or incremental offerings to marketing more-relevant and more-differentiated products and services. The …

Honda is discontinuing the gasoline-electric version of its Accord sedan after the 2007 model year. Analysts say it is the victim of a high sticker price and unremarkable gas mileage. Outfitted with a six-cylinder engine and heated leather seats, the Accord hybrid was positioned as a gas-electric for the performance crowd when it was introduced in 2004--with a price to match. The base sticker is $31,685, compared with $26,820 for its closest competitor, the Toyota Camry hybrid. The Accord's combined city-highway mileage of 31 mpg was hardly in the same league with the Prius at 55 mpg …

It has been almost six months since Steve Jobs--the world's consummate salesman--introduced the iPhone as the Ronco Veg-O-Matic for the Internet era. He has succeeded in building expectations for what some have called "the God machine." Apple disclosed in television commercials last night that the phone would be released June 29. But some Apple executives worry privately that expectations for the one-button phones may be too high and that first-generation buyers will end up disappointed. The high price--as much as $600--may limit the phones' appeal to true believers. The AT&T cellular network that the iPhone operates on …

Avis is announcing a new service today that enables customers to book a chauffeur when renting an automobile in 10 big cities, including New York and Los Angeles. The cost in addition to rental charges: $30 per hour with a three-hour minimum. Rental experts expect other car-rental companies to follow suit. The service--which requires 24-hour advance notice--is primarily targeted to mid- and high-level executives. Customers using the service are billed separately by Avis for the rental car and by WeDriveU, a company based in San Mateo, Calif. The service may set off a firestorm in the taxi, limousine …

A new spot for Ocean Spray's diet cranberry juice that features two cranberry growers and a group of women who are exercising was heavily influenced by Lisa Haverty, who has a Ph.D. in cognitive science from Carnegie Mellon University. Haverty suggested that the women work out rather than party to reinforce the diet message; she also went against conventional ad wisdom by advising that the characters wait a bit before mentioning the new product.,br> More firms are adding scientists to the creative process--at least on a trial basis--marking a big departure from how Madison Avenue typically works. …

Dial next month will launch Dial Yogurt, which is believed to be the first mass-market, yogurt-based cleansing product sold in the U.S. The liquid soap--7 ounces for $1.99--is made with yogurt proteins (versus real yogurt), which the company says acts as a moisturizer. It will come in aloe vera and honey vanilla. It will target women via print, Internet and out-of-home. The brand, owned by the Henkel Group, is also launching Dial for Men Blue Grit--a "hydrating scrub" versus the non-manly sounding "exfoliate." It will come in a similar oil can-shaped package as the original. Blue Grit also gets …

Coca-Cola Co. chairman and CEO Neville Isdell is buying up troubled bottlers, pushing them to reform their operations and packing boards of the largest operations with handpicked executives. Once these ailing bottlers have been fixed, Isdell intends to sell them to companies that pledge to work closely with Coke. Coke relies on its vast bottling network to put its Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta and hundreds of other brands into the hands of people in more than 200 countries. Under agreements dating as far back as 1899, bottlers are also the company's grassroots marketing force, with teams of salespeople--what the company …