Apple--which now sells TV shows and older movies from several entertainment companies on iTunes--is trying to convince two major studios to make new movies available for rental on its online service. Apple is pitching the rental service aggressively, according to two studio executives, with titles to rent for $2.99 for a set number of days before expiring. If Apple can persuade Hollywood to offer its new movies for rent, it could pave the way to offering them for sale. Studios are balking at Apple's pricing, which is currently $14.99 for new titles, compared to around $18 for a new …

Behold the present and future of customer service: Working to shrug off its image as an arrogant giant, Dell launched IdeaStorm--an online forum for customers to air grievances and share product ideas--last February. It has become the repository for more than 5,500 recommendations and 24,000 comments, and has inspired 21 initiatives so far. IdeaStorm is part of an effort "to make sure the customer is walking the hallways at Dell," says Bob Pearson, Dell's vice president-corporate group communications. It also includes blogging, through its Direct2Dell site, getting involved in online conversations about the company, and dealing with the …

Marketers have codified the pretense of a homogenous, melting-pot America in various advertising campaigns, many of which follow a set formula--a woman, man, black, Asian, Latino. The ads seem to say. "We've included everybody. Buy from us." But a new approach to marketing says that the seemingly inclusive ads are nonsense, almost as offensive as the advertising campaigns of old that portrayed all wholesome families as white and all breadwinners as white men. Global Advertising Strategies--a New York-based firm specializing in ethnic marketing and other highly targeted marketing campaigns--calls the usual approach Multicultural Marketing 101. Most multicultural executions …

Marketers are becoming big boosters of high-school sports. The goal is to gain favor with student athletes and also their coaches, teachers and principals--not to mention their fans, friends and families. Call them Millennials, Generation Y or baby boom babies, the 7.2 million children who played sports in high school during the 2005-6 school year represent a target market that has grown 80% since the 1971-72 school year. High-school athletes buy all the obvious products--sneakers, gear, sports beverages--along with general items like grooming aids, magazines and video games. Many high schoolers shop for the family while their parents …

Bank of America is launching a credit card today--Accolades American Express--that offers amenities such as winter excursions with an Olympic skier and cooking classes with a master chef to its most affluent clients. You have to be a global wealth client with at least $100,000 in net assets to qualify for the card. The new card is one of several that banks--which before 2004 were mostly limited to issuing Visa and MasterCard plastic--are creating in the wake of a regulatory decision that ended the card companies' ability to prevent banks from doing business with their competitors. American …

Bars and retailers in the U.S. are facing low inventories of European beers, such as Stella, Bass and Beck's. That's because of distribution problems since Anheuser-Busch became the exclusive U.S. importer of 19 brands made by InBev SA--the world's largest brewer--in February. At the root of the problem are the complicated rules of the U.S. beer business. Under a law dating to the end of Prohibition, brewers generally must sell their beers through wholesalers that distribute to bars, restaurants and retailers. Previously, few of A-B's wholesalers handled beers made by InBev. Now, in many states, distributors that work …

Nintendo has made a concerted effort to woo other makers of game software as part of a broader change in strategy to dominate the newest generation of video game consoles. It hopes to avoid the disappointments of its previous home game console, GameCube. Nintendo's new strategy is two-pronged. First, making the Wii cheaper and easier to play than its rivals, which attracts a broader range of new customers. Wii sets itself apart with its wireless motion-sensor controller that gets players off the couch and jumping around. The other thrust of Nintendo's new strategy is to enlist software developers to …

A "survival-of-the-fittest" battle for display space has turned the traditional department-store floor plan on its head. Increasingly, private and exclusive labels--cost-effective for national chains--are assigned choice locations near the entrance or are given sprawls of square footage. While any big-name brands still get decent play, Macy's, JCPenney and other stores increasingly are focusing on their own fashions, putting them in intense competition with the very manufacturers that helped build the stores' business in the first place. A demoted national name can find redemption, though only if it comes up with clothing a retailer decides is hot--or …

A deal cut last month between Merisant Co., the company that makes Equal, and McNeil Nutritionals, which markets Splenda, is unraveling. The dispute centers on Splenda's former advertising slogan--"Made from sugar so it tastes like sugar"-- which Merisant says confuses people into thinking the product is natural. After Splenda lawyers allegedly asked for more time to comply with the terms of a settlement reached on May 11, Equal asked the trial judge yesterday to either enforce the agreement or enter a verdict the jury reportedly reached. Splenda, in turn, says that Merisant breached the deal's confidentiality clause by publicizing …

Shares of Netflix--the online DVD rental store--rose 6% yesterday on rumors that Amazon.com wants to acquire it. Netflix has been growing at a significantly slower rate since Blockbuster ramped up competition by aggressively pushing its Total Access package. Like Netflix, Blockbuster's service enables customers to order movies online, then receive and return them by mail. But Total Access also allows customers to return mail-delivered DVDs to its stores and to pick up new ones at no extra cost. The service operates at a loss now, but Blockbuster has grabbed significant market share back from Netflix. …