Facebook Inc. will unveil an ad system late this fall that will let marketers target users based on the information they reveal on the social-networking web site about themselves. Eventually, the system will allow the company to predict what products and services users might be interested in even before they mention an area. The new service would let advertisers visit a Web site to choose a much wider array of characteristics for users who should see their ads -- based not only on age, gender and location, but also on favorite activities and preferred music. Facebook would use its …

Ford Motor Co. executives say the automaker does not need a global luxury brand and will instead focus on streamlining its core Blue Oval brand with fewer models. Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally and other executives outlined details of the new strategy Wednesday. Ford is moving forward with its planned sale of Jaguar and Land Rover and is still considering a sale of Volvo. That would leave Ford without a global luxury brand, which many analysts say it needs to compete. But Mulally said Ford can be successful by making its Blue Oval products the best in …

Venus Williams and Steve & Barry's have signed a deal in which the high-profile tennis superstar will design a line of clothing and footwear, which will debut in a special section of the stores in late fall. Williams will wear items from the collection, called EleVen, while playing at the U.S. Open, which begins on Aug. 27. Williams will appear in marketing and make personal appearances; a dedicated Web site will link from www.SteveandBarrys.com. The tennis star joins a growing stable of athletes and celebrities who have exclusive collections with the retailer, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Amanda …

Consumers are looking for ways to make ordinary products more personal and attractive. Keys, hammers, door knockers, even Swiss Army knives are no longer dull, straightforward, undecorated things. Everyday tools and objects are receiving total makeovers. Orvis sells a tool kit that includes flower-patterned pliers, scissors and utility knife. Target offers a toilet brush holder shaped like a black bear. Georgetown University marketing professor Alan Andreasen says the trend is "an attempt by lots of people to individualize both themselves and their possessions." He equates it with "tattoos, customized cell phones and ringtones as a way to step away …

Attorneys for Tyco and Kimberly-Clark told a federal judge yesterday that they are finally nearing an end in their fight over sanitary pads. Tyco Healthcare sued Kimberly-Clark Corp. last year, claiming the company was infringing on its trademarked name "Flexi-Wings" used on Always brand sanitary pads. Tyco claimed Kimberly-Clark purposefully tried to confuse customers by juxtaposing its trademark name "Comfort-Flex" next to the word "wings" on its Kotex brand packaging. At stake is a piece of the lucrative feminine hygiene products market, which was worth more than $1.835 billion in 2006, according to Mintel, a market research firm …

Black Americans are historically more likely to be targeted by tobacco advertisements than are white men and women, according to a study being published this month. The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine report supports previous research, as well as unearthed tobacco industry documents which show that blacks and other minorities were increasingly seduced by tobacco ads, especially after the 1970s, when smoking rates began to drop among middle-class white populations. Researchers sought to enumerate that known advertising strategy by counting the total ads found in a given market, extracting the tobacco-related ads, and then correlating that …

After months of testing various formats, Google will introduce a new type of video ad on its YouTube site that the company says is unobtrusive to users. The ads, which appear 15 seconds after a user begins watching a video clip, take the form of an overlay on the bottom fifth of the screen, not unlike the tickers that display headlines during television news programs. A user can ignore the overlay, which will disappear after about 10 seconds, or close it. But if the user clicks on it, the video they were watching will stop and a video ad …

A town in Washington state sells millions of gallons of water every year to companies that pour it into bottles and jugs, slap on brand names, and then sell it to consumers. PepsiCo's Aquafina -- the nation's most popular bottled water brand -- gets its water from the tap. Three other companies also bottle water from municipal sources, according to the Washington Department of Agriculture, which regulates the bottled-water industry in the state. Much of the bottled water sold in stores, 25 percent to 40 percent, according to government and industry sources, is tap water -- sometimes treated, sometimes …

Car-sharing companies see a lucrative new market in college students, a population that has been largely ignored by the traditional mega rental-car companies. The companies, such as Flexcar and Zipcar, which allow customers to rent cars for hours or days, are now cutting partnerships with schools nationwide. Flexcar is set to announce deals with Arizona State University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and this month, it added Ohio State University, the nation's largest school by enrollment last year. Zipcar, the world's largest car-sharing company, says it is targeting between 10 and 15 new schools this fall, including Yale …

Consumers, who know witch hazel from their grandmother's medicine cabinet, remember it as a first aid for minor cuts and abrasions. Witch hazel, a natural astringent, has been a multipurpose cure-all item for generations. But a different version of the compound, whose proper name is hamamelis virginiana, is also an effective skincare product for cleansing and toning. It is this "toning" aspect that Dickinson Brands, East Hampton, Conn., plans to promote in the first marketing campaign in the 140-year-old product's history. The strategy is to redefine its Witch Hazel to Gen Y teens and women. One of the aims …