In April, Starbucks made Pike Place Roast -- a new, milder brew meant to appeal to the masses -- the main drip coffee at its 11,000 or so locations across the country. The new strategy, which played down the company's more-established robust roasts, has touched off a debate about what customers think Starbucks should stand for: bold coffee for connoisseurs or a tamer brew for the hoi polloi? Much of that debate is taking place on the company's customer-feedback Web site, which the chain launched in March. The site is littered with thumbs-down verdicts on the new roast. Some small …

Dannon created a shelf-obsession team consisting of five members with market research and sales backgrounds last September whose mission is to increase shelf space and visibility for yogurt. Senior marketing executive Laura Santella-Saccone leads the effort. Dairy today occupies about 3% of total grocery store space, but comprises 9% of sales. "We want to close that gap," says Dannon's Michael Neuwirth, who points out that dry grocery takes up 43% of space but comprises only 30% of sales. The Dannon team brings marketing and research support, as well as design and merchandise concepts, to retailers. Cub Foods, for …

Toys "R" Us is mounting digital clocks in all 585 of its stores that will count down to July 26, when more than 225 of those stores will open at midnight to begin selling toys from the latest "Star Wars" film, "The Clone Wars," an animated movie that opens in the United States on Aug. 15. For the first time in the history of the "Star Wars" franchise, McDonald's is coming along for the ride. It will be offering Clone Wars Happy Meals starting Aug. 15. Each will come with a specially designed box and one of 18 exclusive …

Nike will launch "a pretty prominent" ad campaign in all media to coincide with the Olympic Games in Beijing this August, according to Charlie Denson, Nike's brand president. China is the second largest country market after the US for Nike, as well as being a significant source of manufacturing for its shoes. While Adidas has invested millions in being an official sponsor of both the Beijing and the 2012 London Olympics, Nike has continued a strategy of sponsoring individual athletes and sports federations. In Beijing, 22 Chinese Olympic teams will be wearing Nike shoes or uniforms in sports ranging …

Hasbro and Universal Studios will be rolling the dice together on a number of classic Parker Brothers board games -- including Monopoly, Candy Land and Ouija -- in a deal that departs from typical collaborations between toy companies and Hollywood. In the arrangement, Hasbro is licensing the rights to the name, characters and themes of its board games to Universal, which pays for the production and gets the box-office receipts. Hasbro gets the toy tie-ins and rebates a small part of the sales to Universal. Little upfront money changes hands. Meanwhile, Hasbro is interviewing potential directors, assembling a creative …