Coca-Cola has acquired a 40% stake in Honest Tea, which in 1998 became one of the first beverage brands to hop on the organic bandwagon. It offers dozens of low sugar tea SKUs, including Heavenly Honey Green tea and Pomegranate Red Tea with Goji Berry, as well as an Honest Kids line and Honest Ade juices. The current deal was valued at $43 million with the right to purchase the rest of the company in three years. Honest Tea is the latest "bolt on acquisition" for Coke which has been looking strengthen its non-carbonated drink portfolio. …

The Walt Disney Company says the weakening economy is not affecting its television advertising sales or its robust theme park business. Disney has been trying to convince Wall Street that it stands apart from other media companies because of its ability to profit from its brands and properties across multiple business lines. CEO Robert A. Iger hammered home that message yesterday while reporting fiscal first-quarter results. Because Disney's theme parks--a $10 billion annual business--have faltered during previous recessions, investors and the press have been scrutinizing their performance for clues about the broader health of the economy. Thomas O. Staggs, …

Speculation is mounting that Macy's is looking to downsize its network of seven regional operations to three or four, and to cut back central staff at the Cincinnati headquarters. There was also speculation yesterday that the retailer is planning a major overhaul of its Herald Square flagship. Sources say the Miami-based Macy's Florida could fold into Macy's South, based in Atlanta. Macy's North in Minneapolis could fold into Macy's East, based in Manhattan, and Macy's Northwest, based in Seattle, could fold into Macy's West in San Francisco. A seventh regional office in St. Louis appears to be safe. …

Thirteen years after acquiring Bauer--and making bold promises that it would transform the business of hockey--Nike has put the unit up for sale. Many analysts predict that the company will find it hard to recover even half the $395 million it paid for Canstar Sports, Bauer's Montreal-based parent, in December 1994. Nike's decision to step away from hockey at the same time it is increasing its presence in soccer shows that financial muscle and marketing power don't always dominate the field, or the ice. Denis Drolet, president of Groupe Drolet, which owns a hockey-stick maker, says that the Bauer …

The success of Tory Burch's Reva shoe--a $195 ballet slipper with a double-T logo on a brass-plated buckle--is no fluke. With a business plan more in line with strategy in the packaged-goods industry than the design world, it's part of Burch's carefully choreographed brand-building effort that is redefining how to run a fashion business. Burch--a New York socialite and a mother of three boys--had no design experience when she launched her company with her venture-capitalist ex-husband, though she had worked in public relations and marketing for several designers. Burch didn't invent the shoe. Instead, she took note …

Wendy's executives say that while its recently discarded red wig campaign broke through clutter and "did a lot of good things," it was wrong to base its strategy on being cool. Calling the campaign "polarizing," CEO Kerrii Anderson says, "we can't be something we aren't." A new $435-million campaign breaking today bears the slogan: "It's waaaay better than fast food. It's Wendy's." The first spot launches a premium fish-fillet sandwich. Others will highlight the chain's claim that its burgers are fresh, never frozen. Wendy's will also update menu boards and point-of-purchase displays to reflect the look and feel …

Philips decision to supplement a traditional TV buy by promoting its Sonicare electric toothbrush through a professional word-of-mouth marketing campaign in 2005 is part of a growing trend. Spending on word-of-mouth marketing hit $981 million in 2006, up from $722 million the previous year, making it one of the fastest growing nontraditional marketing sectors in the U.S., according to PQ Media. In a ROI-obsessed world, perhaps the strongest argument against WOM wasn't that it was deceptive, but that it was not measurable. Today, WOM is an accepted part of the marketing mix and has its own set of …