Jaguar once was among the elite in luxury nameplates. Its name was synonymous with excellence. It's no coincidence that the Big Cat's fall from grace has coincided with its ownership by Ford Motor Co., which acquired the British nameplate in 1989 and now is considering selling it. When Ford reported gloomy July sales figures this month, it became clear just how far the tarnished Jaguar brand had fallen. All six of Ford's vehicle brands saw monthly sales declines, but Jaguar took the biggest hit, with sales tumbling 43 percent to just 1,136 vehicles. Last year Jaguar's U.S. …

Procter & Gamble Co., General Motors Corp., American Express and Staples were among the first to pull ads out of the Don Imus show following racial remarks made by the talk show host. But media buyers are having mixed reactions to news of his possible return. Some say Imus has apologized several times for his remarks, and advertisers could conclude that he has been punished enough. Others say that while "curiosity seekers" would be tuning in, marketers will wait to see if he trips up again before committing ad money to support his new venture. Ad …

TIAA-CREF is making a significant change in its advertising that plays up its status as a nonprofit organization by focusing on a new Web site, powerof.org. The change comes after a focus group told the financial services company they thought the non-profit status meant TIAA-CREF would be more focused on their needs, and that it made them unique compared to the competition. The arrival of the campaign, with an annual budget estimated at $50 million, is indicative of a tricky balancing act that is faced by many marketers -- particularly those competing in crowded categories like financial services. …

Authenticity is very important to the gay and lesbian consumer, a study shows. And how a company treats their gay and lesbian employees and their sponsorship of events illustrates that authenticity for the consumer. Some 88 percent of gay men and 91 percent of lesbians claim that a brand's sponsorship or support of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender)events favorably influences their buying decisions, according to a study released today from Community Marketing, San Francisco. The study also found that 89 percent of gay men and 91 percent of lesbians said the way a company treats its gay and …

Best Buy Co. will begin selling Liz Claiborne accessories bags and cases in an effort to attract more female shoppers to the electronics store. The electronics retailer will debut the products -- including laptop cases, iPod covers and camera cases -- in 250 of its more than 850 U.S. stores on Oct. 21. Patterns will repeat across the product line, allowing shoppers to purchase matching collections of bags, much as they would match accessories to a purse. The accessory bags are the latest effort by Best Buy to lure female shoppers. Earlier this year, Best Buy …

The effectiveness of lead generation based on incentive offers has always been questionable. Consumers often want the prize, but have little interest in the marketer's product. Now, the practice has also come under scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC is likely concerned about possible privacy violations or false advertising claims. The result is that some marketers are backing away from the technique or shifting to the more painstaking approach of finding consumers who have already shown interest in a product. With consumers spending more time online, marketers have begun paying digital marketing firms to collect …

A lead Starbucks Corp. executive says the company is far from maximizing its potential to sell the coffee chain's branded items to outside retailers. Items such as coffee beans, ice cream and chocolate already are in some supermarkets and convenience stores, but should be in many more, says Gerry Lopez, president of Starbucks' consumer products group. The main opportunity, according to Lopez, comes from the sales of Starbucks coffee beans, or packaged coffee, to supermarkets where sales of premium coffee are growing at more than 10% a year, in the face of flat to lower overall coffee sales. …

Ironically, you won't see very many TV ads for Philips Electronics' new high-end flat-screen television. Rather than go the route of the traditional 30- or 60-second TV spot, Philips recently created a five-minute fashion-oriented film to be shown in Paris boutiques to promote the Aurea, a high-end flat screen TV. Now, even televisions are being marketed without recourse to television. The move by Philips reflects a desire by consumer electronics companies to differentiate their products in an intensely competitive marketplace by trying to give them some of the glamour of the fashion business. Philips is not …

There is hope yet for the printed page. Nearly three-quarters of consumers across all generations say they enjoy magazines, even though they can read the same thing online, according to a study released last week by Deloitte & Touche's Technology, Media and Telecommunications practice. Drawn from a Harrison Group survey of 2,200 consumers 13 to 75 years old, the top-line findings of the "State of the Media Democracy" offered hope for traditional media and yielded some fresh insights into new-media trends. Television is still a core activity, even with the proliferation of online, text messaging, cell phone use …

Blonde-haired blue-eyed Barbie may still dominate, but Kmart is one of several retailers whose toy aisle is no longer completely lily white. The retailer is launching its own line of multicultural dolls in its 1,400 stores nationwide. While other retailers are stocking more multicultural dolls -- often in predominantly minority neighborhoods -- Kmart claims it's the first mass-market retailer to have such a wide selection available in every store. The success of Nickelodeon's popular bilingual children's character, Dora the Explorer, and the spending power of the nation's growing minority population, has prompted toy retailers nationwide to …