Dunkin' Donuts is partnering with online mapping company MapQuest on a Web site that allows travelers to plan road trips and map its stores in all 33 states where it has shops. MyIcedCoffee.com, which launches Monday, also features trip-planning advice and instant-win games with prizes of $100 gas cards, JetBlue airline tickets and global-positioning systems. Iced coffee is a $1 billion category for Dunkin', and the company seeks continued growth for this beverage, which appeals to younger, female consumers. Dunkin' research showed it had to find better, more effective ways to reach this demo. The Internet, a space it …

Marketers are integrating direct-marketing tactics into their brand marketing efforts across multiple channels, according to a new survey by the Direct Marketing Association, and the lines between the two disciplines are increasingly blurry. The report--"The Integration of Direct Marketing and Brand"--says that direct-marketing tactics designed to increase consumer awareness and action are ubiquitous--from URLs on all marketing materials to 800 numbers to calls-to-action in mainstream media. The report found that 56% of respondents use one or more direct marketing channels with their brand awareness advertising. Nearly 70% of brand marketers rate personalization as having a positive or strong …

Advertisers have begun to invest directly in independent movie productions in the hopes of striking deep connections with film audiences. The companies view the investments as a way to promote a lifestyle, rather than a brand. Gatorade quietly put up $3 million for the production of "Gracie," a story about a girls soccer team that is coming out this weekend, for example. Unilever brand Dove has agreed to invest $3 million--about one-fifth of the budget--into "The Women," the first theatrical movie by Diane English, the creative force behind the hit television series "Murphy Brown." It plans to launch a …

A manufacturer that bought the copyright and plastic molds for the original pink flamingo lawn ornament plans to have new birds on the lawn by Labor Day. J.C. Waszkiewicz, head of family-owned HMC International, says he expects retailers that buy his firm's flamingoes wholesale will appreciate subtle design differences between knockoff versions and the original by Don Featherstone. The ornaments hit the market in the late 1950s when the color pink was in vogue, and America's exploding population of suburbanites sought to add flair to their lawns. But the birds also came to symbolize bad taste, and …