Brandweek
Marc Pritchard, 48, who will take the reins as global marketing officer at Procter & Gamble next month, is best known for rebranding Cover Girl -- a brand P&G bought from Noxell in 1989 -- with a campaign sporting the tagline "Easy, breezy, beautiful." But Pritchard's successes weren't all on the marketing front. In 2000, while still vp and gm of P&G cosmetics and fragrances, Pritchard spearheaded a prototype effort that later became known as the consumer-driven supply network. The initiative, which is still in place today, involved identifying and eliminating unnecessary steps and procedures in P&G's supply …
ScienceDaily
New research suggests that merely passing a discount store on the way to the sporting goods store might affect an eventual purchase. In effect, even 60 milliseconds of exposure to a brand name such as Wal-Mart or Tiffany can alter consumers' subconscious goals, according to the study published in the Journal of Consumer Research. "Results suggest that simple exposure to brand names has the potential to activate goals which then influence choices," write Tanya L. Chartrand, Joel Huber (both Duke University), Baba Shiv (Stanford University), and Robin J. Tanner (University of Wisconsin). "This data thus opens the door to …
USA Today
Stand-up paddling -- a variation of surfing in which you stand on a board and propel with a paddle -- is taking beaches by storm, largely due to its endorsement by 44-year-old Laird Hamilton, who is revered as a god among surfers, The sport stands to change ocean recreation, much as snowboards changed the ski slopes. Hamilton's championing of stand-up paddling is at the heart of his push to build a business around his name. Hamilton is tying his chiseled image to companies and products that produce the tools that make his oceanic escapades possible. Four years ago, …
Los Angeles Times
The New York Times
The New York Times
McDonald's is running a contest that challenges consumers to write their own songs using "two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame-seed bun" -- the well-worn refrain of a jingle that first aired in 1974. The contest was dreamed up in the spirit of summer fun and the Big Mac's 40th birthday, according to Marlena Peleo-Lazar, chief creative officer for McDonald's U.S.A. Nearly 1,000 songs have been submitted online (http://www.myspace.com/bigmacchant), and judges have selected five finalists. The public has been invited to vote, and a winner will be announced on Tuesday. The winner's song will be …
The New York Times
A study by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health claims that tobacco manufacturers have marketed brands to what it calls a "vulnerable population" of young people by "manipulating sensory elements of cigarettes to promote initiation and dependence." The study says young people tolerate menthol cigarettes better than harsher, non-menthol cigarettes, making it easier to begin smoking. The study concludes that 44% of smokers age 12 to 17 prefer menthol cigarettes, and it urges regulation of the tobacco industry and menthol, in particular. Menthol cigarettes currently make up about 28% of the $70 billion cigarette industry in America. …
The Wall Street Journal
Lifestyle Centers -- open-air shopping venues that offer small parks, fountains and cafés amid name-brand retailers -- have been all the rage this decade. But the slumping economy is forcing the chi-chi retailers who flocked to them to cancel expansion plans and even shut stores. Last year, developers built 37 centers amounting to roughly 40% of the total lifestyle-center square footage added this decade, according to market-research firm Portfolio & Property Research Inc. Double that total is now under construction, and three times as much is in the planning stages. But the economic slowdown means many of the planned …
The Washington Post
Whole Foods has issued the first comprehensive set of aquaculture guidelines by a major retailer (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/seafood/aquaculture.html) as demand for seafood grows in the U.S. Supermarkets increasingly rely on the $70 billion worldwide aquaculture industry to meet demand as the supply of wild-caught fish remains limited. Several groups -- including The World Wildlife Fund, The Global Aquaculture Alliance and the Global Partnership for Good Agriculture Practice -- are establishing aquaculture guidelines. But Whole Foods says it decided to develop its own comprehensive plan two years ago, and it began consulting with environmental groups and scientists and visiting its suppliers' farms. …
The New York Times
Amazon.com is introducing a new store of TV shows and movies called Amazon Video on Demand. Customers will be able to start watching any of 40,000 movies and television programs immediately after ordering them online because they stream. It will be accessible to a limited number of invited Amazon.com customers today before it opens more broadly to other users later this summer. Most Internet video stores - such as Apple iTunes and the original incarnation of Amazon's video store -- require users to endure lengthy waits as video files are downloaded to their hard drives. Amazon also has …