For generations, taglines have served as the foundation for advertising--a short statement poised to deliver the brand message in a memorable way. Today, there is some consensus that the tactic is on life support. Many marketers are using their taglines sparingly or not at all. Starbucks, Samsung, Converse and others are among the growing number of brands that do not focus on the use of taglines. M&Ms and Pizza Hut, meanwhile, run their tags, "Discover your inner 'm'" and "America's favorite pizza," only occasionally. The reasons range from ever-shorter tenures of CMOs to ever-splintering consumer demographics. Another factor is the …

As more Americans go green, debates are fermenting over packaging: plastic vs. paper at the grocery store, plastic vs. glass for beverages. The packaging issue perplexes Seth Goldman, co-founder and CEO of Honest Tea, an organic-beverage company where sustainability is a way of life. He is agnostic on the issue. "If you can reduce your package, that's what you should do first," Goldman says. That's where the plastic bottles come in. Made of PET plastic, which can be recycled only once--or made into carpet or clothing--the bottle's liquid weight is 512 grams, while its package weight is 42.2 grams. That …

Nicholas Negroponte's ambitious plan to get a laptop computer into the hands of up to 150 million of the world's poorest children has been derailed, in part, by the power of his idea. For-profit companies threatened by the projected $100 price tag set plunged Negroponte into unexpected competition against brands such as Intel and Microsoft's Windows operating system. World leaders and corporate benefactors quickly jumped in to support Negroponte's nonprofit project, called One Laptop Per Child. But after three years, only about 2,000 students in pilot programs have received computers. An order from Uruguay for 100,000 machines appears to be …

Cultural fusion is becoming an increasingly typical demographic. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 1 in 5 U.S. adults ages 18 to 34 is Latino. Garcia and Rodriguez are now among the top 10 most common surnames in the nation. At least 50,000 Latinos in the U.S. turn 18 each month, UCLA demographer Leo Estrada estimates. Media companies and advertisers are grappling with whether to reach this growing audience in Spanish or English. Most efforts to date have been focused on Spanish. But some believe that strategy misses the sweet spot because it fails to recognize that the majority of …

Marketers such as Kraft Foods and Procter & Gamble are listening closely to what people say online as the Web continues to morph from a medium of static sites to a place where dialogue and interactivity dominate. The companies are adding positions like community manager, new media strategist or blog strategist, and are actively engaging on the Web. Behind this tidal wave of new positions in companies and consultancies is the explosion in popularity of social networking sites and online conversations opening new potential marketing opportunities to companies looking to interact with consumers. But companies have to tread carefully. Unlike …