Companies often sue one another over advertising claims but a lawsuit filed by Subway over a video contest orchestrated by Quiznos raises a novel legal question: Should Quiznos be held liable for user-generated content created at its behest? If the answer is yes, it could bring a quick death to the popular online contests for user-generated spots, advertising executives say. Consumer brands like Doritos, Dove, Toyota and Heinz have run promotions of this sort because they generate publicity, usually at a low cost to the advertiser, and sometimes lead to clever ads that work well on television. Subway …

According to the latest figures from the Motion Picture Association of America, film distributors are reigning in their marketing spending, an ill-timed move, considering that brand advertisers are shifting their budgets to TV and the Internet. Indeed, product placements and promotional tie-ins are suffering as a result, which means movie studios can no longer take $100 million product integrations for granted when producing their films. Are product placements first to go in an economic slowdown? Recent trends indicate as much, as films like "I Am Legend," "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and "Enchanted" …

Old Navy is scrapping its family image to target 20somethings. The new strategy is centered on faster deliveries and wardrobe-building collections that change monthly, not to mention a new logo and, eventually, store renovations. There's also a new marketing campaign that focuses on creating a more fashionable image. Old Navy's new monthly spring 2008 collections will be previewed to the press Wednesday in Manhattan. The new logo and marketing campaign--described as an integrated package of television, print and online ads, direct mail and in-store visuals--also will be shown. The product development cycle time has been halved in an …

As the housing market continues to deteriorate with nearly 750,000 Americans in foreclosure, a new $40-million campaign for the National Association of Realtors includes claims that, on average, the value of a home nearly doubles every 10 years, and 60% of the average homeowner's wealth comes from home equity. The campaign features two spots. In one, a woman who appears to be a real-estate agent walks through a well-appointed home declaring "opportunities have never been better." For those "on the fence" about buying a house, the NAR "wants you to know that a home isn't just a great …

Purchase intent--a customer's stated interest in buying a product--rose 11% to 52% among consumers who attended brand-sponsored events, including sports championships, walkathons and theme parks, according to a new survey released by the Advertising Research Foundation. ARF studied 12 companies--including Coca-Cola, Frito-Lay and State Farm--that ran events. Harris Interactive polled about 5,000 consumers online afterwards to get the results. Sports-related events have the greatest impact, according to the study, especially for business-to-business events. The purchase intent among consumers who interacted with a brand at such events rose 34%. Of the 2,000 consumers polled who attended …

Tennant--a big name in the small market for industrial floor-cleaners--faced stiff competition from cheap imports and a slowing economy in 2002. That October, Chris Killingstad, then the recently installed head of North American operations, visited a trade show and decided that every product looked alike. He convinced management to place a big bet that it could outsmart its competitors with innovative products. It worked. In 2006, Tennant had a profit of nearly $30 million, up from just over $14 million in 2003. Along the way, the company has had to persuade customers to buy machines that clean in markedly …

Since September, Wal-Mart Stores has built its advertising approach upon the tagline "Save money. Live better." Wal-Mart CMO Stephen Quinn says that the company is no more prescient than economic gurus, but it saw the pressure that rising gas process was putting on its core customers last spring and reacted accordingly. Many companies have followed Wal-Mart's lead, with campaigns speaking as if a recession were already under way. A campaign for Sammies, a new sandwich line at Quiznos, stresses the low price as much as the low calorie count. "Uncertain times call for a very certain rate," assert …