Word of mouth--sometimes referred to as buzz marketing or viral marketing--was the fastest-growing slice of the $254 billion marketing industry last year, and is expected to account for more than $1 billion of ad spending in 2007, according to a report by PQ Media. That number is forecast to reach $3.7 billion by 2011, fueled in part by the eruption of blogs and the increasing popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook. As long as there have been brands, people have talked about them--both positively and negatively--but it is only in the past few years that a diverse range …

Come New Year's Eve, Kraft Foods is mounting an all-out blitz to depict Ritz crackers as playful and lively. Starting at dusk on Monday, light projections scattered across Manhattan will show Ritz crackers merrily bouncing in and out of a box. And anyone at home watching "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" on ABC will see newscasters asking celebrants to describe their idea of fun--with a Ritz logo on the screen. The inaugural "Ritz. Open for Fun" TV spot shows blink-of-an-eye vignettes of fantastical Ritz-induced fun. A boy and his dog play Frisbee with a Ritz, a girl blows bubbles …

Major hotel companies such as Starwood, Global Hyatt, Hilton, and InterContinental are offering customers who are enrolled in their loyalty programs the option to spend their points on an a wide array of unique experiences--from weightless space flight to cooking lessons from star chefs. Michael Soares and his wife used 124,000 Starwood points to spend one night with John Travolta and the cast of the movie "Hairspray" at the film's New York premiere. The hotel companies say that only a small percentage of their customers have enough points to spend on such experiences, but that number is increasing. Hotel officials …

Heading into the holiday shopping season, the familiar pink and blonde Barbie doll's merchandise empire seems strong. For the fifth year in a row, the doll tops girls' wish lists, according to the National Retail Federation. Barbie Girls MP3 Player is listed as one of the season's 12 Hottest Toys by Toy Wishes magazine. But Barbie also has a dark, lacy side: Barbie Collector dolls, which are designed to be appreciated by adults, not kids. The Lingerie Barbies, for example, wear hose and garters, bustiers or slips, high heels--and not much more. They are the only collectible dolls …

More than 200 new prestige perfumes--those sold in department stores and cosmetics shops, rather than drugstores or supermarkets--were unveiled in the U.S. in 2006, according to NPD Group. But sales of these high-end perfumes--which make up 60% of the overall fragrance market -- have been slowing. Total revenue is expected to grow less than 3% globally this year, according to Euromonitor, while the overall luxury goods sector is up by about 12%. The reason is olfactory overkill. To lure consumers, perfume brands have mounted huge advertising and distribution campaigns, selling perfumes in their own boutiques as well as …

Nike released the Air Force 1 25 years ago. It contained a pocket of air in the heel, retailed for $89.95, and was hot on the playground as well as with pros. Now costing $80 for the basic white shoe, it is the best-selling athletic shoe ever. There have been more than 1,800 color combinations, many in limited editions that can cost thousands of dollars. Nike declined to release sales figures, but Matt Powell, an analyst at SportsOneSource, estimates that about 12 million pairs of the Air Force 1 were sold at its peak in 2005, and 10 million …